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Martens. + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .6em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + + + div.centered {text-align: center;} + div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} + + ins.correction {border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: red; border-bottom-width: 1px;} + .return {text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 0; text-indent: 0; font-size: 85%} + .copyright {text-align: left; margin-top: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em; font-size: 70%} + + .sig { /* author signature at end of letter */ + margin-left: 45%; + font-variant: small-caps; + } + + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Violin Mastery, by Frederick H. Martens + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Violin Mastery + Talks with Master Violinists and Teachers + +Author: Frederick H. Martens + +Release Date: April 4, 2005 [EBook #15535] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIOLIN MASTERY *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Peter Barozzi and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<!-- Picture of Eugene Ysaye --> + +<a name="Frontispiece_a" id="Frontispiece_a"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p000a_m.jpg" width="559" height="700" alt="Frontispiece_a" title="EUGÈNE YSAYE" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Eugène Ysaye</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<!-- Signature of Eugene Ysaye --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p000b_m.jpg" width="559" height="168" alt="Frontispiece_b" title="EUGÈNE YSAYE SIGNATURE" /> + +<br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + + +<h1>VIOLIN MASTERY</h1> + +<h3><i><br />TALKS WITH MASTER VIOLINISTS<br />AND TEACHERS</i></h3> + + +<h4><br />COMPRISING INTERVIEWS WITH YSAYE, KREISLER,<br />ELMAN, AUER, THIBAUD, HEIFETZ, HARTMANN,<br />MAUD POWELL AND OTHERS</h4> + +<h3><br /><br />BY</h3> + +<h2>FREDERICK H. MARTENS</h2> + +<h5>WITH SIXTEEN PORTRAITS<br /><br /></h5> + + +<!-- Frontispiece --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p002a_h.png" width="94" height="120" alt="Frontispiece_c" title="Logo" /> + +<br /></div> + + + +<p class="center"><br /><br /><b>NEW YORK</b></p> + +<p class="center"><big>FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY</big></p> + +<p class="center"><b>PUBLISHERS</b></p> + + + +<p class="center"><br /><br /><br /><i>Copyright, 1919, by</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Frederick A. Stokes Company</span></p> + +<hr style='width: 35%;margin-top: 0em;margin-bottom: 0em;' /> + +<p class="center"><i>All rights reserved, including that of translation<br />into foreign languages</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Page_-8" id="Page_-8"></a>FOREWORD</h2> + + +<p>The appreciation accorded Miss Harriette +Brower's admirable books on <span class="smcap">Piano Mastery</span> +has prompted the present volume of intimate +<i>Talks with Master Violinists and Teachers</i>, +in which a number of famous artists and instructors +discuss esthetic and technical phases +of the art of violin playing in detail, their concept +of what Violin Mastery means, and how +it may be acquired. Only limitation of space +has prevented the inclusion of numerous other +deserving artists and teachers, yet practically +all of the greatest masters of the violin now in +this country are represented. That the lessons +of their artistry and experience will be +of direct benefit and value to every violin student +and every lover of violin music may be +accepted as a foregone conclusion.</p> + +<p><span class="sig">Frederick H. Martens.</span></p> +<p> 171 Orient Way,<br /> + Rutherford N.J.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="contents" id="contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="centered"><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="ToC"> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER</td><td align='left' width="190"></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Foreward</span></b></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_-8">v</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Eugène Ysaye</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Tools of Violin Mastery</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Leopold Auer</span></b></td><td align='left'>A Method without Secrets</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Eddy Brown</span></b></td><td align='left'>Hubay and Auer: Technic: Hints to the Student</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Mischa Elman</span></b></td><td align='left'>Life and Color in Interpretation. Technical Phases</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Samuel Gardner</span></b></td><td align='left'>Technic and Musicianship</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Arthur Hartmann</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Problem of Technic</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Jascha Heifetz</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Danger of Practicing Too Much. Technical Mastery and Temperament</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">David Hochstein</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Violin as a Means of Expression</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Fritz Kreisler</span></b></td><td align='left'>Personality in Art</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Franz Kneisel</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Perfect String Ensemble</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Adolfo Betti</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Technic of the Modern Quartet</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Hans Letz</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Technic of Bowing</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">David Mannes</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Philosophy of Violin Teaching</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Tivadar Nachéz</span></b></td><td align='left'>Joachim and Léonard as Teachers</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Maximilian Pilzer</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Singing Tone and the Vibrato</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Maud Powell</span></b></td><td align='left'>Technical Difficulties: Some Hints for the Concert Player</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Leon Sametini</span></b></td><td align='left'>Harmonics</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Alexander Saslavsky</span></b></td><td align='left'>What the Teacher Can and Cannot Do</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Toscha Seidel</span></b></td><td align='left'>How to Study</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Edmund Severn</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Joachim Bowing and Others</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXI. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Albert Spalding</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Most Important Factor in the Development of an Artist</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXII. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Theodore Spiering</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Application of Bow Exercises to the Study of Kreutzer</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Jacques Thibaud</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Ideal Program</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV. </td><td align='left'><b><span class="smcap">Gustav Saenger</span></b></td><td align='left'>The Editor as a Factor in "Violin Mastery"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS<br /></h2> + +<div class="centered"><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Illus"> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Eugène Ysaye</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#Frontispiece_a"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' width="250"></td><td align='right'><small><small>FACING PAGE</small></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Leopold Auer</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_14">14</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Mischa Elman</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Arthur Hartmann</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_66">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Jascha Heifetz</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_78">78</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Fritz Kreisler</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_100">100</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Franz Kneisel</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_110">110</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Adolfo Betti</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_128">128</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>David Mannes</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_146">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Tivadar Nachéz</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_160">160</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Maud Powell</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_184">184</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Toscha Seidel</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_220">220</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Albert Spalding</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_240">240</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Theodore Spiering</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_248">248</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Jacques Thibaud</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_260">260</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Gustav Saenger</b></td><td align='right'><a href="#F_Page_278">278</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>VIOLIN MASTERY</h2> + +<h2><br /><br />EUGÈNE YSAYE</h2> + +<h3>THE TOOLS OF VIOLIN MASTERY</h3> + +<p><br />Who is there among contemporary masters +of the violin whose name stands for more at +the present time than that of the great Belgian +artist, his "extraordinary temperamental +power as an interpreter" enhanced by a hundred +and one special gifts of tone and technic, +gifts often alluded to by his admiring colleagues? +For Ysaye is the greatest exponent +of that wonderful Belgian school of violin +playing which is rooted in his teachers Vieuxtemps +and Wieniawski, and which as Ysaye +himself says, "during a period covering seventy +years reigned supreme at the <i>Conservatoire</i> +in Paris in the persons of Massart, Remi, +Marsick, and others of its great interpreters."</p> + +<p>What most impresses one who meets Ysaye +and talks with him for the first time is the mental +breadth and vision of the man; his kindness +and amiability; his utter lack of small vanity. +When the writer first called on him in New +York with a note of introduction from his +friend and admirer Adolfo Betti, and later at +Scarsdale where, in company with his friend +Thibaud, he was dividing his time between music +and tennis, Ysaye made him entirely at +home, and willingly talked of his art and its +ideals. In reply to some questions anent his +own study years, he said:</p> + +<p>"Strange to say, my father was my very +first teacher—it is not often the case. I studied +with him until I went to the Liège Conservatory +in 1867, where I won a second prize, +sharing it with Ovide Musin, for playing Viotti's +22d Concerto. Then I had lessons from +Wieniawski in Brussels and studied two years +with Vieuxtemps in Paris. Vieuxtemps was +a paralytic when I came to him; yet a wonderful +teacher, though he could no longer play. +And I was already a concertizing artist when +I met him. He was a very great man, the +grandeur of whose tradition lives in the whole +'romantic school' of violin playing. Look at +his seven concertos—of course they are written +with an eye to effect, from the virtuoso's +standpoint, yet how firmly and solidly they are +built up! How interesting is their working-out: +and the orchestral score is far more than +a mere accompaniment. As regards virtuose +effect only Paganini's music compares with +his, and Paganini, of course, did not play it as +it is now played. In wealth of technical development, +in true musical expressiveness +Vieuxtemps is a master. A proof is the fact +that his works have endured forty to fifty +years, a long life for compositions.</p> + +<p>"Joachim, Léonard, Sivori, Wieniawski—all +admired Vieuxtemps. In Paganini's and +Locatelli's works the effect, comparatively +speaking, lies in the mechanics; but Vieuxtemps +is the great artist who made the instrument +take the road of romanticism which +Hugo, Balzac and Gauthier trod in literature. +And before all the violin was made to charm, +to move, and Vieuxtemps knew it. Like +Rubinstein, he held that the artist must first +of all have ideas, emotional power—his technic +must be so perfected that he does not have +to think of it! Incidentally, speaking of +schools of violin playing, I find that there is a +great tendency to confuse the Belgian and +French. This should not be. They are distinct, +though the latter has undoubtedly been +formed and influenced by the former. Many +of the great violin names, in fact,—Vieuxtemps, +<ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Leonard'">Léonard</ins>, Marsick, Remi, Parent, de +Broux, Musin, Thomson,—are all Belgian."</p> + + +<h4><br />YSAYE'S REPERTORY</h4> + +<p>Ysaye spoke of Vieuxtemps's repertory—only +he did not call it that: he spoke of the +Vieuxtemps compositions and of Vieuxtemps +himself. "Vieuxtemps wrote in the grand +style; his music is always rich and sonorous. If +his violin is really to sound, 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 +bow the head. And Wieniawski would always +bow his head when he said: 'Vieuxtemps is the +master of us all!'</p> + +<p>"I have often played his <i>Fifth Concerto</i>, so +warm, brilliant and replete with temperament, +always full-sounding, rich in an almost unbounded +strength. Of course, since Vieuxtemps +wrote his concertos, a great variety of +fine modern works has appeared, the appreciation +of chamber-music has grown and developed, +and with it that of the sonata. And +the modern violin sonata is also a vehicle for +violin virtuosity in the very best meaning of +the word. The sonatas of César Franck, +d'Indy, Théodore Dubois, Lekeu, Vierne, Ropartz, +Lazarri—they are all highly expressive, +yet at the same time virtuose. The violin +parts develop a lovely song line, yet their technic +is far from simple. Take Lekeu's splendid +Sonata in G major; rugged and massive, +making decided technical demands—it yet has +a wonderful breadth of melody, a great expressive +quality of song."</p> + +<p>These works—those who have heard the +Master play the beautiful Lazarri sonata this +season will not soon forget it—are all dedicated +to Ysaye. And this holds good, too, of +the César Franck sonata. As Ysaye says: +"Performances of these great sonatas call for +<i>two</i> artists—for their piano parts are sometimes +very elaborate. César Franck sent me +his sonata on September 26, 1886, my wedding +day—it was his wedding present! I cannot +complain as regards the number of works, +really important works, inscribed to me. There +are so many—by Chausson (his symphony), +Ropartz, Dubois (his sonata—one of the best +after Franck), d'Indy (the <i>Istar</i> variations +and other works), Gabriel Fauré (the Quintet), +Debussy (the Quartet)! There are +more than I can recall at the moment—violin +sonatas, symphonic music, chamber-music, +choral works, compositions of every kind!</p> + +<p>"Debussy, as you know, wrote practically +nothing originally for the violin and piano—with +the exception, perhaps, of a work published +by Durand during his last illness. Yet +he came very near writing something for me. +Fifteen years ago he told me he was composing +a 'Nocturne' for me. I went off on a concert +tour and was away a long time. When I +returned to Paris I wrote to Debussy to find +out what had become of my 'Nocturne.' And +he replied that, somehow, it had shaped itself +up for orchestra instead of a violin solo. It +is one of the <i>Trois Nocturnes</i> for orchestra. +Perhaps one reason why so much has been inscribed +to me is the fact that as an interpreting +artist, I have never cultivated a 'specialty.' I +have played everything from Bach to Debussy, +for real art should be international!"</p> + +<p>Ysaye himself has an almost marvelous +right-arm and fingerboard control, which enables +him to produce at will the finest and most +subtle tonal nuances in all bowings. Then, +too, he overcomes the most intricate mechanical +problems with seemingly effortless ease. +And his tone has well been called "golden." +His own definition of tone is worth recording. +He says it should be "In music what the heart +suggests, and the soul expresses!"</p> + + +<h4><br />THE TOOLS OF VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"With regard to mechanism," Ysaye continued, +"at the present day the tools of violin +mastery, of expression, technic, mechanism, are +far more necessary than in days gone by. In +fact they are indispensable, if the spirit is to +express itself without restraint. And the +greater mechanical command one has the less +noticeable it becomes. All that suggests effort, +awkwardness, difficulty, repels the listener, +who more than anything else delights +in a singing violin tone. Vieuxtemps often +said: <i>Pas de trait pour le trait—chantez, +chantez</i>! (Not runs for the sake of runs—sing, +sing!)</p> + +<p>"Too many of the technicians of the present +day no longer sing. Their difficulties—they +surmount them more or less happily; but the +effect is too apparent, and though, at times, +the listener may be astonished, he can never be +charmed. Agile fingers, sure of themselves, +and a perfect bow stroke are essentials; and +they must be supremely able to carry along the +rhythm and poetic action the artist desires. +Mechanism becomes, if anything, more accessible +in proportion as its domain is enriched +by new formulas. The violinist of to-day +commands far greater technical resources than +did his predecessors. Paganini is accessible +to nearly all players: Vieuxtemps no longer +offers the difficulties he did thirty years ago. +Yet the wood-wind, brass and even the string +instruments subsist in a measure on the heritage +transmitted by the masters of the past. +I often feel that violin teaching to-day endeavors +to develop the esthetic sense at too early a +stage. And in devoting itself to the <i>head</i> it +forgets the <i>hands</i>, with the result that the +young soldiers of the violinistic army, full of +ardor and courage, are ill equipped for the +great battle of art.</p> + +<p>"In this connection there exists an excellent +set of <i>Études-Caprices</i> by E. Chaumont, +which offer the advanced student new elements +and formulas of development. Though in +some of them 'the frame is too large for the +picture,' and though difficult from a violinistic +point of view, 'they lie admirably well up the +neck,' to use one of Vieuxtemps's expressions, +and I take pleasure in calling attention to +them.</p> + +<p>"When I said that the string instruments, +including the violin, subsist in a measure on +the heritage transmitted by the masters of the +past, I spoke with special regard to technic. +Since Vieuxtemps there has been hardly one +new passage written for the violin; and this +has retarded the development of its technic. +In the case of the piano, men like Godowsky +have created a new technic for their instrument; +but although Saint-Saëns, Bruch, Lalo +and others have in their works endowed the +violin with much beautiful music, music itself +was their first concern, and not music for the +violin. There are no more concertos written +for the solo flute, trombone, etc.—as a result +there is no new technical material added to the +resources of these instruments.</p> + +<p>"In a way the same holds good of the +violin—new works conceived only from the musical +point of view bring about the stagnation of +technical discovery, the invention of new passages, +of novel harmonic wealth of combination +is not encouraged. And a violinist owes +it to himself to exploit the great possibilities +of his own instrument. I have tried to find +new technical ways and means of expression in +my own compositions. For example, I have +written a <i>Divertiment</i> for violin and orchestra +in which I believe I have embodied new +thoughts and ideas, and have attempted to give +violin technic a broader scope of life and vigor.</p> + +<p>"In the days of Viotti and Rode the harmonic +possibilities were more limited—they +had only a few chords, and hardly any chords +of the ninth. But now harmonic material for +the development of a new violin technic is +there: I have some violin studies, in ms., which +I may publish some day, devoted to that end. +I am always somewhat hesitant about publishing—there +are many things I might publish, +but I have seen so much brought out that was +banal, poor, unworthy, that I have always been +inclined to mistrust the value of my own creations +rather than fall into the same error. We +have the scale of Debussy and his successors +to draw upon, their new chords and successions +of fourths and fifths—for new technical +formulas are always evolved out of and follow +after new harmonic discoveries—though +there is as yet no violin method which gives a +fingering for the whole-tone scale. Perhaps +we will have to wait until Kreisler or I will +have written one which makes plain the new +flowering of technical beauty and esthetic development +which it brings the violin.</p> + +<p>"As to teaching violin, I have never taught +violin in the generally accepted sense of the +phrase. But at Godinne, where I usually +spent my summers when in Europe, I gave a +kind of traditional course in the works of +Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski and other masters to +some forty or fifty artist-students who would +gather there—the same course I look forward +to giving in Cincinnati, to a master class of +very advanced pupils. This was and will be a +labor of love, for the compositions of Vieuxtemps +and Wieniawski especially are so inspiring +and yet, as a rule, they are so badly +played—without grandeur or beauty, with no +thought of the traditional interpretation—that +they seem the piecework of technic factories!</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"When I take the whole history of the +violin into account I feel that the true inwardness +of 'Violin Mastery' is best expressed +by a kind of threefold group of great artists. +First, in the order of romantic expression, we +have a trinity made up of Corelli, Viotti and +Vieuxtemps. Then there is a trinity of mechanical +perfection, composed of Locatelli, +Tartini and Paganini or, a more modern +equivalent, César Thomson, Kubelik and Burmeister. +And, finally, what I might call in +the order of lyric expression, a quartet comprising +Ysaye, Thibaud, Mischa Elman and +Sametini of Chicago, the last-named a wonderfully +fine artist of the lyric or singing type. +Of course there are qualifications to be made. +Locatelli was not altogether an exponent of +technic. And many other fine artists besides +those mentioned share the characteristics of +those in the various groups. Yet, speaking in +a general way, I believe that these groups of +attainment might be said to sum up what +'Violin Mastery' really is. And a violin master? +He must be a violinist, a thinker, a poet, +a human being, he must have known hope, love, +passion and despair, he must have run the +gamut of the emotions in order to express them +all in his playing. He must play his violin as +Pan played his flute!"</p> + +<p>In conclusion Ysaye sounded a note of warning +for the too ambitious young student and +player. "If Art is to progress, the technical +and mechanical element must not, of course, be +neglected. But a boy of eighteen cannot expect +to express that to which the serious student +of thirty, the man who has actually lived, +can give voice. If the violinist's art is truly a +great art, it cannot come to fruition in the artist's +'teens. His accomplishment then is no +more than a promise—a promise which finds +its realization in and by life itself. Yet Americans +have the brains as well as the spiritual +endowment necessary to understand and appreciate +beauty in a high degree. They can +already point with pride to violinists who emphatically +deserve to be called artists, and another +quarter-century of artistic striving may +well bring them into the front rank of violinistic +achievement!"</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>II</h3> + + +<h2><br />LEOPOLD AUER</h2> + +<h3>A METHOD WITHOUT SECRETS</h3> + + +<p><br />When that celebrated laboratory of budding +musical genius, the Petrograd Conservatory, +closed its doors indefinitely owing to the disturbed +political conditions of Russia, the famous +violinist and teacher Professor Leopold +Auer decided to pay the visit to the United +States which had so repeatedly been urged on +him by his friends and pupils. His fame, owing +to such heralds as Efrem Zimbalist, Mischa +Elman, Kathleen Parlow, Eddy Brown, Francis +MacMillan, and more recently Sascha +Heifetz, Toscha Seidel, and Max Rosen, had +long since preceded him; and the reception accorded +him in this country, as a soloist and one +of the greatest exponents and teachers of his +instrument, has been one justly due to his authority +and preëminence.</p> + +<p>It was not easy to have a heart-to-heart talk +with the Master anent his art, since every minute +of his time was precious. Yet ushered into +his presence, the writer discovered that he had +laid aside for the moment other preoccupations, +and was amiably responsive to all questions, +once their object had been disclosed. +Naturally, the first and burning question in +the case of so celebrated a pedagogue was: +"How do you form such wonderful artists? +What is the secret of your method?"</p> + + + +<!-- Picture of LEOPOLD AUER, Facing Page 14--> + +<a name="F_Page_14" id="F_Page_14"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p014a_m.jpg" width="457" height="700" alt="F_Page_14" title="LEOPOLD AUER" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Leopold Auer</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + + +<h4><br />A METHOD WITHOUT SECRETS</h4> + +<p>"I know," said Professor Auer, "that there +is a theory somewhat to the effect that I make +a few magic passes with the bow by way of illustration +and—<i>presto</i>—you have a Zimbalist +or a Heifetz! But the truth is I have no +method—unless you want to call purely natural +lines of development, based on natural +principles, a method—and so, of course, there +is no secret about my teaching. The one great +point I lay stress on in teaching is never to +kill the individuality of my various pupils. +Each pupil has his own inborn aptitudes, his +own personal qualities as regards tone and interpretation. +I always have made an individual +study of each pupil, and given each pupil +individual treatment. And always, always I +have encouraged them to develop freely in +their own way as regards inspiration and +ideals, so long as this was not contrary to esthetic +principles and those of my art. My +idea has always been to help bring out what +nature has already given, rather than to use +dogma to force a student's natural inclinations +into channels I myself might prefer. And +another great principle in my teaching, one +which is productive of results, is to demand as +much as possible of the pupil. Then he will +give you something!</p> + +<p>"Of course the whole subject of violin teaching +is one that I look at from the standpoint +of the teacher who tries to make what is already +excellent perfect from the musical and artistic +standpoint. I insist on a perfected technical +development in every pupil who comes to me. +Art begins where technic ends. There can be +no real art development before one's technic is +firmly established. And a great deal of technical +work has to be done before the great +works of violin literature, the sonatas and concertos, +may be approached. In Petrograd my +own assistants, who were familiar with my +ideas, prepared my pupils for me. And in my +own experience I have found that one cannot +teach by word, by the spoken explanation, +alone. If I have a point to make I explain it; +but if my explanation fails to explain I take +my violin and bow, and clear up the matter beyond +any doubt. The word lives, it is true, but +often the word must be materialized by action +so that its meaning is clear. There are always +things which the pupil must be shown literally, +though explanation should always supplement +illustration. I studied with Joachim +as a boy of sixteen—it was before 1866, when +there was still a kingdom of Hanover in existence—and +Joachim always illustrated his +meaning with bow and fiddle. But he never +explained the technical side of what he illustrated. +Those more advanced understood +without verbal comment; yet there were some +who did not.</p> + +<p>"As regards the theory that you can tell who +a violinist's teacher is by the way in which he +plays, I do not believe in it. I do not believe +that you can tell an Auer pupil by the manner +in which he plays. And I am proud of it since +it shows that my pupils have profited by my +encouragement of individual development, and +that they become genuine artists, each with a +personality of his own, instead of violinistic +automats, all bearing a marked family resemblance."</p> + +<p>Questioned as to how his various pupils reflected +different phases of his teaching ideals, +Professor Auer mentioned that he had long +since given over passing final decisions on his +pupils. "I could express no such opinions +without unconsciously implying comparisons. +And so few comparisons really compare! +Then, too, mine would be merely an individual +opinion. Therefore, as has been my custom +for years, I will continue to leave any ultimate +decisions regarding my pupils' playing to the +public and the press."</p> + + +<h4><br />HOURS OF PRACTICE</h4> + +<p>"How long should the advanced pupil practice?" +Professor Auer was asked. "The right +kind of practice is not a matter of hours," he +replied. "Practice should represent the utmost +concentration of brain. It is better to +play with concentration for two hours than to +practice eight without. I should say that +four hours would be a good maximum practice +time—I never ask more of my pupils—and +that during each minute of the time the brain +be as active as the fingers.</p> + + +<h4><br />NATIONALITY VERSUS THE CONSERVATORY SYSTEM</h4> + +<p>"I think there is more value in the idea of +a national conservatory than in the idea of nationality +as regards violin playing. No matter +what his birthplace, there is only one way in +which a student can become an artist—and +that is to have a teacher who can teach! In +Europe the best teachers are to be found in +the great national conservatories. Thibaud, +Ysaye—artists of the highest type—are products +of the conservatory system, with its splendid +teachers. So is Kreisler, one of the greatest +artists, who studied in Vienna and Paris. +Eddy Brown, the brilliant American violinist, +finished at the Budapest Conservatory. In +the Paris Conservatory the number of pupils +in a class is strictly limited; and from these pupils +each professor chooses the very best—who +may not be able to pay for their course—for +free instruction. At the Petrograd Conservatory, +where Wieniawski preceded me, there +were hundreds of free scholarships available. +If a really big talent came along he always had +his opportunity. We took and taught those +less talented at the Conservatory in order to +be able to give scholarships to the deserving of +limited means. In this way no real violinistic +genius, whom poverty might otherwise have +kept from ever realizing his dreams, was deprived +of his chance in life. Among the pupils +there in my class, having scholarships, were +Kathleen Parlow, Elman, Zimbalist, Heifetz +and Seidel.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"Violin mastery? To me it represents the +sum total of accomplishment on the part of +those who live in the history of the Art. All +those who may have died long since, yet the +memory of whose work and whose creations +still lives, are the true masters of the violin, +and its mastery is the record of their accomplishment. +As a child I remember the well-known +composers of the day were Marschner, +Hiller, Nicolai and others—yet most of what +they have written has been forgotten. On the +other hand there are Tartini, Nardini, Paganini, +Kreutzer, Dont and Rode—they still +live; and so do Ernst, Sarasate, Vieuxtemps +and Wieniawski. Joachim (incidentally the +only great German violinist of whom I know—and +he was a Hungarian!), though he had +but few great pupils, and composed but little, +will always be remembered because he, together +with David, gave violin virtuosity a nobler +trend, and introduced a higher ideal in the +music played for violin. It is men such as +these who always will remain violin 'masters,' +just as 'violin mastery' is defined by what they +have done."</p> + + +<h4><br />THE BACH VIOLIN SONATAS AND OTHER COMPOSITIONS</h4> + +<p>Replying to a question as to the value of the +Bach violin sonatas, Professor Auer said: +"My pupils always have to play Bach. I have +published my own revision of them with a New +York house. The most impressive thing about +these Bach solo sonatas is they do not need an +accompaniment: one feels it would be superfluous. +Bach composed so rapidly, he wrote +with such ease, that it would have been no +trouble for him to supply one had he felt it +necessary. But he did not, and he was right. +And they still must be played as he has written +them. We have the 'modern' orchestra, +the 'modern' piano, but, thank heaven, no +'modern' violin! Such indications as I have +made in my edition with regard to bowing, fingering, +<i>nuances</i> of expression, are more or less +in accord with the spirit of the times; but not +a single note that Bach has written has been +changed. The sonatas are technically among +the most difficult things written for the violin, +excepting Ernst and Paganini. Not that +they are hard in a modern way: Bach knew +nothing of harmonics, <i>pizzicati</i>, scales in octaves +and tenths. But his counterpoint, his +fugues—to play them well when the principal +theme is sometimes in the outer voices, sometimes +in the inner voices, or moving from one +to the other—is supremely difficult! In the +last sonatas there is a larger number of small +movements—- but this does not make them any +easier to play.</p> + +<p>"I have also edited the Beethoven sonatas +together with Rudolph Ganz. He worked at +the piano parts in New York, while I studied +and revised the violin parts in Petrograd and +Norway, where I spent my summers during +the war. There was not so much to do," said +Professor Auer modestly, "a little fingering, +some bowing indications and not much else. +No reviser needs to put any indications for +<i>nuance</i> and shading in Beethoven. He was +quite able to attend to all that himself. There +is no composer who shows such refinement of +<i>nuance</i>. You need only to take his quartets +or these same sonatas to convince yourself of +the fact. In my Brahms revisions I have supplied +really needed fingerings, bowings, and +other indications! Important compositions +on which I am now at work include Ernst's +fine Concerto, Op. 23, the Mozart violin concertos, +and Tartini's <i>Trille du diable</i>, with a +special cadenza for my pupil, Toscha Seidel.</p> + + +<h4><br />AS REGARDS "PRODIGIES"</h4> + +<p>"Prodigies?" said Professor Auer. "The +word 'prodigy' when applied to some youthful +artist is always used with an accent of reproach. +Public and critics are inclined to regard +them with suspicion. Why? After all, +the important thing is not their youth, but their +artistry. Examine the history of music—you +will discover that any number of great masters, +great in the maturity of their genius, were +great in its infancy as well. There are Mozart, +Beethoven, Liszt, Rubinstein, d'Albert, +Hofmann, Scriabine, Wieniawski—they were +all 'infant prodigies,' and certainly not in any +objectionable sense. Not that I wish to claim +that every <i>prodigy</i> necessarily becomes a great +master. That does not always follow. But I +believe that a musical prodigy, instead of being +regarded with suspicion, has a right to be +looked upon as a striking example of a pronounced +natural predisposition for musical art. +Of course, full mental development of artistic +power must come as a result of the maturing +processes of life itself. But I firmly believe +that every prodigy represents a valuable +musical phenomenon, one deserving of the +keenest interest and encouragement. It does +not seem right to me that when the art of the +prodigy is incontestably great, that the mere +fact of his youth should serve as an excuse to +look upon him with prejudice, and even with +a certain degree of distrust."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>III</h3> + + +<h2><br />EDDY BROWN</h2> + +<h3>HUBAY AND AUER: TECHNIC:<br /> +HINTS TO THE STUDENT</h3> + + +<p><br />Notwithstanding the fact that Eddy +Brown was born in Chicago, Ill., and that he +is so great a favorite with concert audiences +in the land of his birth, the gifted violinist hesitates +to qualify himself as a strictly "American" +violinist. As he expresses it: "Musically +I was altogether educated in Europe—I never +studied here, because I left this country at the +age of seven, and only returned a few years +ago. So I would not like to be placed in the +position of claiming anything under false pretenses!</p> + + +<h4><br />HUBAY AND AUER: SOME COMPARISONS</h4> + +<p>"With whom did I study? With two famous +masters; by a strange coincidence both +Hungarians. First with Jenö Hubay, at the +National Academy of Music in Budapest, +later with Leopold Auer in Petrograd. Hubay +had been a pupil of Vieuxtemps in Brussels, +and is a justly celebrated teacher, very +thorough and painstaking in explaining to his +pupils how to do things; but the great difference +between Hubay and Auer is that while +Hubay tells a student how to do things, Auer, +a temperamental teacher, literally drags out +of him whatever there is in him, awakening latent +powers he never knew he possessed. Hubay +is a splendid builder of virtuosity, and has +a fine sense for phrasing. For a year and a +half I worked at nothing but studies with him, +giving special attention to technic. He did +not believe in giving too much time to left hand +development, when without adequate bow technic +finger facility is useless. Here he was in +accord with Auer, in fact with every teacher +seriously deserving of the name. Hubay was +a first-class pedagog, and under his instruction +one could not help becoming a well-balanced +and musicianly player. But there is a higher +ideal in violin playing than mere correctness, +and Auer is an inspiring teacher. Hubay has +written some admirable studies, notably +twelve studies for the right hand, though he +never stressed technic too greatly. On the +other hand, Auer's most notable contributions +to violin literature are his revisions of such +works as the Bach sonatas, the Tschaikovsky +Concerto, etc. In a way it points the difference +in their mental attitude: Hubay more concerned +with the technical educational means, +one which cannot be overlooked; Auer more +interested in the interpretative, artistic educational +end, which has always claimed his attention. +Hubay personally was a <i>grand seigneur</i>, +a multi-millionaire, and married to an +Hungarian countess. He had a fine ear for +phrasing, could improvise most interesting +violin accompaniments to whatever his pupils +played, and beside Rode, Kreutzer and Fiorillo +I studied the concertos and other repertory +works with him. Then there were the conservatory +lessons! Attendance at a European +conservatory is very broadening musically. +Not only does the individual violin pupil, for +example, profit by listening to his colleagues +play in class: he also studies theory, musical +history, the piano, <i>ensemble</i> playing, chamber-music +and orchestra. I was concertmaster of +the conservatory orchestra while studying with +Hubay. There should be a national conservatory +of music in this country; music in general +would advance more rapidly. And it would +help teach American students to approach the +art of violin playing from the right point of +view. As it is, too many want to study abroad +under some renowned teacher not, primarily, +with the idea of becoming great artists; but in +the hope of drawing great future commercial +dividends from an initial financial investment. +In Art the financial should always be a secondary +consideration.</p> + +<p>"It stands to reason that no matter how +great a student's gifts may be, he can profit +by study with a great teacher. This, I think, +applies to all. After I had already appeared +in concert at Albert Hall, London, in 1909, +where I played the Beethoven Concerto with +orchestra, I decided to study with Auer. When +I first came to him he wanted to know why I +did so, and after hearing me play, told me that +I did not need any lessons from him. But I +knew that there was a certain 'something' +which I wished to add to my violinistic make-up, +and instinctively felt that he alone could +give me what I wanted. I soon found that in +many essentials his ideas coincided with those +of Hubay. But I also discovered that Auer +made me develop my individuality unconsciously, +placing no undue restrictions whatsoever +upon my manner of expression, barring, +of course, unmusicianly tendencies. When he +has a really talented pupil the Professor gives +him of his best. I never gave a thought to +technic while I studied with him—the great +things were a singing tone, bowing, interpretation! +I studied Brahms and Beethoven, and +though Hubay always finished with the Bach +sonatas, I studied them again carefully with Auer.</p> + + +<h4><br />TECHNIC: SOME HINTS TO THE STUDENT</h4> + +<p>"At the bottom of all technic lies the scale. +And scale practice is the ladder by means of +which all must climb to higher proficiency. +Scales, in single tones and intervals, thirds, +sixths, octaves, tenths, with the incidental +changes of position, are the foundation of technic. +They should be practiced slowly, always +with the development of tone in mind, and not +too long a time at any one session. No one +can lay claim to a perfected technic who has +not mastered the scale. Better a good tone, +even though a hundred mistakes be made in +producing it, than a tone that is poor, thin and +without quality. I find the Singer <i>Fingerübungen</i> +are excellent for muscular development +in scale work, for imparting the great +strength which is necessary for the fingers to +have; and the Kreutzer <i>études</i> are indispensable. +To secure an absolute <i>legato</i> tone, a +true singing tone on the violin, one should play +scales with a perfectly well sustained and +steady bow, in whole notes, slowly and <i>mezzo-forte</i>, +taking care that each note is clear and +pure, and that its volume does not vary during +the stroke. The quality of tone must be equalized, +and each whole note should be 'sung' with +a single bowing. The change from up-bow to +down-bow and <i>vice versa</i> should be made without +a break, exclusively through skillful manipulation +of the wrist. To accomplish this unbroken +change of bow one should cultivate a +loose wrist, and do special work at the extreme +ends, nut and tip.</p> + +<p>"The <i>vibrato</i> is a great tone beautifier. Too +rapid or too slow a <i>vibrato</i> defeats the object +desired. There is a happy medium of <i>tempo</i>, +rather faster than slower, which gives the best +results. Carl Flesch has some interesting theories +about vibration which are worth investigating. +A slow and a moderately rapid <i>vibrato, +from the wrist</i>, is best for practice, and +the underlying idea while working must be +tone, and not fingerwork.</p> + +<p><i>Staccato</i> is one of the less important +branches of bow technic. There is a knack in +doing it, and it is purely pyrotechnical. <i>Staccato</i> +passages in quantity are only to be found +in solos of the virtuoso type. One never meets +with extended <i>staccato</i> passages in Beethoven, +Brahms, Bruch or Lalo. And the Saint-Saëns's +violin concerto, if I remember rightly, +contains but a single <i>staccato</i> passage.</p> + +<p>"<i>Spiccato</i> is a very different matter from +<i>staccato</i>: violinists as a rule use the middle of +the bow for <i>spiccato</i>: I use the upper third of +the bow, and thus get most satisfactory results, +in no matter what <i>tempo</i>. This question as +to what portion of the bow to use for <i>spiccato</i> +each violinist must decide for himself, however, +through experiment. I have tried both ways +and find that by the last mentioned use of the +bow I secure quicker, cleaner results. Students +while practicing this bowing should take +care that the wrist, and never the arm, be used. +Hubay has written some very excellent studies +for this form of 'springing bow.'</p> + +<p>"The trill, when it rolls quickly and evenly, +is a trill indeed! I never had any difficulty in +acquiring it, and can keep on trilling indefinitely +without the slightest unevenness or +slackening of speed. Auer himself has assured +me that I have a trill that runs on and +on without a sign of fatigue or uncertainty. +The trill has to be practiced very slowly at +first, later with increasing rapidity, and always +with a firm pressure of the fingers. It is a +very beautiful embellishment, and one much +used; one finds it in Beethoven, Mendelssohn, +Brahms, etc.</p> + +<p>"Double notes never seemed hard to me, but +harmonics are not as easily acquired as some +of the other violin effects. I advise pressing +down the first finger on the strings <i>inordinately</i>, +especially in the higher positions, when +playing artificial harmonics. The higher the +fingers ascend on the strings, the more firmly +they should press them, otherwise the harmonics +are apt to grow shrill and lose in clearness. +The majority of students have trouble with +their harmonics, because they do not practice +them in this way. Of course the quality of the +harmonics produced varies with the quality of +the strings that produce them. First class +strings are an absolute necessity for the production +of pure harmonics. Yet in the case +of the artist, he himself is held responsible, and +not his strings.</p> + +<p>"Octaves? Occasionally, as in Auer's +transcript of Beethoven's <i>Dance of the Dervishes</i>, +or in the closing section of the Ernst +Concerto, when they are used to obtain a certain +weird effect, they sound well. But ordinarily, +if cleanly played, they sound like one-note +successions. In the examples mentioned, +the so-called 'fingered octaves,' which are very +difficult, are employed. Ordinary octaves are +not so troublesome. After all, in octave playing +we simply double the notes for the purpose +of making them more powerful.</p> + +<p>"As regards the playing of tenths, it seems +to me that the interval always sounds constrained, +and hardly ever euphonious enough +to justify its difficulty, especially in rapid passages. +Yet Paganini used this awkward interval +very freely in his compositions, and one +of his 'Caprices' is a variation in tenths, which +should be played more often than it is, as it +is very effective. In this connection change +of position, which I have already touched on +with regard to scale playing, should be so +smooth that it escapes notice. Among special +effects the <i>glissando</i> is really beautiful when +properly done. And this calls for judgment. +It might be added, though, that the <i>glissando</i> +is an effect which should not be overdone. The +<i>portamento</i>—gliding from one note to another—is +also a lovely effect. Its proper and +timely application calls for good judgment and +sound musical taste.</p> + + +<h4><br />A SPANISH VIOLIN</h4> + +<p>"I usually play a 'Strad,' but very often turn +to my beautiful 'Guillami,'" said Mr. Brown +when asked about his violins. "It is an old +Spanish violin, made in Barcelona, in 1728, +with a tone that has a distinct Stradivarius +character. In appearance it closely resembles +a Guadagnini, and has often been taken for +one. When the dealer of whom I bought it +first showed it to me it was complete—but in +four distinct pieces! Kubelik, who was in +Budapest at the time, heard of it and wanted +to buy it; but the dealer, as was only right, +did not forget that my offer represented a +prior claim, and so I secured it. The Guadagnini, +which I have played in all my concerts +here, I am very fond of—it has a Stradivarius +tone rather than the one we usually associate +with the make." Mr. Brown showed the +writer his Grancino, a beautiful little instrument +about to be sent to the repair shop, since +exposure to the damp atmosphere of the sea-shore +had opened its seams—and the rare and +valuable Simon bow, now his, which had once +been the property of Sivori. Mr. Brown has +used a wire E ever since he broke six gut +strings in one hour while at Seal Harbor, +Maine. "A wire string, I find, is not only +easier to play, but it has a more brilliant quality +of tone than a gut string; and I am now +so accustomed to using a wire E, that I would +feel ill at ease if I did not have one on my instrument. +Contrary to general belief, it does +not sound 'metallic,' unless the string itself is +of very poor quality.</p> + + +<h4><br />PROGRAMS</h4> + +<p>"In making up a recital program I try to +arrange it so that the first half, approximately, +may appeal to the more specifically musical +part of my audience, and to the critics. In the +second half I endeavor to remember the general +public; at the same time being careful to +include nothing which is not really <i>musical</i>. +This (Mr. Brown found one of his recent programs +on his desk and handed it to me) represents +a logical compromise between the +strictly artistic and the more general taste:"</p> + + +<h5>PROGRAM</h5> + +<h5> +I. Beethoven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sonata Op. 47 (dedicated to Kreutzer)<br /> +II. Bruch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Concerto (G minor)<br /> +III. (a) Beethoven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Romance (in G major)<br /> +(b) Beethoven-Auer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chorus of the Dervishes<br /> +(c) Brown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rondino (on a Cramer theme)<br /> +(d) Arbos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tango<br /> +IV. (a) Kreisler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . La Gitana<br /> +(Arabo-Spanish Gipsy Dance of the 18th Century)<br /> +(b) Cui. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orientale<br /> +(c) Bazzini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . La Ronde des Lutins<br /> +</h5> + + +<p>"As you see there are two extended serious +works, followed by two smaller 'groups' of +pieces. And these have also been chosen with +a view to contrast. The <i>finale</i> of the Bruch +concerto is an <i>allegro energico</i>: I follow it with +a Beethoven <i>Romance</i>, a slow movement. The +second group begins with a taking Kreisler +novelty, which is succeeded by another slow +number; but one very effective in its working-up; +and I end my program with a brilliant virtuoso number.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"My own personal conception of violin mastery," +concluded Mr. Brown, "might be defined +as follows: 'An individual tone production, +or rather tone quality, consummate musicianship +in phrasing and interpretation, ability +to rise above all mechanical and intellectual +effort, and finally the power to express that +which is dictated by one's imagination and +emotion, with the same natural simplicity and +spontaneity with which the thought of a really +great orator is expressed in the easy, unconstrained +flow of his language.'"</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>IV</h3> + + +<h2><br />MISCHA ELMAN</h2> + +<h3>LIFE AND COLOR IN INTERPRETATION.<br /> +TECHNICAL PHASES</h3> + + +<p><br />To hear Mischa Elman on the concert platform, +to listen to him play, "with all that +wealth of tone, emotion and impulse which +places him in the very foremost rank of living +violinists," should be joy enough for any +music lover. To talk with him in his own +home, however, gives one a deeper insight into +his art as an interpreter; and in the pleasant +intimacy of familiar conversation the writer +learned much that the serious student of the +violin will be interested in knowing.</p> + + + +<!-- Picture of MISCHA ELMAN, Facing Page 38--> + +<a name="F_Page_38" id="F_Page_38"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p038a_m.jpg" width="534" height="700" alt="F_Page_38" title="MISCHA ELMAN" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Mischa Elman</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + + +<h4><br />MANNERISMS IN PLAYING</h4> + +<p>We all know that Elman, when he plays in +public, moves his head, moves his body, sways +in time to the music; in a word there are certain +mannerisms associated with his playing +which critics have on occasion mentioned with +grave suspicion, as evidences of sensationalism. +Half fearing to insult him by asking whether +he was "sincere," or whether his motions were +"stage business" carefully rehearsed, as had +been implied, I still ventured the question. +He laughed boyishly and was evidently much amused.</p> + +<p>"No, no," he said. "I do not study up any +'stage business' to help out my playing! I do +not know whether I ought to compare myself +to a dancer, but the appeal of the dance is in +all musical movement. Certain rhythms and +musical combinations affect me subconsciously. +I suppose the direct influence of the +music on me is such that there is a sort of emotional +reflex: I move with the music in an unconscious +translation of it into gesture. It is +all so individual. The French violinists as a +rule play very correctly in public, keeping +their eye on finger and bow. And this appeals +to me strongly in theory. In practice I seem +to get away from it. It is a matter of temperament +I presume. I am willing to believe I'm +not graceful, but then—I do not know whether +I move or do not move! Some of my friends +have spoken of it to me at various times, so I +suppose I do move, and sway and all the rest; +but any movements of the sort must be unconscious, +for I myself know nothing of them. +And the idea that they are 'prepared' as 'stage +effects' is delightful!" And again Elman laughed.</p> + + +<h4><br />LIFE AND COLOR IN INTERPRETATION</h4> + +<p>"For that matter," he continued, "every real +artist has some mannerisms when playing, I +imagine. Yet more than mannerisms are +needed to impress an American audience. Life +and color in interpretation are the true secrets +of great art. And beauty of interpretation +depends, first of all, on variety of color. Technic +is, after all, only secondary. No matter +how well played a composition be, its performance +must have color, <i>nuance</i>, movement, life! +Each emotional mood of the moment must be +fully expressed, and if it is its appeal is sure. +I remember when I once played for Don Manuel, +the young ex-king of Portugal, in London, +I had an illustration of the fact. He was +just a pathetic boy, very democratic, and personally +very likable. He was somewhat neglected +at the time, for it is well known and not +altogether unnatural, that royalty securely established +finds 'kings in exile' a bit embarrassing. +Don Manuel was a music-lover, and especially +fond of Bach. I had had long talks +with the young king at various times, and my +sympathies had been aroused in his behalf. On +the evening of which I speak I played a Chopin +<i>Nocturne</i>, and I know that into my playing +there went some of my feeling for the +pathos of the situation of this young stranger +in a strange land, of my own age, eating the +bitter bread of exile. When I had finished, +the Marchioness of Ripon touched my arm: +'Look at the King!' she whispered. Don Manuel +had been moved to tears.</p> + +<p>"Of course the purely mechanical must always +be dominated by the artistic personality +of the player. Yet technic is also an important +part of interpretation: knowing exactly +how long to hold a bow, the most delicate inflections +of its pressure on the strings. There +must be perfect sympathy also with the composer's +thought; his spirit must stand behind +the personality of the artist. In the case of +certain famous compositions, like the Beethoven +concerto, for instance, this is so well established +that the artist, and never the composer, +is held responsible if it is not well +played. But too rigorous an adherence to +'tradition' in playing is also an extreme. I +once played privately for Joachim in Berlin: +it was the Bach <i>Chaconne</i>. Now the edition +I used was a standard one: and Joachim was +extremely reverential as regards traditions. +Yet he did not hesitate to indicate some +changes which he thought should be made in +the version of an authoritative edition, because +'they sounded better.' And 'How does it +sound?' is really the true test of all interpretation."</p> + + +<h4><br />ABSOLUTE PITCH THE FIRST ESSENTIAL OF A<br /> +PERFECTED TECHNIC</h4> + +<p>"What is the fundamental of a perfected +violin technic?" was a natural question at this +point. "Absolute pitch, first of all," replied +Elman promptly. "Many a violinist plays a +difficult passage, sounding every note; and yet +it sounds out of tune. The first and second +movements of the Beethoven concerto have no +double-stops; yet they are extremely difficult +to play. Why? Because they call for absolute +pitch: they must be played in perfect tune +so that each tone stands out in all its fullness +and clarity like a rock in the sea. And without +a fundamental control of pitch such a master +work will always be beyond the violinist's +reach. Many a player has the facility; but +without perfect intonation he can never attain +the highest perfection. On the other hand, +any one who can play a single phrase in absolute +pitch has the first and great essential. +Few artists, not barring some of the greatest, +play with perfect intonation. Its control depends +first of all on the ear. And a sensitive +ear finds differences and shading; it bids the +violinist play a trifle sharper, a trifle flatter, +according to the general harmonic color of the +accompaniment; it leads him to observe a difference, +when the harmonic atmosphere demands +it, between a C sharp in the key of E +major and a D flat in the same key.</p> + + +<h4><br />TECHNICAL PHASES</h4> + +<p>"Every player finds some phases of technic +easy and others difficult. For instance, I have +never had to work hard for quality of tone—when +I wish to get certain color effects they +come: I have no difficulty in expressing my +feelings, my emotions in tone. And in a technical +way <i>spiccato</i> bowing, which many find so +hard, has always been easy to me. I have +never had to work for it. Double-stops, on +the contrary, cost me hours of intensive work +before I played them with ease and facility. +What did I practice? Scales in double-stops—they +give color and variety to tone. And +I gave up a certain portion of my regular practice +time to passages from concertos and sonatas. +There is wonderful work in double-stops +in the Ernst concerto and in the Paganini +<i>Études</i>, for instance. With octaves and +tenths I have never had any trouble: I have a +broad hand and a wide stretch, which accounts +for it, I suppose.</p> + +<p>"Then there are harmonics, flageolets—I, +have never been able to understand why they +should be considered so difficult! They should +not be white, colorless; but call for just as +much color as any other tones (and any one +who has heard Mischa Elman play harmonics +knows that this is no mere theory on his part). +I never think of harmonics as 'harmonics,' but +try to give them just as much expressive quality +as the notes of any other register. The +mental attitude should influence their production—too +many violinists think of them only +as incidental to pyrotechnical display.</p> + +<p>"And fingering? Fingering in general +seems to me to be an individual matter. A +concert artist may use a certain fingering for +a certain passage which no pupil should use, +and be entirely justified if he can thus secure +a certain effect.</p> + +<p>"I do not—speaking out of my own experience—believe +much in methods: and never to +the extent that they be allowed to kill the student's +individuality. A clear, clean tone +should always be the ideal of his striving. And +to that end he must see that the up and down +bows in a passage like the following from the +Bach sonata in A minor (and Mr. Elman hastily +jotted down the subjoined) are absolutely</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p060_1a.png" width="396" height="101" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /><br /></div> + + +<p>even, and of the same length, played with the +same strength and length of bow, otherwise +the notes are swallowed. In light <i>spiccato</i> +and <i>staccato</i> the detached notes should be +played always with a single stroke of the bow. +Some players, strange to say, find <i>staccato</i> +notes more difficult to play at a moderate +tempo than fast. I believe it to be altogether +a matter of control—if proper control be there +the tempo makes no difference. Wieniawski, +I have read, could only play his <i>staccati</i> at a +high rate of speed. <i>Spiccato</i> is generally held +to be more difficult than <i>staccato</i>; yet I myself +find it easier.</p> + + +<h4><br />PROPORTION IN PRACTICE</h4> + +<p>"To influence a clear, singing tone with the +left hand, to phrase it properly with the bow +hand, is most important. And it is a matter +of proportion. Good phrasing is spoiled by +an ugly tone: a beautiful singing tone loses +meaning if improperly phrased. When the +student has reached a certain point of technical +development, technic must be a secondary—yet +not neglected—consideration, and he +should devote himself to the production of a +good tone. Many violinists have missed their +career by exaggerated attention to either bow +or violin hand. Both hands must be watched +at the same time. And the question of proportion +should always be kept in mind in practicing +studies and passages: pressure of fingers +and pressure of bow must be equalized, coordinated. +The teacher can only do a certain +amount: the pupil must do the rest.</p> + + +<h4><br />AUER AS A TEACHER</h4> + +<p>"Take Auer for example. I may call myself +the first real exponent of his school, in the +sense of making his name widely known. Auer +is a great teacher, and leaves much to the individuality +of his pupils. He first heard me +play at the Imperial Music School in Odessa, +and took me to Petrograd to study with him, +which I did for a year and four months. And +he could accomplish wonders! That one year +he had a little group of four pupils each one +better than the other—a very stimulating situation +for all of them. There was a magnetism +about him: he literally hypnotized his +pupils into doing better than their best—though +in some cases it was evident that once +the support of his magnetic personality was +withdrawn, the pupil fell back into the level +from which he had been raised for the time being.</p> + +<p>"Yet Auer respected the fact that temperamentally +I was not responsive to this form of +appeal. He gave me of his best. I never +practiced more than two or three hours a day—just +enough to keep fresh. Often I came +to my lesson unprepared, and he would have +me play things—sonatas, concertos—which I +had not touched for a year or more. He was a +severe critic, but always a just one.</p> + +<p>"I can recall how proud I was when he sent +me to beautiful music-loving Helsingfors, in +Finland—where all seems to be bloodshed and +confusion now—to play a recital in his own +stead on one occasion, and how proud he was +of my success. Yet Auer had his little peculiarities. +I have read somewhere that the +great fencing-masters of the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries were very jealous of the +secrets of their famous feints and <i>ripostes</i>, and +only confided them to favorite pupils who +promised not to reveal them. Auer had his +little secrets, too, with which he was loth to +part. When I was to make my <i>début</i> in Berlin, +I remember, he was naturally enough interested—since +I was his pupil—in my scoring +a triumph. And he decided to part with +some of his treasured technical thrusts and parries. +And when I was going over the Tschaikovsky +<i>D minor concerto</i> (which I was to +play), he would select a passage and say: +'Now I'll play this for you. If you catch it, +well and good; if not it is your own fault!' I +am happy to say that I did not fail to 'catch' +his meaning on any occasion. Auer really has +a wonderful intellect, and some secrets well +worth knowing. That he is so great an artist +himself on the instrument is the more remarkable, +since physically he was not exceptionally +favored. Often, when he saw me, he'd say +with a sigh: 'Ah, if I only had your hand!'</p> + +<p>"Auer was a great virtuoso player. He +held a unique place in the Imperial Ballet. +You know in many of the celebrated ballets, +Tschaikovsky's for instance, there occur beautiful +and difficult solos for the violin. They +call for an artist of the first rank, and Auer +was accustomed to play them in Petrograd. +In Russia it was considered a decided honor +to be called upon to play one of those ballet +solos; but in London it was looked on as something +quite incidental. I remember when +Diaghilev presented Tschaikovsky's <i>Lac des +Cygnes</i> in London, the Grand-Duke Andrew +Vladimirev (who had heard me play), an amiable +young boy, and a patron of the arts, requested +me—and at that time the request of +a Romanov was still equivalent to a command—to +play the violin solos which accompany the +love scenes. It was not exactly easy, since +I had to play and watch dancers and conductor +at the same time. Yet it was a novelty for +London, however; everybody was pleased and +the Grand-Duke presented me with a handsome +diamond pin as an acknowledgment.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"You ask me what I understand by 'Violin +Mastery'? Well, it seems to me that the artist +who can present anything he plays as a distinct +picture, in every detail, framing the composer's +idea in the perfect beauty of his plastic +rendering, with absolute truth of color and +proportion—he is the artist who deserves to +be called a master!</p> + +<p>"Of course, the instrument the artist uses is +an important factor in making it possible for +him to do his best. My violin? It is an authentic +Strad—dated 1722. I bought it of +Willy Burmester in London. You see he did +not care much for it. The German style of +playing is not calculated to bring out the tone +beauty, the quality of the old Italian fiddles. +I think Burmester had forced the tone, and it +took me some time to make it mellow and +truly responsive again, but now...." Mr. +Elman beamed. It was evident he was satisfied +with his instrument. "As to strings," he continued, +"I never use wire strings—they have +no color, no quality!</p> + + +<h4><br />WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW</h4> + +<p>"For the advanced student there is a wealth +of study material. No one ever wrote more +beautiful violin music than Haendel, so rich in +invention, in harmonic fullness. In Beethoven +there are more ideas than tone—but such ideas! +Schubert—all genuine, spontaneous! Bach is +so gigantic that the violin often seems inadequate +to express him. That is one reason why +I do not play more Bach in public.</p> + +<p>"The study of a sonata or concerto should +entirely absorb the attention of the student to +such a degree that, as he is able to play it, it +has become a part of him. He should be able +to play it as though it were an improvisation—of +course without doing violence to the composer's +idea. If he masters the composition in +the way it should be mastered it becomes a +portion of himself. Before I even take up my +violin I study a piece thoroughly in score. I +read and reread it until I am at home with +the composer's thought, and its musical balance +and proportion. Then, when I begin to +play it, its salient points are already memorized, +and the practicing gives me a kind of +photographic reflex of detail. After I have +not played a number for a long time it fades +from my memory—like an old negative—but I +need only go over it once or twice to have a +clear mnemonic picture of it once more.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe in transcriptions for the violin—with +certain provisos," said Mr. Elman, in +reply to another question. "First of all the +music to be transcribed must lend itself naturally +to the instrument. Almost any really +good melodic line, especially a <i>cantilena</i>, will +sound with a fitting harmonic development. +Violinists of former days like Spohr, Rode and +Paganini were more intent on composing music +<i>out of the violin</i>! The modern idea lays stress +first of all on the <i>idea</i> in music. In transcribing +I try to forget I am a violinist, in order +to form a perfect picture of the musical idea—its +violinistic development must be a natural, +subconscious working-out. If you will look +at some of my recent transcripts—the Albaniz +<i>Tango</i>, the negro melody <i>Deep River</i> and +Amani's fine <i>Orientale</i>—you will see what I +mean. They are conceived as pictures—I have +not tried to analyze too much—and while so +conceiving them their free harmonic background +shapes itself for me without strain or effort.</p> + + +<h4><br />A REMINISCENCE OF COLONNE</h4> + +<p>"Conductors with whom I have played? +There are many: Hans Richter, who was a +master of the baton; Nikisch, one of the greatest +in conducting the orchestral accompaniment +to a violin solo number; Colonne of Paris, +and many others. I had an amusing experience +with Colonne once. He brought his orchestra +to Russia while I was with Auer, and was +giving a concert at Pavlovsk, a summer resort +near Petrograd. Colonne had a perfect horror +of 'infant prodigies,' and Auer had arranged +for me to play with his orchestra without +telling him my age—I was eleven at the +time. When Colonne saw me, violin in hand, +ready to step on the stage, he drew himself +up and said with emphasis: 'I play with a +prodigy! Never!' Nothing could move him, +and I had to play to a piano accompaniment. +After he had heard me play, though, he came +over to me and said: 'The best apology I can +make for what I said is to ask you to do me the +honor of playing with the <i>Orchestre Colonne</i> +in Paris.' He was as good as his word. Four +months later I went to Paris and played the +Mendelssohn concerto for him with great success."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>V</h3> + + +<h2><br />SAMUEL GARDNER</h2> + +<h3>TECHNIC AND MUSICIANSHIP</h3> + + +<p><br />Samuel Gardner, though born in Jelisavetgrad, +Cherson province, in Southern Russia, +in 1891, is to all intents and purposes an +American, since his family, fleeing the tyranny +of an Imperialistic regime of "pogroms" +and "Black Hundreds," brought him +to this country when a mere child; and here in +the United States he has become, to quote +Richard Aldrich, "the serious and accomplished +artist," whose work on the concert +stage has given such pleasure to lovers of violin +music at its best. The young violinist, who in +the course of the same week had just won two +prizes in composition—the Pulitzer Prize +(Columbia) for a string quartet, and the Loeb +Prize for a symphonic poem—was amiably +willing to talk of his study experience for the +benefit of other students.</p> + + +<h4><br />CHARLES MARTIN LOEFFLER AND<br /> +FELIX WINTERNITZ AS TEACHERS</h4> + +<p>"I took up the study of the violin at +the age of seven, and when I was nine I +went to Charles Martin Loeffler and really +began to work seriously. Loeffler was a very +strict teacher and very exacting, but he +achieved results, for he had a most original +way of making his points clear to the student. +He started off with the Sevčik studies, laying +great stress on the proper finger articulation. +And he taught me absolute smoothness in +change of position when crossing the strings. +For instance, in the second book of Sevčik's +'Technical Exercises,' in the third exercise, +the bow crosses from G to A, and from D to E, +leaving a string between in each crossing. Well, +I simply could not manage to get to the second +string to be played without the string in between +sounding! Loeffler showed me what every +good fiddler <i>must</i> learn to do: to leap from +the end of the down-bow to the up-bow and +<i>vice versa</i> and then hesitate the fraction of a +moment, thus securing a smooth, clean-cut +tone, without any vibration of the intermediate +string. Loeffler never gave a pupil any rest +until he came up to his requirements. I know +when I played the seventh and eighth Kreutzer +studies for him—they are trill studies—he +said: 'You trill like an electric bell, but not fast +enough!' And he kept at me to speed up my +tempo without loss of clearness or tone-volume, +until I could do justice to a rapid trill. +It is a great quality in a teacher to be literally +able to <i>enforce</i> the pupil's progress in certain +directions; for though the latter may not appreciate +it at the time, later on he is sure to do +so. I remember once when he was trying to +explain the perfect <i>crescendo</i> to me, fire-engine +bells began to ring in the distance, the +sound gradually drawing nearer the house in +Charles Street where I was taking my lesson. +'There you have it!' Loeffler cried: 'There's +your ideal <i>crescendo</i>! Play it like that and I +will be satisfied!' I remained with Loeffler a +year and a half, and when he went to Paris began +to study with Felix Winternitz.</p> + +<p>"Felix Winternitz was a teacher who allowed +his pupils to develop individuality. 'I +care nothing for theories,' he used to say, 'so +long as I can see something original in your +work!' He attached little importance to the +theory of technic, but a great deal to technical +development along individual lines. And he +always encouraged me to express myself freely, +within my limitations, stressing the musical +side of my work. With him I played through +the concertos which, after a time, I used for +technical material, since every phase of technic +and bowing is covered in these great works. I +was only fifteen when I left Winternitz and +still played by instinct rather than intellectually. +I still used my bow arm somewhat +stiffly, and did not think much about phrasing. +I instinctively phrased whatever the music itself +made clear to me, and what I did not understand +I merely played.</p> + + +<h4><br />KNEISEL'S TEACHING METHODS</h4> + +<p>"But when I came to Franz Kneisel, my last +teacher, I began to work with my mind. +Kneisel showed me that I had to think when I +played. At first I did not realize why he kept +at me so insistently about phrasing, interpretation, +the exact observance of expression marks; +but eventually it dawned on me that he was +teaching me to read a soul into each composition +I studied.</p> + +<p>"I practiced hard, from four to five hours +a day. Fortunately, as regards technical equipment, +I was ready for Kneisel's instruction. +The first thing he gave me to study was, not a +brilliant virtuoso piece, but the Bach concerto +in E major, and then the Viotti concerto. In +the beginning, until Kneisel showed me, I did +not know what to do with them. This was +music whose notes in themselves were easy, and +whose difficulties were all of an individual order. +But intellectual analysis, interpretation, +are Kneisel's great points. A strict teacher, I +worked with him for five years, the most remarkable +years of all my violin study.</p> + +<p>"Kneisel knows how to develop technical +perfection without using technical exercises. +I had already played the Mendelssohn, Bruch +and Lalo concertos with Winternitz, and these +I now restudied with Kneisel. In interpretation +he makes clear every phrase in its relation +to every other phrase and the movement as a +whole. And he insists on his pupils studying +theory and composition—something I had +formerly not been inclined to take seriously.</p> + +<p>"Some teachers are satisfied if the student +plays his <i>notes</i> correctly, in a general way. +With Kneisel the very least detail, a trill, a +scale, has to be given its proper tone-color and +dynamic shading in absolute proportion with +the balancing harmonies. This trill, in the +first movement of the Beethoven concerto—(and +Mr. Gardner jotted it down)</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p074_1a.png" width="600" height="130" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + +<p>Kneisel kept me at during the entire lesson, +till I was able to adjust its tone-color and +<i>nuances</i> to the accompanying harmony. Then, +though many teachers do not know it, it is a +tradition in the orchestra to make a <i>diminuendo</i> +in the sixth measure, before the change of key +to C major, and this <i>diminuendo</i> should, of +course, be observed by the solo instrument as +well. Yet you will hear well-known artists +play the trill throughout with a loud, brilliant +tone and no dynamic change!</p> + +<p>"Kneisel makes it a point to have all his +pupils play chamber music because of its truly +broadening influence. And he is unexcelled +in taking apart structurally the Beethoven, +Brahms, Tschaikovsky and other quartets, in +analyzing and explaining the wonderful planning +and building up of each movement. I +had the honor of playing second violin in the +Kneisel Quartet from September to February +(1914-1915), at the outbreak of the war, a +most interesting experience. The musicianship +Kneisel had given me; I was used to his style +and at home with his ideas, and am happy to +think that he was satisfied. A year later as +assistant concertmaster in the Chicago Symphony +Orchestra, I had a chance to become +practically acquainted with the orchestral +works of Strauss, d'Indy and other moderns, +and enjoy the Beethoven, Brahms and Tschaikovsky +symphonies as a performer.</p> + + +<h4><br />TECHNIC AND MUSICIANSHIP</h4> + +<p>"How do I regard technic now? I think of +it in the terms of the music itself. Music should +dictate the technical means to be used. The +composition and its phrases should determine +bowing and the tone quality employed. One +should not think of down-bows or up-bows. +In the Brahms concerto you can find many +long phrases: they cannot be played with one +bow; yet there must be no apparent change of +bow. If the player does not know what the +phrase means; how to interpret it, how will +he be able to bow it correctly?</p> + +<p>"And there are so many different <i>nuances</i>, +especially in <i>legato</i>. It is as a rule produced +by a slurred bow; yet it may also be produced +by other bowings. To secure a good <i>legato</i> +tone watch the singer. The singer can establish +the perfect smoothness that <i>legato</i> calls +for to perfection. To secure a like effect the +violinist should convey the impression that +there is no point, no frog, that the bow he uses +is of indefinite length. And the violinist should +never think: 'I must play this up-bow or down-bow.' +Artists of the German school are more +apt to begin a phrase with a down-bow; the +French start playing a good deal at the point. +Up or down, both are secondary to finding out, +first of all, what quality, what balance of tone +the phrase demands. The conductor of a symphonic +orchestra does not care how, technically, +certain effects are produced by the violins, +whether they use an up-bow or a down-bow. +He merely says: 'That's too heavy: give me +less tone!' The result to be achieved is always +more important than the manner of achievement.</p> + +<p>"All phases of technical accomplishment, if +rightly acquired, tend to become second nature +to the player in the course of time: <i>staccato</i>, a +brilliant trick; <i>spiccato</i>, the reiteration of notes +played from the wrist, etc. The <i>martellato</i>, a +<i>nuance</i> of <i>spiccato</i>, should be played with a +firm bowing at the point. In a very broad +<i>spiccato</i>, the arm may be brought into play; +but otherwise not, since it makes rapid playing +impossible. Too many amateurs try to +play <i>spiccato</i> from the arm. And too many +teachers are contented with a trill that is +merely brilliant. Kneisel insists on what he +calls a 'musical trill,' of which Kreisler's beautiful +trill is a perfect example. The trill of some +violinists is <i>invariably</i> brilliant, whether brilliancy +is appropriate or not. Brilliant trills +in Bach always seem out of place to me; while +in Paganini and in Wieniawski's <i>Carnaval de +Venise</i> a high brilliant trill is very effective.</p> + +<p>"As to double-stops—Edison once said that +violin music should be written only in double-stops—I +practice them playing first the single +notes and then the two together, and can +recommend this mode of practice from personal +experience. Harmonics, where clarity is +the most important thing, are mainly a matter +of bowing, of a sure attack and sustaining by +the bow. Of course the harmonics themselves +are made by the fingers; but their tone quality +rests altogether with the bow.</p> + + +<h4><br />EDISON AND OCTAVES</h4> + +<p>"The best thing I've ever heard said of octaves +was Edison's remark to me that 'They +are merely a nuisance and should not be +played!' I was making some records for him +during the experimental stage of the disk record, +when he was trying to get an absolutely +smooth <i>legato</i> tone, one that conformed to +Loeffler's definition of it as 'no breaks' in the +tone. He had had Schubert's <i>Ave Maria</i> recorded +by Flesch, MacMillan and others, and +wanted me to play it for him. The records +were all played for me, and whenever he came +to the octave passages Edison would say: +'Listen to them! How badly they sound!' Yet +the octaves were absolutely in tune! 'Why do +they sound so badly?' I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Then Edison explained to me that according +to the scientific theory of vibration, the +vibrations of the higher tone of the octaves +should be exactly twice those of the lower note. +'But here,' he continued, 'the vibrations of the +notes all vary.' 'Yet how can the player control +his fingers in the <i>vibrato</i> beyond playing +his octaves in perfect tune?' I asked. 'Well, +if he cannot do so,' said Edison, 'octaves are +merely a nuisance, and should not be played at +all.' I experimented and found that by simply +pressing down the fingers and playing without +any <i>vibrato</i>, I could come pretty near securing +the exact relation between the vibrations +of the upper and lower notes but—they +sounded dreadful! Of course, octaves sound +well in <i>ensemble</i>, especially in the orchestra, +because each player plays but a single note. +And tenths sound even better than octaves +when two people play them.</p> + + +<h4><br />WIRE AND GUT STRINGS</h4> + +<p>"You ask about my violin? It belonged to +the famous Hawley collection, and is a Giovanni +Baptista Guadignini, made in 1780, in +Turin. The back is a single piece of maple-wood, +having a broadish figure extending +across its breadth. The maple-wood sides +match the back. The top is formed of a very +choice piece of spruce, and it is varnished a +deep golden-red. It has a remarkably fine +tone, very vibrant and with great carrying +power, a tone that has all that I can ask for as +regards volume and quality.</p> + +<p>"I think that wire strings are largely used +now-a-days because gut strings are hard to +obtain—not because they are better. I do not +use wire strings. I have tried them and find +them thin in tone, or so brilliant that their tone +is too piercing. Then, too, I find that the use +of a wire E reduces the volume of tone of the +other strings. No wire string has the quality +of a fine gut string; and I regard them only +as a substitute in the case of some people, and +a convenience for lazy ones.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"Violin Mastery? Off-hand I might say the +phrase stands for a life-time of effort with its +highest aims unattained. As I see it the achievement +of violin mastery represents a combination +of 90 per cent. of toil and 10 per cent. of +talent or inspiration. Goetschius, with whom +I studied composition, once said to me: 'I do +not congratulate you on having talent. That +is a gift. But I do congratulate you on being +able to work hard!' The same thing applies +to the fiddle. It seems to me that only by keeping +everlastingly at it can one become a master +of the instrument."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>VI</h3> + + +<h2><br />ARTHUR HARTMANN</h2> + +<h3>THE PROBLEM OF TECHNIC</h3> + + +<p><br />Arthur Hartmann is distinctly and unmistakably +a personality. He stands out even +in that circle of distinguished contemporary +violinists which is so largely made up of personalities. +He is a composer—not only of +violin pieces, but of symphonic and choral +works, chamber music, songs and piano numbers. +His critical analysis of Bach's <i>Chaconne</i>, +translated into well-nigh every tongue, is probably +the most complete and exhaustive study +of "that triumph of genius over matter" written. +And besides being a master of his own instrument +he plays the <i>viola d'amore</i>, that +sweet-toned survival, with sympathetic strings, +of the 17th century viol family, and the Hungarian +<i>czimbalom</i>. Nor is his mastery of the +last-named instrument "out of drawing," for +we must remember that Mr. Hartmann was +born in Maté Szalka, in Southern Hungary. +Then, too, Mr. Hartmann is a genial and original +thinker, a <i>littérateur</i> of no mean ability, +a bibliophile, the intimate of the late Claude +Debussy, and of many of the great men of +musical Europe. Yet from the reader's standpoint +the interest he inspires is, no doubt, +mainly due to the fact that not only is he a +great interpreting artist—but a great artist +doubled by a great teacher, an unusual combination.</p> + + +<!-- Picture of ARTHUR HARTMANN, Facing Page 66--> + +<a name="F_Page_66" id="F_Page_66"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p066a_m.jpg" width="602" height="700" alt="F_Page_66" title="ARTHUR HARTMANN" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Arthur Hartmann</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<p>Characteristic of Mr. Hartmann's hospitality +(the writer had passed a pleasant hour with +him some years before, but had not seen him +since), was the fact that he insisted in brewing +Turkish coffee, and making his caller feel quite +at home before even allowing him to broach the +subject of his visit. And when he learned +that its purpose was to draw on his knowledge +and experience for information which would +be of value to the serious student and lover of +his art, he did not refuse to respond.</p> + + +<h4><br />WHAT VIOLIN PLAYING REALLY IS</h4> + +<p>"Violin playing is really no abstract mystery. +It's as clear as geography in a way: one +might say the whole art is bounded on the +South by the G string, on the North by the E +string, on the West by the string hand—and +that's about as far as the comparison may be +carried out. The point is, there are definite +boundaries, whose technical and esthetic limits +may be extended, and territorial annexations +made through brain power, mental control. To +me 'Violin Mastery' means taking this little +fiddle-box in hand [and Mr. Hartmann suited +action to word by raising the lid of his violin-case +and drawing forth his beautiful 1711 +Strad], and doing just what I want with it. +And that means having the right finger on the +right place at the right time—but don't forget +that to be able to do this you must have forgotten +to think of your fingers as fingers. They +should be simply unconscious slaves of the +artist's psychic expression, absolutely subservient +to his ideal. Too many people reverse +the process and become slaves to their fingers.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE PROBLEM OF TECHNIC</h4> + +<p>"Technic, for instance, in its mechanical +sense, is a much exaggerated microbe of <i>Materia +musica</i>. All technic must conform to its +instrument.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> The violin was made to suit the +hand, not the hand to suit the violin, hence its +technic must be based on a natural logic of +hand movement. The whole problem of technical +control is encountered in the first change +of position on the violin. If we violinists could +play in but one position there would be no +technical problem. The solution of this problem +means, speaking broadly, the ability to +play the violin—for there is only one way of +playing it—with a real, full, singing 'violin' +tone. It's not a question of a method, but +just a process based on pure reason, the working +out of rational principles.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> This is the idea which underlies my system for ear-training +and absolute pitch, "Arthur Hartmann's System," as I call it, +which I have published. A.H.</p></div> + +<p>"What is the secret of this singing tone? +Well, you may call it a secret, for many of my +pupils have no inkling of it when they first +come here, though it seems very much of an +'open secret' to me. The finished beauty of the +violin 'voice' is a round, sustained, absolutely +smooth <i>cantabile</i> tone. Now [Mr. Hartmann +took up his Strad], I'll play you the scale of +G as the average violin student plays it. You +see—each slide from one tone to the next, a +break—a rosary of lurches! How can there +be a round, harmonious tone when the fingers +progress by jerks? Shifting position must not +be a continuous movement of effort, but a continuous +movement in which effort and relaxation—that +of dead weight—alternate. As an +illustration, when we walk we do not consciously +set down one foot, and then swing forward +the other foot and leg with a jerk. The +forward movement is smooth, unconscious, coordinated: +in putting the foot forward it carries +the weight of the entire body, the movement +becomes a matter of instinct. And the +same applies to the progression of the fingers +in shifting the position of the hand. Now, +playing the scale as I now do—only two fingers +should be used—</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p087_1a.png" width="554" height="175" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + +<p>I prepare every shift. Absolute accuracy of +intonation and a singing legato is the result. +These guiding notes indicated are merely a +test to prove the scientific spacing of the violin; +they are not sounded once control of the hand +has been obtained. <i>They serve only to accustom +the fingers to keep moving in the direction +in which they are going.</i></p> + +<p>"The tone is produced by the left hand, by +the weight of the fingers plus an undercurrent +of sustained effort. Now, you see, <i>if in +the moment of sliding you prepare the bow for +the next string, the slide itself is lost in the +crossing of the bow</i>. To carry out consistently +this idea of effort and relaxation in the downward +progression of the scale, you will find +that when you are in the third position, the position +of the hand is practically the same as in +the first position. Hence, in order to go down +from third to first position with the hand in +what might be called a 'block' position, another +movement is called for to bridge over this +space (between third and first position), and +this movement is the function of the thumb. +The thumb, preceding the hand, relaxes the +wrist and helps draw the hand back to first +position. But great care must be taken that +the thumb is not moved until the first finger +will have been played; otherwise there will be +a tendency to flatten. In the illustration the +indication for the thumb is placed after the +note played by the first finger.</p> + +<p>"The inviolable law of beautiful playing is +that there must be no angles. As I have shown +you, right and left hand coördinate. The fiddle +hand is preparing the change of position, while +the change of strings is prepared by the right +hand. And always the slides in the left hand +are prepared by the last played finger—<i>the +last played finger is the true guide to smooth +progression</i>—just as the bow hand prepares +the slides in the last played bowing. There +should be no such thing as jumping and trusting +in Providence to land right, and a curse +ought to be laid on those who let their fingers +leave the fingerboard. None who develop this +fundamental aspect of all good playing lose +the perfect control of position.</p> + +<p>"Of course there are a hundred <i>nuances</i> of +technic (into which the quality of good taste +enters largely) that one could talk of at +length: phrasing, and the subtle things happening +in the bow arm that influence it; <i>spiccato</i>, +whose whole secret is finding the right +point of balance in the bow and, with light +finger control, never allowing it to leave the +string. I've never been able to see the virtue +of octaves or the logic of double-stops. Like +tenths, one plays or does 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 +playing that counts. All violin playing in its +essence is the quest for color; its perfection, +that subtle art which hides art, and which is +so rarely understood."</p> + +<p>"Could you give me a few guiding rules, a +few Beatitudes, as it were, for the serious +student to follow?" I asked Mr. Hartmann. +Though the artist smiled at the idea of Beatitudes +for the violinist, yet he was finally +amiable enough to give me the following, telling +me I would have to take them for what +they were worth:</p> + + +<h4><br />NINE BEATITUDES FOR VIOLINISTS</h4> + +<p>"Blessed are they who early in life approach +Bach, for their love and veneration for music +will multiply with the years.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are they who remember their own +early struggles, for their merciful criticism will +help others to a greater achievement and furtherance +of the Divine Art.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are they who know their own limitations, +for they shall have joy in the accomplishment +of others.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are they who revere the teachers—their +own or those of others—and who remember +them with credit.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are they who, revering the old masters, +seek out the newer ones and do not begrudge +them a hearing or two.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are they who work in obscurity, +nor sound the trumpet, for Art has ever been +for the few, and shuns the vulgar blare of ignorance.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are they whom men revile as futurists +and modernists, for Art can evolve only +through the medium of iconoclastic spirits.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are they who unflinchingly serve +their Art, for thus only is their happiness to +be gained.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are they who have many enemies, +for square pegs will never fit into round holes."</p> + + +<h4><br />ARRANGING VERSUS TRANSCRIBING</h4> + +<p>Arthur Hartmann, like Kreisler, Elman, +Maud Powell and others of his colleagues, has +enriched the literature of the violin with some +notably fine transcriptions. And it is a subject +on which he has well-defined opinions and +regarding which he makes certain distinctions: +"An 'arrangement,'" he said, "as a rule, is a +purely commercial affair, into which neither art +nor æsthetics enter. It usually consists in +writing off the melody of a song—in other +words, playing the 'tune' on an instrument instead +of hearing it sung with words—or in the +case of a piano composition, in writing off the +upper voice, leaving the rest intact, regardless +of sonority, tone-color or even effectiveness, +and, furthermore, without consideration of the +idiomatic principles of the instrument to which +the adaptation was meant to fit.</p> + +<p>"A 'transcription,' on the other hand, can be +raised to the dignity of an art-work. Indeed, +at times it may even surpass the original, in +the quality of thought brought into the work, +the delicate and sympathetic treatment and +by the many <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'subleties'">subtleties</ins> which an artist can introduce +to make it thoroughly a <i>re-creation</i> of +his chosen instrument.</p> + +<p>"It is the transcriber's privilege—providing +he be sufficiently the artist to approach the +personality of another artist with reverence—to +donate his own gifts of ingenuity, and to +exercise his judgment in either adding, omitting, +harmonically or otherwise embellishing +the work (<i>while preserving the original idea +and characteristics</i>), so as to thoroughly <i>re-create</i> +it, so completely destroying the very +sensing of the original <i>timbre</i> that one involuntarily +exclaims, 'Truly, this never was anything +but a violin piece!' It is this, the blending and +fusion of two personalities in the achievement +of an art-ideal, that is the result of a true +adaptation.</p> + +<p>"Among the transcriptions I have most enjoyed +making were those of Debussy's <i>Il +pleure dans mon cœur</i>, and <i>La Fille aux +cheveaux de lin</i>. Debussy was my cherished +friend, and they represent a labor of love. +Though Debussy was not, generally speaking, +an advocate of transcriptions, he liked these, +and I remember when I first played <i>La Fille +aux cheveaux de lin</i> for him, and came to a bit +of counterpoint I had introduced in the violin +melody, whistling the harmonics, he nodded approvingly +with a '<i>pas bête ça!</i>' (Not stupid, that!)</p> + + +<h4><br />DEBUSSY'S POÈME FOR VIOLIN</h4> + +<p>"Debussy came near writing a violin piece +for me once!" continued Mr. Hartmann, and +brought out a folio containing letters the great +impressionist had written him. They were a +delightful revelation of the human side of +Debussy's character, and Mr. Hartmann +kindly consented to the quotation of one bearing +on the <i>Poème</i> for violin which Debussy had +promised to write for him, and which, alas, owing +to his illness and other reasons, never +actually came to be written:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"Dear Friend:</p> + +<p>"Of course I am working a great deal now, because +I feel the need of writing music, and would find it difficult +to build an aeroplane; yet at times Music is ill-natured, +even toward those who love her most! Then I +take my little daughter and my hat and go walking in +the Bois de Boulogne, where one meets people who have +come from afar to bore themselves in Paris.</p> + +<p>"I think of you, I might even say I am in need of you +(assume an air of exaltation and bow, if you please!) +As to the <i>Poème</i> for violin, you may rest assured that I +will write it. Only at the present moment I am so preoccupied +with the 'Fall of the House of Usher!' They +talk too much to me about it. I'll have to put an end to +all that or I will go mad. Once more I want to write it, +and above all <i>on your account</i>. And I believe you will be +the only one to play the <i>Poème</i>. Others will attempt it, +and then quickly return to the Mendelssohn Concerto!</p> + +<p>"Believe me always your sincere friend,</p> +<p><span class="sig">"Claude Debussy."</span></p> +</div> + + +<p><br />"He never did write it," said Mr. Hartmann, +"but it was not for want of good will. +As to other transcriptions, I have never done +any that I did not feel instinctively would make +good fiddle pieces, such as MacDowell's <i>To +a Wild Rose</i> and others of his compositions. +And recently I have transcribed some fine +Russian things—Gretchaninoff's <i>Chant d'Automne</i>, +Karagitscheff's <i>Exaltation</i>, Tschaikovsky's +<i>Humoresque</i>, Balakirew's <i>Chant du +Pechêur</i>, and Poldini's little <i>Poupée valsante</i>, +which Maud Powell plays so delightfully on +all her programs."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>VII</h3> + + +<h2><br />JASCHA HEIFETZ</h2> + +<h3>THE DANGER OF PRACTICING TOO MUCH.<br /> +TECHNICAL MASTERY AND<br /> +TEMPERAMENT</h3> + + +<p><br />Mature in virtuosity—the modern virtuosity +which goes so far beyond the mere technical +mastery that once made the term a reproach—though +young in years, Jascha Heifetz, when +one makes his acquaintance "off-stage," seems +singularly modest about the great gifts which +have brought him international fame. He is +amiable, unassuming and—the best proof, perhaps, +that his talent is a thing genuine and inborn, +not the result of a forcing process—he +has that broad interest in art and in life going +far beyond his own particular medium, the +violin, without which no artist may become +truly great. For Jascha Heifetz, with his +wonderful record of accomplishment achieved, +and with triumphs still to come before him, +does not believe in "all work and no play."</p> + + +<!-- Picture of JASCHA HEIFETZ, Facing Page 78--> + +<a name="F_Page_78" id="F_Page_78"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p078a_m.jpg" width="460" height="700" alt="F_Page_78" title="JASCHA HEIFETZ" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Jascha Heifetz</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<h4><br />THE DANGER OF PRACTICING TOO MUCH</h4> + +<p>He laughed when I put forward the theory +that he worked many hours a day, perhaps as +many as six or eight? "No," he said, "I do not +think I could ever have made any progress 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 as practicing too little! +And then there are so many other things I +like to do. I am fond of reading and I like +sport: tennis, golf, bicycle riding, boating, +swimming, etc. Often when I am supposed to +be practicing hard I am out with my camera, +taking pictures; for I have become what is +known as a 'camera fiend.' And just now I +have a new car, which I have learned to drive, +and which takes up a good deal of my time. +I have never believed in grinding. In fact I +think that if one has to work very hard to get +his piece, it will show in the execution. To interpret +music properly, it is necessary to +eliminate mechanical difficulty; the audience +should not feel the struggle of the artist with +what are considered hard passages. I hardly +ever practice more than three hours a day on +an average, and besides, I keep my Sunday +when I do not play at all, and sometimes I +make an extra holiday. As to six or seven +hours a day, I would not have been able to +stand it at all."</p> + +<p>I implied that what Mr. Heifetz said might +shock thousands of aspiring young violinists +for whom he pointed a moral: "Of course," his +answer was, "you must not take me too literally. +Please do not think because I do not +favor overdoing practicing that one can do +without it. I'm quite frank to say I could not +myself. But there is a happy medium. I +suppose that when I play in public it looks +easy, but before I ever came on the concert +stage I worked very hard. And I do yet—but +always putting the two things together, mental +work and physical work. And when a certain +point of effort is reached in practice, as in +everything else, there must be relaxation.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VIRTUOSE TECHNIC</h4> + +<p>"Have I what is called a 'natural' technic? +It is hard for me to say, perhaps so. But if +such is the case I had to develop it, to assure +it, to perfect it. If you start playing at three, +as I did, with a little violin one-quarter of the +regular size, I suppose violin playing becomes +second nature in the course of time. I was able +to find my way about in all seven positions +within a year's time, and could play the Kayser +<i>études</i>; but that does not mean to say I +was a virtuoso by any means.</p> + +<p>"My first teacher? My first teacher was my +father, a good violinist and concertmaster of +the Vilna Symphony Orchestra. My first appearance +in public took place in an overcrowded +auditorium of the Imperial Music +School in Vilna, Russia, when I was not quite +five. I played the <i>Fantaisie Pastorale</i> with +piano accompaniment. Later, at the age of six, +I played the Mendelssohn concerto in Kovno +to a full house. Stage-fright? No, I cannot +say I have ever had it. Of course, something +may happen to upset one before a concert, +and one does not feel quite at ease when first +stepping on the stage; but then I hope that +is not stage-fright!</p> + +<p>"At the Imperial Music School in Vilna, and +before, I worked at all the things every violinist +studies—I think that I played almost everything. +I did not work too hard, but I worked +hard enough. In Vilna my teacher was Malkin, +a pupil of Professor Auer, and when I +had graduated from the Vilna school I went to +Auer. Did I go directly to his classes? Well, +no, but I had only a very short time to wait +before I joined the classes conducted by Auer +personally.</p> + + +<h4><br />PROFESSOR AUER AS A TEACHER</h4> + +<p>"Yes, he is a wonderful and an incomparable +teacher; I do not believe there is one in the +world who can possibly approach him. Do not +ask me just how he does it, for I would not +know how to tell you. But he is different with +each pupil—perhaps that is one reason he is +so great a teacher. I think I was with Professor +Auer about six years, and I had both +class lessons and private lessons of him, though +toward the end my lessons were not so regular. +I never played exercises or technical works of +any kind for the Professor, but outside of +the big things—the concertos and sonatas, and +the shorter pieces which he would let me prepare—I +often chose what I wanted.</p> + +<p>"Professor Auer was a very active and +energetic teacher. He was never satisfied with +a mere explanation, unless certain it was understood. +He could always show you himself +with his bow and violin. The Professor's pupils +were supposed to have been sufficiently +advanced in the technic necessary for them to +profit by his wonderful lessons in interpretation. +Yet there were all sorts of technical +<i>finesses</i> which he had up his sleeve, any number +of fine, subtle points in playing as well as +interpretation which he would disclose to his +pupils. And the more interest and ability the +pupil showed, the more the Professor gave him +of himself! He is a very great teacher! Bowing, +the true art of bowing, is one of the greatest +things in Professor Auer's teaching. I +know when I first came to the Professor, he +showed me things in bowing I had never +learned in Vilna. It is hard to describe in +words (Mr. Heifetz illustrated with some of +those natural, unstrained movements of arm +and wrist which his concert appearances have +made so familiar), but bowing as Professor +Auer teaches it is a very special thing; the +movements of the bow become more easy, +graceful, less stiff.</p> + +<p>"In class there were usually from twenty-five +to thirty pupils. Aside from what we each +gained individually from the Professor's criticism +and correction, it was interesting to hear +the others who played before one's turn came, +because one could get all kinds of hints from +what Professor Auer told them. I know I always +enjoyed listening to Poliakin, a very +talented violinist, and Cécile Hansen, who attended +the classes at the same time I did. The +Professor was a stern and very exacting, but +a sympathetic, teacher. If our playing was +not just what it should be he always had a fund +of kindly humor upon which to draw. He +would anticipate our stock excuses and say: +'Well, I suppose you have just had your bow +rehaired!' or 'These new strings are very trying,' +or 'It's the weather that is against you +again, is it not?' or something of the kind. Examinations +were not so easy: we had to show +that we were not only soloists, but also sight +readers of difficult music.</p> + + +<h4><br />A DIFFICULTY OVERCOME</h4> + +<p>"The greatest technical difficulty I had when +I was studying?" Jascha Heifetz tried to +recollect, which was natural, seeing that it must +have been one long since overcome. Then he +remembered, and smiled: "<i>Staccato</i> playing. +To get a good <i>staccato</i>, when I first tried +seemed very hard to me. When I was younger, +really, at one time I had a very poor <i>staccato</i>!" +[I assured the young artist that any one who +heard him play here would find it hard to believe +this.] "Yes, I did," he insisted, "but one +morning, I do not know just how it was—I +was playing the <i>cadenza</i> in the first movement +of Wieniawski's F♯ minor concerto,—it is full +of <i>staccatos</i> and double stops—the right way +of playing <i>staccato</i> came to me quite suddenly, +especially after Professor Auer had shown me +his method.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"Violin Mastery? To me it means the ability +to make the violin a perfectly controlled +instrument guided by the skill and intelligence +of the artist, to compel it to respond in movement +to his every wish. The artist must always +be superior to his instrument, it must be +his servant, one that he can do with what he will.</p> + + +<h4><br />TECHNICAL MASTERY AND TEMPERAMENT</h4> + +<p>"It appears to me that mastery of the technic +of the violin is not so much of a mechanical +accomplishment as it is of mental nature. It +may be that scientists can tell us how through +persistency the brain succeeds in making the +fingers and the arms produce results through +the infinite variety of inexplicable vibrations. +The sweetness of tone, its melodiousness, its +<i>legatos</i>, octaves, trills and harmonics all bear +the mark of the individual who uses his strings +like his vocal chords. When an artist is working +over his harmonics, he must not be impatient +and force purity, pitch, or the right +intonation. He must coax the tone, try it again +and again, seek for improvements in his fingering +as well as in his bowing at the same +time, and sometimes he may be surprised +how, quite suddenly, at the time when +he least expects it, the result has come. +More than one road leads to Rome! The +fact is that when you get it, you have it, +that's all! I am perfectly willing to disclose +to the musical profession all the secrets of the +mastery of violin technic; but are there any +secrets in the sense that some of the uninitiated +take them? If an artist happens to excel in +some particular, he is at once suspected of +knowing some secret means of so doing. However, +that may not be the case. He does it +just because it is in him, and as a rule he accomplishes +this through his mental faculties +more than through his mechanical abilities. I +do not intend to minimize the value of great +teachers who prove to be important factors in +the life of a musician; but think of the vast +army of pupils that a master teacher brings +forth, and listen to the infinite variety of their +<i>spiccatos</i>, octaves, <i>legatos</i>, and trills! For the +successful mastery of violin technic let each +artist study carefully his own individuality, let +him concentrate his mental energy on the +quality of pitch he intends to produce, and +sooner or later he will find his way of expressing +himself. Music is not only in the fingers +or in the elbow. It is in that mysterious EGO +of the man, it is his soul; and his body is like +his violin, nothing but a tool. Of course, the +great master must have the tools that suit him +best, and it is the happy combination that +makes for success.</p> + +<p>"By the vibrations and modulations of the +notes one may recognize the violinist as easily +as we recognize the singer by his voice. Who +can explain how the artist harmonizes the +trilling of his fingers with the emotions of his soul?</p> + +<p>"An artist will never become great through +mere imitation, and never will he be able to attain +the best results only by methods adopted +by others. He must have his own initiative, +although he will surely profit by the experience +of others. Of course there are standard ways +of approaching the study of violin technic; but +these are too well known to dwell upon them: +as to the niceties of the art, they must come +from within. You can make a musician but +not an artist!</p> + + +<h4><br />REPERTORY AND PROGRAMS</h4> + +<p>"Which of the master works do I like best? +Well, that is rather hard to answer. Each +master work has its own beauties. Naturally +one likes best what one understands best, I +prefer to play the classics like Brahms, Beethoven, +Mozart, Bach, Mendelssohn, etc. However, +I played Bruch's G minor in 1913 at the +Leipzig Gewandhouse with Nikisch, where +I was told that Joachim was the only other +violinist as young as myself to appear there +as soloist with orchestra; there is the Tschaikovsky +concerto which I played in Berlin in +1912, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra +with Nikisch. Alsa Bruch's D minor and +many more. I played the Mendelssohn concerto +in 1914, in Vienna, with Safonoff as conductor. +Last season in Chicago I played the +Brahms concerto with a fine and very elaborate +<i>cadenza</i> by Professor Auer. I think the +Brahms concerto for violin is like Chopin's +music for piano, in a way, because it stands +technically and musically for something quite +different and distinct from other violin music, +just as Chopin does from other piano music. +The Brahms concerto is not technically as +hard as, say, Paganini—but in interpretation!... +And in the Beethoven concerto, too, +there is a simplicity, a kind of clear beauty +which makes it far harder to play than many +other things technically more advanced. The +slightest flaw, the least difference in pitch, in +intonation, and its beauty suffers.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there are other Russian concertos besides +the Tschaikovsky. There is the Glazounov +concerto and others. I understand that Zimbalist +was the first to introduce it in this country, +and I expect to play it here next season.</p> + +<p>"Of course one cannot always play concertos, +and one cannot always play Bach and Beethoven. +And that makes it hard to select programs. +The artist can always enjoy the great +music of his instrument; but an audience wants +variety. At the same time an artist cannot +play only just what the majority of the audience +wants. I have been asked to play Schubert's +<i>Ave Maria</i>, or Beethoven's <i>Chorus of +Dervishes</i> at every one of my concerts, but I +simply cannot play them all the time. I am +afraid if program making were left altogether +to audiences the programs would become far +too popular in character; though audiences are +just as different as individuals. I try hard to +balance my programs, so that every one can +find something to understand and enjoy. I +expect to prepare some American compositions +for next season. Oh, no, not as a matter +of courtesy, but because they are really fine, +especially some smaller pieces by Spalding, +Cecil Burleigh and Grasse!"</p> + +<p>On concluding our interview Mr. Heifetz +made a remark which is worth repeating, and +which many a music lover who is <i>plus royaliste +que le roi</i> might do well to remember: "After +all," he said, "much as I love music, I cannot +help feeling that music is not the only thing +in life. I really cannot imagine anything more +terrible than always to hear, think and make +music! There is so much else to know and appreciate; +and I feel that the more I learn and +know of other things the better artist I will +be!"</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>VIII</h3> + + +<h2><br />DAVID HOCHSTEIN</h2> + +<h3>THE VIOLIN AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSION<br /> +AND EXPRESSIVE PLAYING</h3> + + +<p><br />The writer talked with Lieutenant David +Hochstein, whose death in the battle of the Argonne +Forest was only reported toward the +end of January, while the distinguished young +violinist, then only a sergeant, was on the eve +of departure to France with his regiment and, +as he modestly said, his "thoughts on music +were rather scattered." Yet he spoke with keen +insight and authority on various phases of his +art, and much of what he said gains point from +his own splendid work as a concert violinist; +for Lieutenant Hochstein (whose standing has +been established in numerous European as +well as American recitals) could play what he +preached.</p> + + +<h4><br />SEVČIK AND AUER: A CONTRAST IN TEACHING</h4> + +<p>Knowing that in the regimental band he was, +quite appropriately, a clarinetist, "the clarinet +in the military band being the equivalent of the +violin in the orchestra"—and a scholarship pupil +of the Vienna <i>Meisterschule</i>, it seemed +natural to ask him concerning his teachers. +And the interesting fact developed that he had +studied with the celebrated Bohemian pedagog +Sevčik and with Leopold Auer as well, two +teachers whose ideas and methods differ materially. +"I studied with Sevčik for two years," +said the young violinist. "It was in 1909, +when a class of ten pupils was formed +for him in the <i>Meisterschule</i>, at Vienna, that +I went to him. Sevčik was in many ways a +wonderful teacher, yet inclined to overemphasize +the mechanical side of the art. He literally +<i>taught</i> his pupils how to practice, how to develop +technical control by the most slow and +painstaking study. In addition to his own fine +method and exercises, he also used Gavinies, +Dont, Rode, Kreutzer, applying in their +studies ideas of his own.</p> + +<p>"Auer as a teacher I found altogether different. +Where Sevčik taught his pupils the +technic of their art by means of a system +elaborately worked out, Auer demonstrated +his ideas through sheer personality, mainly +from the interpretative point of view. Any +ambitious student could learn much of value +from either; yet in a general way one might +express the difference between them by saying +that Sevčik could take a pupil of medium talent +and—at least from the mechanical standpoint—make +an excellent violinist of him. But Auer +is an ideal teacher for the greatly gifted. And +he is especially skilled in taking some student +of the violin while his mind is still plastic and +susceptible and molding it—supplying it +with lofty concepts of interpretation and expression. +Of course Auer (I studied with him +in Petrograd and Dresden) has been especially +fortunate as regards his pupils, too, because +active in a land like Russia, where +musical genius has almost become a commonplace.</p> + +<p>"Sevčik, though an admirable teacher, personally +is of a reserved and reflective type, +quite different from Auer, who is open and +expansive. I might recall a little instance +which shows Sevčik's cautious nature, the care +he takes not to commit himself too unreservedly. +When I took leave of him—it was +after I had graduated and won my prize—I +naturally (like all his pupils) asked him for +his photo. Several other pupils of his were in +the room at the time. He took up his pen (I +was looking over his shoulder), commenced to +write <i>Meinem best</i>.... And then he stopped, +glanced at the other pupils in the room, and +wrote over the <i>best</i> ... he had already written, +the word <i>liebsten</i>. But though I would, of +course, have preferred the first inscription, +had Sevčik completed it, I can still console +myself that the other, even though I value it, +was an afterthought. But it was a characteristic +thing for him to do!</p> + + +<h4><br />THE VIOLIN AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSION</h4> + +<p>"What is my idea of the violin as a medium +of expression? It seems to me that it is that +of any other valid artistic medium. It is not +so much a question of the violin as of the violinist. +A great interpreter reveals his inner-most +soul through his instrument, whatever it +may be. Most people think the violin is more +expressive than any other instrument, but this +is open to question. It may be that most people +respond more readily to the appeal made +by the violin. But genuine expression, expressive +playing, depends on the message the +player has to deliver far more than on the instrument +he uses as a means. I have been as +much moved by some piano playing I have +heard as by the violin playing of some of the +greatest violinists.</p> + +<p>"And variety, <i>nuance</i> in expressive playing, +is largely a matter of the player's mental attitude. +Bach's <i>Chaconne</i> or <i>Sicilienne</i> calls for +a certain humility on the part of the artist. +When I play Bach I do it reverentially; a +definite spiritual quality in my tone and expression +is the result. And to select a composer +who in many ways is Bach's exact opposite, +Wieniawski, a certain audacious brilliancy +cannot help but make itself felt tonally, +if this music is to be played in character. The +mental and spiritual attitude directly influences +its own mechanical transmission. No one +artist should criticize another for differences +in interpretation, in expression, so long as they +are justified by larger concepts of art. Individuality +is one of the artist's most precious +possessions, and there are always a number of +different angles from which the interpretation +of an art work may be approached.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"Violin mastery? There have been only +three violinists within my own recollection, +whom I would call masters of the violin. These +are Kubelik (when at his best), Franz von +Vecsey, Hubay's pupil, whom I heard abroad, +and Heifetz, with his cameo-like perfection +of technic. These I would call masters of the +violin, as an instrument, since they have mastered +every intricacy of the instrument. But +I could name several others who are greater +musicians, and whose playing and interpretation, +to say nothing of tone, I prefer.</p> + + +<h4><br />TONE PRODUCTION: RHYTHM</h4> + +<p>"In one sense true violin mastery is a question +of tone production and rhythm. And I +believe that tone production depends principally +upon the imaginative ear of the player. +This statement may seem somewhat ambiguous, +and one might ask, 'What is an imaginative +ear?' My ear, for instance, demands of +my violin a certain quality of tone, which varies +according to the music I am playing. But before +I think of playing the music, I already +know from reading it what I want it to sound +like: that is to say, the quality of the tone I +wish to secure in each principal phrase. +Rhythm is perhaps the greatest factor in interpretation. +Every good musician has a 'good +sense of rhythm' (that much abused phrase). +But it is only the <i>great</i> musician who makes +so striking and individual an application of +rhythm that his playing may be easily distinguished +by his use of it.</p> + +<p>"There is not much to tell you as regards my +method of work. I usually work directly upon +a program which has been previously mapped +out. If I have been away from my violin for +more than a week or two I begin by practicing +scales, but ordinarily I find my technical work +in the programs I am preparing."</p> + +<p>Asked about his band experiences at Camp +Upton, Sergeant Hochstein was enthusiastic. +"No violinist could help but gain much from +work with a military band at one of the +camps," he said. "For instance, I had a more +or less theoretical knowledge of wind instruments +before I went to Camp Upton. Now +I have a practical working knowledge of them. +I have already scored a little violin composition +of mine, a 'Minuet in Olden Style' for +full band, and have found it possible by the +right manipulation to preserve its original +dainty and graceful character, in spite of the +fact that it is played by more than forty military +bandsmen.</p> + +<p>"Then, too," he said in conclusion, "I have +organized a real orchestra of twenty-one players, +strings, brass, wood-wind, etc., which I +hope is going to be of real use on the other +side during our training period in France. +You see, 'over there' the soldier boys' chances +for leave are limited and we will have to depend +a good deal on our own selves for amusement +and recreation. I hope and believe my +orchestra is not only going to take its place as +one of the most enjoyable features of our army +life; but also that it will make propaganda of +the right sort for the best music in a broad, +catholic sense of the word!"</p> + +<p>It is interesting to know that this patriotic +young officer found opportunities in camp and +in the towns of France of carrying out his wish +to "make propaganda of the right sort for the +best music" before he gave his life to further +the greater purpose which had called him overseas.</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>IX</h3> + + +<h2><br />FRITZ KREISLER</h2> + +<h3>PERSONALITY IN ART</h3> + + +<p><br />The influence of the artist's personality in +his art finds a most striking exemplification in +the case of Fritz Kreisler. Some time before +the writer called on the famous violinist +to get at first hand some of his opinions +with regard to his art, he had already +met him under particularly interesting circumstances. +The question had come up of +writing text-poems for two song-adaptations +of Viennese folk-themes, airs not unattractive +in themselves; but which Kreisler's personal +touch, his individual gift of harmonization had +lifted from a lower plane to the level of the +art song. Together with the mss. of his own +beautiful transcript, Mr. Kreisler in the one +instance had given me the printed original +which suggested it—frankly a "popular" song, +clumsily harmonized in a "four-square" manner +(though written in 3/4 time) with nothing +to indicate its latent possibilities. I compared it +with his mss. and, lo, it had been transformed! +Gone was the clumsiness, the vulgar and obvious +harmonic treatment of the melody—Kreisler +had kept the melodic outline, but +etherealized, spiritualized it, given it new +rhythmic <i>contours</i>, a deeper and more expressive +meaning. And his rich and subtle harmonization +had lent it a quality of distinction +that justified a comparison between the grub +and the butterfly. In a small way it was an +illuminating glimpse of how the personality of +a true artist can metamorphose what at first +glance might seem something quite negligible, +and create beauty where its possibilities alone +had existed before.</p> + +<p>It is this personal, this individual, note in +all that Fritz Kreisler does—when he plays, +when he composes, when he transcribes—that +gives his art-effort so great and unique a +quality of appeal.</p> + +<p>Talking to him in his comfortable sitting-room +in the Hotel Wellington—Homer and +Juvenal (in the original) ranked on the piano-top +beside De Vere Stackpole novels and other +contemporary literature called to mind that +though Brahms and Beethoven violin concertos +are among his favorites, he does not disdain to +play a Granados <i>Spanish Dance</i>—it seemed +natural to ask him how he came to make those +adaptations and transcripts which have been so +notable a feature of his programs, and which +have given such pleasure to thousands.</p> + + +<!-- Picture of FRITZ KREISLER, Facing Page 100--> + +<a name="F_Page_100" id="F_Page_100"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p100a_m.jpg" width="548" height="700" alt="F_Page_100" title="FRITZ KREISLER" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Fritz Kreisler</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<h4><br />HOW KREISLER CAME TO COMPOSE AND ARRANGE</h4> + +<p>He said: "I began to compose and arrange +as a young man. I wanted to create a repertory +for myself, to be able to express through +my medium, the violin, a great deal of beautiful +music that had first to be adapted for the instrument. +What I composed and arranged +was for my own use, reflected my own musical +tastes and preferences. In fact, it was not +till years after that I even thought of publishing +the pieces I had composed and arranged. +For I was very diffident as to the outcome of +such a step. I have never written anything +with the commercial idea of making it 'playable.' +And I have always felt that anything +done in a cold-blooded way for purely mercenary +considerations somehow cannot be good. +It cannot represent an artist's best."</p> + + +<h4><br />AT THE VIENNA CONSERVATORY</h4> + +<p>In reply to another query Mr. Kreisler reverted +to the days when as a boy he studied at +the Vienna Conservatory. "I was only seven +when I attended the Conservatory and was +much more interested in playing in the park, +where my boy friends would be waiting for +me, than in taking lessons on the violin. And +yet some of the most lasting musical impressions +of my life were gathered there. Not so +much as regards study itself, as with respect to +the good music I heard. Some very great +men played at the Conservatory when I was +a pupil. There were Joachim, Sarasate in +his prime, Hellmesberger, and Rubinstein, +whom I heard play the first time he came to +Vienna. I really believe that hearing Joachim +and Rubinstein play was a greater event in my +life and did more for me than five years of +study!"</p> + +<p>"Of course you do not regard technic as +the main essential of the concert violinist's +equipment?" I asked him. "Decidedly not. +Sincerity and personality are the first main essentials. +Technical equipment is something +which should be taken for granted. The <i>virtuoso</i> +of the type of Ole Bull, let us say, has +disappeared. The 'stunt' player of a former +day with a repertory of three or four bravura +pieces was not far above the average music-hall +'artist.' The modern <i>virtuoso</i>, the true +concert artist, is not worthy of the title unless +his art is the outcome of a completely unified +nature.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"I do not believe that any artist is truly a +master of his instrument unless his control of +it is an integral part of a whole. The musician +is born—his medium of expression is often a +matter of accident. I believe one may be intended +for an artist prenatally; but whether +violinist, 'cellist or pianist is partly a matter +of circumstance. Violin mastery, to my mind, +still falls short of perfection, in spite of the +completest technical and musical equipment, +if the artist thinks only of the instrument he +plays. After all, it is just a single medium of +expression. The true musician is an artist with +a special instrument. And every real artist +has the feeling for other forms and mediums +of expression if he is truly a master of his own.</p> + + +<h4><br />TECHNIC VERSUS IMAGINATION</h4> + +<p>"I think the technical element in the artist's +education is often unduly stressed. Remember," +added Mr. Kreisler, with a smile, "I am +not a teacher, and this is a purely personal +opinion I am giving you. But it seems to me +that absolute sincerity of effort, actual impossibility +<i>not</i> to react to a genuine musical impulse +are of great importance. I firmly believe +that if one is destined to become an artist +the technical means find themselves. The necessity +of expression will follow the line of +least resistance. Too great a manual equipment +often leads to an exaggeration of the +technical and tempts the artist to stress it unduly.</p> + +<p>"I have worked a great deal in my life, but +have always found that too large an amount of +purely technico-musical work fatigued me and +reacted unfavorably on my imagination. As a +rule I only practice enough to keep my fingers +in trim; the nervous strain is such that doing +more is out of the question. And for a concert-violinist +when on tour, playing every day, +the technical question is not absorbing. Far +more important is it for him to keep himself +mentally and physically fresh and in the right +mood for his work. For myself I have to enjoy +whatever I play or I cannot play it. And +it has often done me more good to dip my +finger-tips in hot water for a few seconds before +stepping out on the platform than to +spend a couple of hours practicing. But I +should not wish the student to draw any deductions +from what I say on this head. It is +purely personal and has no general application.</p> + +<p>"Technical exercises I use very moderately. +I wish my imagination to be responsive, my interest +fresh, and as a rule I have found that +too much work along routine channels does not +accord with the best development of my Art. +I feel that technic should be in the player's +head, it should be a mental picture, a sort of +'master record.' It should be a matter of will +power to which the manual possibilities should +be subjected. Technic to me is a mental and +not a manual thing.</p> + + +<h4><br />MENTAL TECHNIC: ITS DRAWBACK AND ITS ADVANTAGE</h4> + +<p>"The technic thus achieved, a technic whose +controlling power is chiefly mental, is not perfect—I +say so frankly—because it is more or +less dependent on the state of the artist's +nervous system. Yet it is the one and only +kind of technic that can adequately and completely +express the musician's every instinct, +wish and emotion. Every other form of technic +is stiff, unpliable, since it cannot entirely +subordinate itself to the individuality of the +artist."</p> + + +<h4><br />PRACTICE HOURS FOR THE ADVANCED STUDENT</h4> + +<p>Mr. Kreisler gives no lessons and hence referred +this question in the most amiable manner +to his boyhood friend and fellow-student +Felix Winternitz, the well-known Boston violin +teacher, one of the faculty of the New England +Conservatory of Music, who had come in +while we were talking. Mr. Winternitz did +not refuse an answer: "The serious student, +in my opinion, should not practice less than +four hours a day, nor need he practice more +than five. Other teachers may demand more. +Sevčik, I know, insists that his pupils practice +eight and ten hours a day. To do so one must +have the constitution of an ox, and the results +are often not equal to those produced by four +hours of concentrated work. As Mr. Kreisler +intimated with regard to technic, practice +calls for brain power. Concentration in itself +is not enough. There is only one way to +work and if the pupil can find it he can cover +the labor of weeks in an hour."</p> + +<p>And turning to me, Mr. Winternitz added: +"You must not take Mr. Kreisler too seriously +when he lays no stress on his own practicing. +During the concert season he has his violin in +hand for an hour or so nearly every day. He +does not call it practicing, and you and I would +consider it playing and great playing at that. +But it is a genuine illustration of what I meant +when I said that one who knew how could cover +the work of weeks in an hour's time."</p> + + +<h4><br />AN EXPLANATION BY MR. WINTERNITZ</h4> + +<p>I tried to draw from the famous violinist +some hint as to the secret of the abiding popularity +of his own compositions and transcripts +but—as those who know him are aware—Kreisler +has all the modesty of the truly great. He +merely smiled and said: "Frankly, I don't +know." But Mr. Winternitz' comment +(when a 'phone call had taken Kreisler from +the room for a moment) was, "It is the touch +given by his accompaniments that adds so +much: a harmonic treatment so rich in design +and coloring, and so varied that melodies were +never more beautifully set off." Mr. Kreisler, +as he came in again, remarked: "I don't mind +telling you that I enjoyed very much writing +my <i>Tambourin Chinois</i>.<a name="FNanchor_A_2" id="FNanchor_A_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_2" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> The idea for it +came to me after a visit to the Chinese theater +in San Francisco—not that the music there +suggested any theme, but it gave me the impulse +to write a free fantasy in the Chinese +manner."</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_2" id="Footnote_A_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_2"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> It is interesting to note that Nikolai Sokoloff, conductor +of the San Francisco Philharmonic, returning from a tour of +the American and French army camps in France, some time +ago, said: "My most popular number was Kreisler's <i>Tambourin +Chinois.</i> Invariably I had to repeat that." A strong indorsement +of the internationalism of Art by the actual fighter in the +trenches.</p></div> + + +<h4><br />STYLE, INTERPRETATION AND THE ARTISTIC IDEAL</h4> + +<p>The question of style now came up. "I am +not in favor of 'labeling' the concert artist, of +calling him a 'lyric' or a 'dramatic' or some +other kind of a player. If he is an artist in +the real sense he controls all styles." Then, +in answer to another question: "Nothing +can express music but music itself. Tradition +in interpretation does not mean a cut-and-dried +set of rules handed down; it is, or should +be, a matter of individual sentiment, of inner +conviction. What makes one man an artist +and keeps another an amateur is a God-given +instinct for the artistically and musically right. +It is not a thing to be explained, but to be felt. +There is often only a narrow line of demarcation +between the artistically right and wrong. +Yet nearly every real artist will be found to +agree as to when and when not that boundary +has been overstepped. Sincerity and personality +as well as disinterestedness, an expression +of himself in his art that is absolutely honest, +these, I believe, are ideals which every artist +should cherish and try to realize. I believe, +furthermore, that these ideals will come more +and more into their own; that after the war +there will be a great uplift, and that Art will +realize to the full its value as a humanizing +factor in life." And as is well known, no great +artist of our day has done more toward the +actual realization of these ideals he cherishes +than Fritz Kreisler himself.</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>X</h3> + + +<h2><br />FRANZ KNEISEL</h2> + +<h3>THE PERFECT STRING ENSEMBLE</h3> + + +<p><br />Is there a lover of chamber music unfamiliar +with Franz Kneisel's name? It may be +doubted. After earlier European triumphs +the gifted Roumanian violinist came to this +country (1885), and aside from his activities +in other directions—as a solo artist he was the +first to play the Brahms and Goldmark violin +concertos, and the César Franck sonata in this +country—organized his famous quartet. And, +until his recent retirement as its director and +first violin, it has been perhaps the greatest +single influence toward stimulating appreciation +for the best in chamber music that the +country has known. Before the Flonzaley +was, the Kneisels were. They made plain how +much of beauty the chamber music repertory +offered the amateur string player; not only in +the classic repertory—Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, +Spohr; in Schubert, Schumann, +Brahms; but in Smetana, Dvořák and Tschaikovsky; +in César Franck, Debussy and Ravel. +Not the least among Kneisel's achievements is, +that while the professional musicians in the +cities in which his organization played attended +its concerts as a matter of course, the average +music lover who played a string instrument +came to them as well, and carried away with +him a message delivered with all the authority +of superb musicianship and sincerity, one +which bade him "go and do likewise," in so +far as his limitations permitted. And the +many excellent professional chamber music organizations, +trios, quartets and <i>ensembles</i> of +various kinds which have come to the fore since +they began to play offer eloquent testimony +with regard to the cultural work of Kneisel +and his fellow artists.</p> + + +<!-- Picture of FRANZ KNEISEL, Facing Page 110--> + +<a name="F_Page_110" id="F_Page_110"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p110a_m.jpg" width="526" height="700" alt="F_Page_110" title="FRANZ KNEISEL" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Franz Kneisel</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<p>A cheery grate fire burned in the comfortable +study in Franz Kneisel's home; the autographed—in +what affectionate and appreciative +terms—pictures of great fellow artists +looked down above the book-cases which hold +the scores of those masters of what has been +called "the noblest medium of music in existence," +whose beauties the famous quartet has +so often disclosed on the concert stage. And +Mr. Kneisel was amiability personified when +I asked him to give me his theory of the perfect +string <i>ensemble</i>, and the part virtuosity +played in it.</p> + + +<h4><br />"THE ARTIST RANKS THE VIRTUOSO IN CHAMBER MUSIC"</h4> + +<p>"The artist, the <i>Tonkünstler</i>, to use a foreign +phrase, ranks the virtuoso in chamber music. +Joachim was no virtuoso, he did not stress +technic, the less important factor in <i>ensemble</i> +playing. Sarasate was a virtuoso in the best +sense of the word; and yet as an <i>ensemble</i> +music player he fell far short of Joachim. As +I see it 'virtuoso' is a kind of flattering title, +no more. But a <i>Tonkünstler</i>, a 'tone-artist,' +though he must have the virtuoso technic in order +to play Brahms and Beethoven concertos, +needs besides a spiritual insight, a deep concept +of their nobility to do them justice—the mere +technic demanded for a virtuoso show piece is +not enough.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY IN THE STRING QUARTET</h4> + +<p>"You ask me what 'Violin Mastery' means +in the string quartet. It has an altogether +different meaning to me, I imagine, than to the +violin virtuoso. Violin mastery in the string +<i>ensemble</i> is as much mastery of self as of technical +means. The artist must sink his identity +completely in that of the work he plays, and +though the last Beethoven quartets are as difficult +as many violin concertos, they are polyphony, +the combination and interweaving of +individual melodies, and they call for a mastery +of repression as well as expression. I +realized how keenly alive the musical listener +is to this fact once when our quartet had played +in Alma-Tadema's beautiful London home, for +the great English painter was also a music-lover +and a very discriminating one. He had +a fine piano in a beautifully decorated case, +and it was an open secret that at his musical +evenings, after an artist had played, the lid +of the piano was raised, and Sir Lawrence +asked him to pencil his autograph on the soft +white wood of its inner surface—<i>but only if he +thought the compliment deserved</i>. There were +some famous names written there—Joachim, +Sarasate, Paderewski, Neruda, Piatti, to mention +a few. Naturally an artist playing at +Alma-Tadema's home for the first time could +not help speculating as to his chances. Many +were called, but comparatively few were +chosen. We were guests at a dinner given by +Sir Lawrence. There were some fifty people +prominent in London's artistic, musical and +social world present, and we had no idea of being +asked to play. Our instruments were at +our hotel and we had to send for them. We +played the Schubert quartet in A minor and +Dvořák's 'American' quartet and, of course, +my colleagues and myself forgot all about the +piano lid the moment we began to play. Yet, +I'm free to confess, that when the piano lid +was raised for us we appreciated it, for it was +no empty compliment coming from Sir Lawrence, +and I have been told that some very +distinguished artists have not had it extended +to them. And I know that on that evening +the phrase 'Violin Mastery' in an <i>ensemble</i> +sense, as the outcome of ceaseless striving for +coördination in expression, absolute balance, +and all the details that go to make up the perfect +<i>ensemble</i>, seemed to us to have a very definite +color and meaning.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE FIRST VIOLIN IN THE STRING QUARTET</h4> + +<p>"What exactly does the first violin represent?" +Mr. Kneisel went on in answer to another +question. "The first violin might be +called the chairman of the string meeting. His +is the leading voice. Not that he should be an +autocrat, no, but he must hold the reins of +discipline. Many think that the four string +players in a quartet have equal rights. First +of all, and above all, are the rights of the composer, +Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert,—as +the case may be. But from the standpoint +of interpretation the first violin has some seventy +per cent. of the responsibility as compared +with thirty per cent. for the remaining +voices. In all the famous quartet organizations, +Joachim, Hellmesberger, etc., the first +violin has been the directing instrument and +has set the pace. As chairman it has been his +duty to say when second violin, viola and 'cello +were entitled to hold the floor. Hellmesberger, +in fact, considered himself the <i>whole</i> quartet." +Mr. Kneisel smiled and showed me a +little book of Hellmesberger's Vienna programs. +Each program was headed:</p> + + +<h4><br />HELLMESBERGER QUARTET</h4> +<h6>with the assistance of</h6> +<h4>MESSRS. MATH. DURST, CARL HEISSLER,<br /> +CARL SCHLESINGER</h4> + + +<p><br />"In other words, Hellmesberger was the +quartet himself, the other three artists merely +'assisted,' which, after all, is going too far!</p> + +<p>"Of course, quartets differ. Just as we have +operas in which the alto solo <i>rôle</i> is the most +important, so we have quartets in which the +'cello or the viola has a more significant part. +Mozart dedicated quartets to a King of +Prussia, who played 'cello, and he was careful +to make the 'cello part the most important. +And in Smetana's quartet <i>Aus meinem Leben</i>, +the viola plays a most important rôle. Even +the second violin often plays themes introducing +principal themes of the first violin, and it +has its brief moments of prominence. Yet, +though the second violin or the 'cellist may be, +comparatively speaking, a better player than +the first violin, the latter is and must be the +leader. Practically every composer of chamber +music recognizes the fact in his compositions. +He, the first violin, should not command +three slaves, though; but guide three associates, +and do it tactfully with regard to their +individuality and that of their instruments.</p> + + +<h4><br />"ENSEMBLE" REHEARSING</h4> + +<p>"You ask what are the essentials of <i>ensemble</i> +practice on the part of the artists? Real +reverence, untiring zeal and punctuality at rehearsals. +And then, an absolute sense of +rhythm. I remember rehearsing a Volkmann +quartet once with a new second violinist." +[Mr. Kneisel crossed over to his bookcase and +brought me the score to illustrate the rhythmic +point in question, one slight in itself yet as difficult, +perhaps, for a player without an absolute +sense of rhythm as "perfect intonation" +would be for some others.] "He had a lovely +tone, a big technic and was a prize pupil of +the Vienna Conservatory. We went over this +two measure phrase some sixteen times, until +I felt sure he had grasped the proper accentuation. +And he was most amiable and willing +about it, too. But when we broke up he +pointed to the passage and said to me with a +smile: 'After all, whether you play it <i>this</i> way, +or <i>that</i> way, what's the difference?' Then I +realized that he had stressed his notes correctly +a few times by chance, and that his own +sense of rhythm did not tell him that there +were no two ways about it. The rhythmic and +tonal <i>nuances</i> in a quartet cannot be marked +too perfectly in order to secure a beautiful and +finished performance. And such a violinist as +the one mentioned, in spite of his tone and technic, +was never meant for an <i>ensemble</i> player.</p> + +<p>"I have never believed in a quartet getting +together and 'reading' a new work as a preparation +for study. As first violin I have always +made it my business to first study the +work in score, myself, to study it until I knew +the whole composition absolutely, until I had +a mental picture of its meaning, and of the interrelation +of its four voices in detail. Thirty-two +years of experience have justified my theory. +Once the first violin knows the work the +practicing may begin; for he is in a position +gradually and tactfully to guide the working-out +of the interpretation without losing time +in the struggle to correct faults in balance +which are developed in an unprepared 'reading' +of the work. There is always one important +melody, and it is easier to find it studying +the score, to trace it with eye and mind in its +contrapuntal web, than by making voyages of +discovery in actual playing.</p> + +<p>"Every player has his own qualities, every +instrument its own advantages. Certain passages +in a second violin or viola part may be +technically better suited to the hand of the +player, to the nature of the instrument, and—they +will sound better than others. Yet from +the standpoint of the composition the passages +that 'lie well' are often not the more important. +This is hard for the player—what is easy +for him he unconsciously is inclined to stress, +and he must be on his guard against it. This +is another strong argument in favor of a thorough +preliminary study on the part of the leading +violin of the construction of the work."</p> + + +<h4><br />THE FIRST VIOLIN IN CHAMBER MUSIC VERSUS<br /> +THE ORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR</h4> + +<p>The comparison which I asked Mr. Kneisel +to make is one which he could establish with +authority. Aside from his experience as director +of his quartet, he has been the <i>concert-meister</i> +of such famous foreign orchestras as +Bilse's and that of the <i>Hofburg Theater</i> in +Vienna and, for eighteen years, of the Boston +Symphony Orchestra in this country. He has +also conducted over one hundred concerts of +the Boston Symphony, and was director of the +Worcester Music Festivals.</p> + +<p>"Nikisch once said to me, after he had heard +us play the Schumann A minor quartet in Boston: +'Kneisel, it was beautiful, and I felt that +you had more difficulty in developing it than I +have with an orchestral score!' And I think +he was right. First of all the symphonic conductor +is an autocrat. There is no appeal +from the commands of his baton. But the +first violin of a quartet is, in a sense, only the +'first among peers.' The velvet glove is an +absolute necessity in his case. He must gain +his art ends by diplomacy and tact, he must +always remember that his fellow artists are +solo players. If he is arbitrary, no matter how +right he may be, he disturbs that fine feeling +of artistic fellowship, that delicate balance of +individual temperaments harmonized for and +by a single purpose. In this connection I do +not mind confessing that though I enjoy a +good game of cards, I made it a rule never to +play cards with my colleagues during the hours +of railroad traveling involved in keeping our +concert engagements. I played chess. In +chess the element of luck does not enter. Each +player is responsible for what he does or leaves +undone. And defeat leaves no such sting as +it does when all may be blamed on chance. In +an <i>ensemble</i> that strives for perfection there +must be no undercurrents of regret, of dissatisfaction—nothing +that interferes with the +sympathy and good will which makes each individual +artist do his best. And so I have +never regretted giving cards the go-by!"</p> + + +<h4><br />HINTS TO THE SERIOUS VIOLIN STUDENT</h4> + +<p>Of late years Mr. Kneisel's activity as a +teacher has added to his reputation. Few +teachers can point to a galaxy of artist pupils +which includes such names as Samuel Gardner, +Sascha Jacobsen, Breskin, Helen Jeffry +and Olive Meade (who perpetuates the ideals +of his great string <i>ensemble</i> in her own quartet). +"What is the secret of your method?" +I asked him first of all. "Method is hardly +the word," he told me. "It sounds too cut-and-dried. +I teach according to principles, +which must, of course, vary in individual cases; +yet whose foundation is fixed. And like Joachim, +or Leschetiszky, I have preparatory +teachers.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE GENERAL FAULT</h4> + +<p>"My experience has shown me that the fundamental +fault of most pupils is that they do +not know how to hold either the bow or the +violin. Here in America the violin student +as a rule begins serious technical study too +late, contrary to the European practice. It is +a great handicap to begin really serious work +at seventeen or eighteen, when the flexible +bones of childhood have hardened, and have not +the pliability needed for violin gymnastics. It +is a case of not bending the twig as you want +the tree to grow in time. And those who +study professionally are often more interested +in making money as soon as possible than in +bending all their energies on reaching the +higher levels of their art. Many a promising +talent never develops because its possessor at +seventeen or eighteen is eager to earn money +as an orchestra or 'job' player, instead of sacrificing +a few years more and becoming a true +artist. I've seen it happen time and again: a +young fellow really endowed who thinks he can +play for a living and find time to study and +practice 'after hours.' And he never does!</p> + +<p>"But to return to the general fault of the +violin student. There is a certain angle at +which the bow should cross the strings in order +to produce those vibrations which give the +roundest, fullest, most perfect tone [he took +his own beautiful instrument out of its case to +illustrate the point], and the violin must be so +held that the bow moves straight across the +strings in this manner. A deviation from the +correct attack produces a scratchy tone. And +it is just in the one fundamental thing: the +holding of the violin in exactly the same position +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 which the majority +of pupils are deficient. If the violin is not +held at the proper angle, for instance, it is just +as though a piano were to stand on a sloping +floor. Too many students play 'with the violin' +on the bow, instead of holding the violin +steady, and letting the bow play.</p> + +<p>"And in beginning to study, this apparently +simple, yet fundamentally important, principle +is often overlooked or neglected. Joachim, +when he studied as a ten-year-old boy under +Hellmesberger in Vienna, once played a part +in a concerto by Maurer, for four violins and +piano. His teacher was displeased: 'You'll +never be a fiddler!' he told him, 'you use your +bow too stiffly!' But the boy's father took him +to Böhm, and he remained with this teacher +for three years, until his fundamental fault +was completely overcome. And if Joachim +had not given his concentrated attention to +his bowing while there was still time, he would +never have been the great artist he later became.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE ART OF THE BOW</h4> + +<p>"You see," he continued, "the secret of +really beautiful violin playing lies in the bow. +A Blondin crossing Niagara finds his wire +hard and firm where he first steps on it. But +as he progresses it vibrates with increasing intensity. +And as the tight-rope walker knows +how to control the vibrations of his wire, so +the violinist must master the vibrations of his +strings. Each section of the string vibrates +with a different quality of tone. Most pupils +think that a big tone is developed by pressure +with the bow—yet much depends on what part +of the string this pressure is applied. Fingering +is an art, of course, but the great art is the +art of the bow, the 'art of bowing,' as Tartini +calls it. When a pupil understands it he has +gone far.</p> + +<p>"Every pupil may be developed to a certain +degree without ever suspecting how important +a factor the manipulation of the bow will be in +his further progress. He thinks that if the +fingers of his left hand are agile he has gained +the main end in view. But then he comes to +a stop—his left hand can no longer aid him, +and he finds that if he wants to play with real +beauty of expression the bow supplies the only +true key. Out of a hundred who reach this +stage," Mr. Kneisel went on, rather sadly, +"only some five or six, or even less, become +great artists. They are those who are able to +control the bow as well as the left hand. All +real art begins with phrasing, and this, too, lies +altogether in the mastery of bow—the very +soul of the violin!"</p> + +<p>I asked Mr. Kneisel how he came to write his +own "Advanced Exercises" for the instrument. +"I had an idea that a set of studies, in +which each single study presented a variety of +technical figures might be a relief from the +exercises in so many excellent methods, where +pages of scales are followed by pages of arpeggios, +pages of double-notes and so forth. +It is very monotonous to practice pages and +pages of a single technical figure," he added. +"Most pupils simply will not do it!" He +brought out a copy of his "Exercises" and +showed me their plan. "Here, for instance, +I have scales, trills, arpeggios—all in the same +study, and the study is conceived as a musical +composition instead of a technical formula. +This is a study in finger position, with all possible +bowings. My aim has been to concentrate +the technical material of a whole violin +school in a set of <i>études</i> with musical interest."</p> + +<p>And he showed me the second book of the +studies, in ms., containing exercises in every +variety of scale, and trill, bowing, <i>nuance</i>, etc., +combined in a single musical movement. This +volume also contains his own cadenza to the +Beethoven violin concerto. In conclusion Mr. +Kneisel laid stress on the importance of the +student's hearing the best music at concert and +recital as often as possible, and on the value +and incentive supplied by a musical atmosphere +in the home and, on leaving him, I could +not help but feel that what he had said in our +interview, his reflections and observations +based on an artistry beyond cavil, and an authoritative +experience, would be well worth +pondering by every serious student of the instrument. +For Franz Kneisel speaks of what +he knows.</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>XI</h3> + + +<h2><br />ADOLFO BETTI</h2> + +<h3>THE TECHNIC OF THE MODERN QUARTET</h3> + + +<p><br />What lover of chamber music in its more +perfect dispensations is not familiar with the +figure of Adolfo Betti, the guiding brain and +bow of the Flonzaley Quartet? Born in Florence, +he played his first public concert at the +age of six, yet as a youth found it hard to +choose between literature, for which he had +decided aptitude,<a name="FNanchor_A_3" id="FNanchor_A_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_3" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> and music. Fortunately +for American concert audiences of to-day, he +finally inclined to the latter. An exponent of +what many consider the greatest of all violinistic +schools, the Belgian, he studied for four +years with César Thomson at Liège, spent four +more concertizing in Vienna and elsewhere, +and returned to Thomson as the latter's assistant +in the Brussels Conservatory, three years +before he joined the Flonzaleys, in 1903. +With pleasant recollections of earlier meetings +with this gifted artist, the writer sought him +out, and found him amiably willing to talk +about the modern quartet and its ideals, ideals +which he personally has done so much to realize.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_3" id="Footnote_A_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_3"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> M. Betti has published a number of critical articles in the +<i>Guide Musical</i> of Brussels, the <i>Rivista Musicale</i> of Turin, etc.</p></div> + + +<h4><br />THE MODERN QUARTET</h4> + +<p>"You ask me how the modern quartet differs +from its predecessors?" said Mr. Betti. +"It differs in many ways. For one thing the +modern quartet has developed in a way that +makes its inner voices—second violin and viola—much +more important than they used to be. +Originally, as in Haydn's early quartets, we +have a violin solo with three accompanying instruments. +In Beethoven's last quartets the +intermediate voices have already gained a +freedom and individuality which before him +had not even been suspected. In these last +quartets Beethoven has already set forth the +principle which was to become the basis of +modern polyphony: '<i>first of all</i> to allow each +voice to express itself freely and fully, and +<i>afterward</i> to see what the relations were of one +to the other.' In fact, no one has exercised a +more revolutionary effect on the quartet than +Beethoven—no one has made it attain so great +a degree of progress. And surely the distance +separating the quartet as Beethoven +found it, from the quartet as he left it (Grand +Fugue, Op. 131, Op. 132), is greater than +that which lies between the Fugue Op. 132, +and the most advanced modern quartet, let us +say, for instance, Schönberg's Op. 7. Schönberg, +by the way, has only applied and developed +the principles established by Beethoven +in the latter's last quartets. But in the modern +quartet we have a new element, one which +tends more and more to become preponderant, +and which might be called <i>orchestral</i> rather +than <i>da camera</i>. Smetana, Grieg, Tschaikovsky +were the first to follow this path, in which +the majority of the moderns, including Franck +and Debussy, have followed them. And in +addition, many among the most advanced modern +composers <i>strive for orchestral effects that +often lie outside the natural capabilities of the +strings</i>!</p> + + +<!-- Picture of ADOLFO BETTI, Facing Page 128--> + +<a name="F_Page_128" id="F_Page_128"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p128a_m.jpg" width="465" height="700" alt="F_Page_128" title="ADOLFO BETTI" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Adolfo Betti</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + +<!-- Signature of ADOLFO BETTI --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p128b_m.jpg" width="465" height="142" alt="F_Page_129" title="ADOLFO BETTI SIGNATURE" /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<p>"For instance Stravinsky, in the first of his +three impressionistic sketches for quartet +(which we have played), has the first violin +play <i>ponticello</i> throughout, not the natural +<i>ponticello</i>, but a quite special one, to produce +an effect of a bag-pipe sounding at a distance. +I had to try again and again till I found the +right technical means to produce the effect desired. +Then, the 'cello is used to imitate the +drum; there are special technical problems for +the second violin—a single sustained D, with +an accompanying <i>pizzicato</i> on the open +strings—while the viola is required to suggest +the tramp of marching feet. And, again, in +other modern quartets we find special technical +devices undreamt of in earlier days. +Borodine, for instance, is the first to systematically +employ successions of harmonics. In +the trio of his first quartet the melody is successively +introduced by the 'cello and the first +violin, altogether in harmonics.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE MODERN QUARTET AND AMATEUR PLAYERS</h4> + +<p>"You ask me whether the average quartet +of amateurs, of lovers of string music, can get +much out of the more modern quartets. I +would say yes, but with some serious reservations. +There has been much beautiful music +written, but most of it is complicated. In the +case of the older quartets, Haydn, Mozart, +etc., even if they are not played well, the performers +can still obtain an idea of the music, +of its thought content. But in the modern +quartets, unless each individual player has mastered +every technical difficulty, the musical +idea does not pierce through, there is no effect.</p> + +<p>"I remember when we rehearsed the first +Schönberg quartet. It was in 1913, at a Chicago +hotel, and we had no score, but only the +separate parts. The results, at our first attempt, +were so dreadful that we stopped after +a few pages. It was not till I had secured a +score, studied it and again tried it that we began +to see a light. Finally there was not one +measure which we did not understand. But +Schönberg, Reger, Ravel quartets make too +great a demand on the technical ability of the +average quartet amateur.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE TECHNIC OF QUARTET PLAYING</h4> + +<p>"Naturally, the first violin is the leader, the +Conductor of the quartet, as in its early days, +although the 'star' system, with one virtuose +player and three satellites, has disappeared. +Now the quartet as a whole has established itself +in the <i>virtuoso</i> field—using the word <i>virtuoso</i> +in its best sense. The Müller quartet +(Hanover), 1845-1850, was the first to travel +as a chamber music organization, and the famous +<i>Florentiner</i> Quartet the first to realize +what could be done in the way of finish in +playing. As <i>premier violiniste</i> of the Flonzaley's +I study and prepare the interpretation +of the works we are to play before any rehearsing +is done.</p> + +<p>"While the first violin still holds first place +in the modern quartet, the second violin has +become much more important than formerly; +it has gained in individuality. In many of the +newer quartets it is quite as important as the +first. In Hugo Wolf's quartet, for example, +first and second violins are employed as though +in a concerto for two violins.</p> + +<p>"The viola, especially in modern French +works—Ravel, Debussy, Samazeuil—has a +prominent part. In the older quartets one +reason the viola parts are simple is because the +alto players as a rule were technically less +skillful. As a general thing they were violinists +who had failed—'the refugees of the G +clef,' as Edouard Colonne, the eminent conductor, +once wittily said. But the reason +modern French composers give the viola special +attention is because France now is ahead +of the other nations in virtuose viola playing. +It is practically the only country which may +be said to have a 'school' of viola playing. In +the Smetana quartet the viola plays a most important +part, and Dvořák, who himself played +viola, emphasized the instrument in his quartets.</p> + +<p>"Mozart showed what the 'cello was able to +do in the quartets he dedicated to the ''cellist +king,' Frederick William of Prussia. And +then, the 'cello has always the musical importance +which attaches to it as the lower of the +two 'outer voices' of the quartet <i>ensemble</i>. +Like the second violin and viola, it has experienced +a technical and musical development beyond +anything Haydn or Mozart would have +dared to write.</p> + + +<h4><br />REHEARSING</h4> + +<p>"Realization of the Art aims of the modern +quartet calls for endless rehearsal. Few people +realize the hard work and concentrated effort +entailed. And there are always new +problems to solve. After preparing a new +score in advance, we meet and establish its general +idea, its broad outlines in actual playing. +And then, gradually, we fill in the details. Ordinarily +we rehearse three hours a day, less +during the concert season, of course; but always +enough to keep absolutely in trim. And +we vary our practice programs in order to keep +mentally fresh as well as technically fit.</p> + + +<h4><br />INTONATION</h4> + +<p>"Perfect intonation is a great problem—one +practically unknown to the average amateur +quartet player. Four players may each one +of them be playing in tune, in pitch; yet their +chords may not be truly in tune, because of the +individual bias—a trifle sharp, a trifle flat—in +interpreting pitch. This individual bias +may be caused by the attraction existing between +certain notes, by differences of register +and <i>timbre</i>, or any number of other reasons—too +many to recount. The true beauty of +the quartet tone cannot be obtained unless +there is an exact adjustment, a tempering of +the individual pitch of each instrument, till +perfect accordance exists. This is far more +difficult and complicated than one might at first +believe. For example, let us take one of the +simplest violin chords," said Mr. Betti [and he +rapidly set it down in pencil].</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p159_1a.png" width="106" height="84" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + +<p>"Now let us begin by fixing the B so that +it is perfectly in tune with the E, then <i>without +at all changing</i> the B, take the interval D-B. +You will see that the sixth will not be in tune. +Repeat the experiment, inverting the notes: the +result will still be the same. Try it yourself +some time," added Mr. Betti with a smile, +"and you will see. What is the reason? It +is because the middle B has not been adjusted, +tempered! Give the same notes to the first +and second violins and the viola and you will +have the same result. Then, when the 'cello +is added, the problem is still more complicated, +owing to the difference in <i>timbre</i> and register. +Yet it is a problem which can be solved, and +is solved in practically everything we play.</p> + +<p>"Another difficulty, especially in the case of +some of the <i>very daring</i> chords encountered in +modern compositions, is the matter of balance +between the individual notes. There are +chords which only <i>sound well</i> if certain notes +are thrown into relief; and others only if +played very softly (almost as though they +were overtones). To overcome such difficulties +means a great deal of work, real musical +instinct and, above all, great familiarity with +the composer's harmonic processes. Yet with +time and patience the true balance of tone can +be obtained.</p> + + +<h4><br />TEMPO</h4> + +<p>"All four individual players must be able +to <i>feel</i> the tempo they are playing in the same +way. I believe it was Mahler who once gave +out a beat very distinctly—one, two, three—told +his orchestra players to count the beat +silently for twenty measures and then stop. +As each <i>felt</i> the beat differently from the +other, every one of them stopped at a different +time. So <i>tempo</i>, just like intonation, +must be 'tempered' by the four quartet players +in order to secure perfect rhythmic inflection.</p> + + +<h4><br />DYNAMICS</h4> + +<p>"Modern composers have wonderfully improved +dynamic expression. Every little +shade of meaning they make clear with great +distinctness. The older composers, and occasionally +a modern like Emanuel Moor, do not +use expression marks. Moor says, 'If the performers +really have something to put into my +work the signs are not needed.' Yet this has +its disadvantages. I once had an entirely unmarked +Sonata by Sammartini. As most first +movements in the sonatas of that composer +are <i>allegros</i> I tried the beginning several times +as an <i>allegro</i>, but it sounded radically wrong. +Then, at last, it occurred to me to try it as a +<i>largo</i> and, behold, it was beautiful!</p> + + +<h4><br />INTERPRETATION</h4> + +<p>"If the leader of the quartet has lived himself +into and mastered a composition, together +with his associates, the result is sure. I must +live in the music I play just as an actor must +live the character he represents. All higher +interpretation depends on solving technical +problems in a way which is not narrowly mechanical. +And while the <i>ensemble</i> spirit must +be preserved, the freedom of the individual +should not be too much restrained. Once the +style and manner of a modern composer are +familiar, it is easier to present his works: when +we first played the Reger quartet here some +twenty years ago, we found pages which at first +we could not at all understand. If one has +fathomed Debussy, it is easier to play Milhaud, +Roger-Ducasse, Samazeuil—for the music of +the modern French school has much in common. +One great cultural value the professional +quartet has for the musical community +is the fact that it gives a large circle a measure +of acquaintance with the mode of thought +and style of composers whose symphonic and +larger works are often an unknown quantity. +This applies to Debussy, Reger, the modern +Russians, Bloch and others. When we played +the Stravinsky pieces here, for instance, his +<i>Pétrouschka</i> and <i>Firebird</i> had not yet been +heard.</p> + + +<h4><br />SOME IDEALS</h4> + +<p>"We try, as an organization, to be absolutely +catholic in taste. Nor do we neglect the older +music, because we play so much of the new. +This year we are devoting special attention +to the American composers. Formerly the +Kneisels took care of them, and now we feel +that we should assume this legacy. We have +already played Daniel Gregory Mason's fine +<i>Intermezzo</i>, and the other American numbers +we have played include David Stanley Smith's +<i>Second Quartet</i>, and movements from quartets +by Victor Kolar and Samuel Gardner. We +are also going to revive Charles Martin Loeffler's +<i>Rhapsodies</i> for viola, oboe and piano.</p> + +<p>"I have been for some time making a collection +of sonatas <i>a tre</i>, two violins and 'cello—delightful +old things by Sammartini, Leclair, +the Englishman Boyce, Friedemann +Bach and others. This is material from which +the amateur could derive real enjoyment and +profit. The Leclair sonata in D minor we +have played some three hundred times; and its +slow movement is one of the most beautiful +<i>largos</i> I know of in all chamber music. The +same thing could be done in the way of transcription +for chamber music which Kreisler has +already done so charmingly for the solo violin. +And I would dearly love to do it! There +are certain 'primitives' of the quartet—Johann +Christian Bach, Gossec, Telemann, Michel +Haydn—who have written music full of the +rarest melodic charm and freshness. I have +much excellent material laid by, but as you +know," concluded Mr. Betti with a sigh, "one +has so little time for anything in America."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>XII</h3> + + +<h2><br />HANS LETZ</h2> + +<h3>THE TECHNIC OF BOWING</h3> + + +<p><br />Hans Letz, the gifted Alsatian violinist, is +well fitted to talk on any phase of his Art. A +pupil of Joachim (he came to this country in +1908), he was for three years concertmaster +of the Thomas orchestra, appearing as a solo +artist in most of our large cities, and was not +only one of the Kneisels (he joined that organization +in 1912), but the leader of a quartet +of his own. As a teacher, too, he is active in +giving others an opportunity to apply the lessons +of his own experience.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>When asked for his definition of the term, +Mr. Letz said: "There can be no such thing +as an <i>absolute</i> mastery of the violin. Mastery +is a relative term. The artist is first of all +more or less dependent on circumstances which +he cannot control—his mood, the weather, +strings, a thousand and one incidentals. And +then, the nearer he gets to his ideal, the more +apt his ideal is to escape him. Yet, discounting +all objections, I should say that a master +should be able to express perfectly the composer's +idea, reflected by his own sensitive soul.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE KEY TO INTERPRETATION</h4> + +<p>"The bow is the key to this mastery in expression, +in interpretation: in a lesser degree +the left hand. The average pupil does not +realize this but believes that mere finger facility +is the whole gist of technic. Yet the richest +color, the most delicate <i>nuance</i>, is mainly a +matter of bowing. In the left hand, of course, +the <i>vibrato</i> gives a certain amount of color effect, +the intense, dramatic tone quality of the +rapid <i>vibrato</i> is comparable on the violin to the +<i>tremulando</i> of the singer. At the same time +the <i>vibrato</i> used to excess is quite as bad as an +excessive <i>tremulando</i> in the voice. But control +of the bow is the key to the gates of the +great field of declamation, it is the means of +articulation and accent, it gives character, comprising +the entire scale of the emotions. In +fact, declamation with the violin bow is very +much like declamation in dramatic art. And +the attack of the bow on the string should be +as incisive as the utterance of the first accented +syllable of a spoken word. The bow is emphatically +the means of expression, but only +the advanced pupil can develop its finer, more +delicate expressional possibilities.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE TECHNIC OF BOWING</h4> + +<p>"Genius does many things by instinct. And +it sometimes happens that very great performers, +trying to explain some technical function, +do not know how to make their meaning clear. +With regard to bowing, I remember that Joachim +(a master colorist with the bow) used +to tell his students to play largely with the +wrist. What he really meant was with an elbow-joint +movement, that is, moving the bow, +which should always be connected with a movement +of the forearm by means of the elbow-joint. +The ideal bow stroke results from +keeping the joints of the right arm loose, and +at the same time firm enough to control each +motion made. A difficult thing for the student +is to learn to draw the bow across the strings +<i>at a right angle</i>, the only way to produce a +good tone. I find it helps my pupils to tell +them not to think of the position of the bow-arm +while drawing the bow across the strings, +but merely to follow with the tips of the fingers +of the right hand an imaginary line running +at a right angle across the strings. The +whole bow then moves as it should, and the arm +motions unconsciously adjust themselves.</p> + + +<h4><br />RHYTHM AND COLOR</h4> + +<p>"Rhythm is the foundation of all music—not +rhythm in its metronomic sense, but in the +broader sense of proportion. I lay the greatest +stress on the development of rhythmic sensibility +in the student. Rhythm gives life to +every musical phrase." Mr. Letz had a +Brahms' quartet open on his music stand. +Playing the following passage, he said:</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p168_1a.png" width="381" height="80" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + + + +<p>"In order to give this phrase its proper +rhythmic value, to express it clearly, plastically, +there must be a very slight separation +between the sixteenths and the eighth-note following +them. This—the bow picked up a +trifle from the strings—throws the sixteenths +into relief. As I have already said, tone color +is for the main part controlled by the bow. If +I draw the bow above the fingerboard instead +of keeping it near the bridge, I have a decided +contrast in color. This color contrast may always +be established: playing near the bridge +results in a clear and sharp tone, playing near +the fingerboard in a veiled and velvety one.</p> + + +<h4><br />SUGGESTIONS IN TEACHING</h4> + +<p>"I find that, aside from the personal illustration +absolutely necessary when teaching, +that an appeal to the pupil's imagination usually +bears fruit. In developing tone-quality, +let us say, I tell the pupil his phrases should +have a golden, mellow color, the tonal equivalent +of the hues of the sunrise. I vary my +pictures according to the circumstances and +the pupil, in most cases, reacts to them. In +fast bowings, for instance, I make three color +distinctions or rather sound distinctions. +There is the 'color of rain,' when a fast bow +is pushed gently over the strings, while not allowed +to jump; the 'color of snowflakes' produced +when the hairs 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 <i>spiccato</i> the +whole bow leaves the string."</p> + + +<h4><br />THE ART AND THE SCHOOLS</h4> + +<p>In reply to another question, Mr. Letz +added: "Great violin playing is great violin +playing, irrespective of school or nationality. +Of course the Belgians and French have +notable elegance, polish, finish in detail. The +French lay stress on sensuous beauty of tone. +The German temperament is perhaps broader, +neglecting sensuous beauty for beauty of idea, +developing the scholarly side. Sarasate, the +Spaniard, is a unique national figure. The +Slavs seem to have a natural gift for the violin—perhaps +because of centuries of repression—and +are passionately temperamental. +In their playing we find that melancholy, combined +with an intense craving for joy, which +runs through all Slavonic music and literature. +Yet, all said and done, Art is and remains +first of all international, and the great +violinist is a great artist, no matter what his +native land."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>XIII</h3> + + +<h2><br />DAVID MANNES</h2> + +<h3>THE PHILOSOPHY OF VIOLIN TEACHING</h3> + + +<p><br />That David Mannes, the well-known violinist +and conductor, so long director of the +New York Music School Settlement, would +be able to speak in an interesting and authoritative +manner on his art, was a foregone conclusion +in the writer's mind. A visit to the +educator's own beautiful "Music School" confirmed +this conviction. In reply to some +questions concerning his own study years Mr. +Mannes spoke of his work with Heinrich de +Ahna, Karl Halir and Eugène Ysaye. "When +I came to de Ahna in Berlin, I was, unfortunately, +not yet ready for him, and so did not +get much benefit from his instruction. In the +case of Halir, to whom I went later, I was in +much better shape to take advantage of what +he could give me, and profited accordingly. +It is a point any student may well note—that +when he thinks of studying with some famous +teacher he be technically and musically +equipped to take advantage of all that the latter +may be able to give him. Otherwise it is +a case of love's labor lost on the part of both. +Karl Halir was a sincere and very thorough +teacher. He was a Spohr player <i>par excellence</i>, +and I have never found his equal in the +playing of Spohr's <i>Gesangsscene</i>. With him +I studied Kreutzer, Rode, Fiorillo; and to +know Halir as a teacher was to know him at +his best; since as a public performer—great +violinist as he was—he did not do himself justice, +because he was too nervous and high-strung.</p> + + + +<!-- Picture of DAVID MANNES, Facing Page 146--> + +<a name="F_Page_146" id="F_Page_146"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p146a_m.jpg" width="362" height="700" alt="F_Page_128" title="DAVID MANNES" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">David Mannes</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + + +<h4><br />STUDYING WITH YSAYE</h4> + +<p>"It was while sitting among the first violins +in the New York Symphony Orchestra that +I first heard Ysaye. And for the first time +in my life I heard a man with whom I fervently +<i>wanted</i> to study; an artist whose whole +attitude with regard to tone and sound reproduction +embodied my ideals.</p> + +<p>"I worked with Ysaye in Brussels and in +his cottage at Godinne. Here he taught much +as Liszt did at Weimar, a group of from ten +to twenty disciples. Early in the morning he +went fishing in the Meuse, then back to breakfast +and then came the lessons: not more than +three or four a day. Those who studied drew +inspiration from him as the pianists of the +Weimar circle did from their Master. In +fact, Ysaye's standpoint toward music had a +good deal in common with Rubinstein's and +he often said he wished he could play the violin +as Rubinstein did the piano. Ysaye is an +artist who has transcended his own medium—he +has become a poet of sound. And unless +the one studying with him could understand +and appreciate this fact he made a poor +teacher. But to me, in all humility, he was +and will always remain a wonderful inspiration. +As an influence in my career his marvelous +genius is unique. In my own teaching +I have only to recall his tone, his playing +in his little cottage on the banks of the Meuse +which the tide of war has swept away, to realize +in a cumulative sense the things he tried to +make plain to me then. Ysaye taught the +technic of expression as against the expression +of technic. He gave the lessons of a thousand +teachers in place of the lessons of one. The +greatest technical development was required +by Ysaye of a pupil; and given this pre-requisite, +he could open up to him ever enlarging +horizons of musical beauty.</p> + +<p>"Nor did he think that the true beauty of +violin playing must depend upon six to eight +hours of daily practice work. I absolutely believe +with Ysaye that unless a student can +make satisfactory progress with three hours of +practice a day, he should not attempt to play +the violin. Inability to do so is in itself a confession +of failure at the outset. Nor do I +think it possible to practice the violin intensively +more than three-quarters of an hour at +a time. In order to utilize his three hours of +practice to the best advantage the student +should divide them into four periods, with intervals +of rest between each, and these rest +periods might simply represent a transfer of +energy—which is a rest in itself—to reading +or some other occupation not necessarily germane +to music, yet likely to stimulate interest +in some other art.</p> + + +<h4><br />SOME INITIAL PRINCIPLES OF VIOLIN STUDY</h4> + +<p>"The violin student first and foremost +should accustom himself to practicing purely +technical exercises without notes. The scales +and arpeggios should never be played otherwise +and books of scales should be used only +as a reference. Quite as important as scale +practice are broken chords. On the violin +these cannot be played <i>solidly</i>, as on the piano; +but must be studied as arpeggios, in the most +exhaustive way, harmonically and technically. +Their great value lies in developing an innate +musical sense, in establishing an idea of tonality +and harmony that becomes so deeply +rooted that every other key is as natural to the +player as is the key of C. Work of this kind +can never be done ideally in class. But every +individual student must himself come to realize +the necessity of doing technical work without +notes as a matter of daily exercise, even +though his time be limited. Perhaps the most +difficult of all lessons is learning to hold the +violin. There are pupils to whom holding the +instrument presents insurmountable obstacles. +Such pupils, instead of struggling in vain with +a physical difficulty, might rather take up the +study of the 'cello, whose weight rests on the +floor. That many a student was not intended +to be a violin player by nature is proved by +the various inventions, chin-rests, braces, intended +to supply what nature has not supplied. +The study of the violin should never +be allowed if it is going to result in actual +physical deformity: raising of the left shoulder, +malformation of the back, or eruptions +resulting from chin-rest pressure. These are +all evidences of physical unfitness, or of incorrect +teaching.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE PHILOSOPHY OF VIOLIN TEACHING</h4> + +<p>"Class study is for the advanced student, +not the beginner. In the beginning only the +closest personal contact between the individual +pupil and the teacher is desirable. To +borrow an analogy from nature, the student +may be compared to the young bird whose untrained +wings will not allow him to take any +trial flights unaided by his natural guardian. +For the beginning violinist the principal +thing to do is to learn the 'voice placing' of the +violin. This goes hand in hand with the +proper—which is the easy and natural—manner +of holding the violin, bow study, and an +appreciation of the acoustics of the instrument. +The student's attention should at once +be called to the marvelous and manifold qualities +of the violin tone, and he should at once +familiarize himself with the development of +those contrasts of stress and pressure, ease and +relaxation which are instrumental in its production. +The analogies between the violin +voice and the human voice should also be developed. +The violin itself must to all intents +become a part of the player himself, just as +the vocal chords are part of the human body. +It should not be considered a foreign tone-producing +instrument adjusted to the body of +the performer; but an extension, a projection +of his physical self. In a way it is easier for +the violinist to get at the chords of the violin +and make them sound, since they are all exposed, +which is not the case with the singer.</p> + +<p>"There are two dangerous points in present-day +standards of violin teaching. One is +represented by the very efficient European +professional standards of technic, which may +result in an absolute failure of poetic musical +comprehension. These should not be transplanted +here from European soil. The other +is the non-technical, sentimental, formless species +of teaching which can only result in emotional +enervation. Yet if forced to choose between +the two the former would be preferable +since without tools it is impossible to carve +anything of beauty. The final beauty of the +violin tone, the pure <i>legato</i>, remains in the beginning +as in the end a matter of holding the +violin and bow. Together they 'place' the +tone just as the physical <i>media</i> in the throat +'place' the tone of the voice.</p> + +<p>"Piano teachers have made greater advances +in the tone developing technic of their instrument +than the violin teachers. One reason is, +that as a class they are more intellectual. And +then, too, violin teaching is regarded too often +as a mystic art, an occult science, and one into +which only those specially gifted may hope to +be initiated. This, it seems to me, is a fallacy. +Just as a gift for mathematics is a special +talent not given to all, so a <i>natural</i> technical +talent exists in relatively few people. +Yet this does not imply that the majority are +shut off from playing the violin and playing +it well. Any student who has music in his +soul may be taught to play simple, and even +relatively more difficult music with beauty, +beauty of expression and interpretation. +This he may be taught to do even though not +endowed with a <i>natural</i> technical facility +for the violin. A proof that natural technical +facility is anything but a guarantee +of higher musicianship is shown in that the +musical weakness of many brilliant violinists, +hidden by the technical elaboration of virtuoso +pieces, is only apparent when they attempt to +play a Beethoven <i>adagio</i> or a simple Mozart +<i>rondo</i>.</p> + +<p>"In a number of cases the unsuccessful solo +player has a bad effect on violin teaching. +Usually the soloist who has not made a success +as a concert artist takes up teaching as a +last resort, without enthusiasm or the true vocational +instinct. The false standards he sets +up for his pupils are a natural result of his +own ineffectual worship of the fetish of virtuosity—those +of the musical mountebank of +a hundred years ago. Of course such false +prophets of the virtuose have nothing in common +with such high-priests of public utterance +as Ysaye, Kreisler and others, whose virtuosity +is a true means for the higher development +of the musical. The encouragement of musicianship +in general suffers for the stress laid +on what is obviously technical <i>impedimenta</i>. +But more and more, as time passes, the playing +of such artists as those already mentioned, and +others like them, shows that the real musician +is the lover of beautiful sound, which technic +merely develops in the highest degree.</p> + +<p>"To-day technic in a cumulative sense often +is a confession of failure. For technic does +not do what it so often claims to—produce the +artist. Most professional teaching aims to +prepare the student for professional life, the +concert stage. Hence there is an intensive +<i>technical</i> study of compositions that even if +not wholly intended for display are primarily +and principally projected for its sake. It is +a well-known fact that few, even among gifted +players, can sit down to play chamber music +and do it justice. This is not because they +cannot grasp or understand it; or because their +technic is insufficient. It is because their +whole violinistic education has been along the +line of solo playing; they have literally been +brought up, not to play <i>with</i> others, but to be +accompanied <i>by</i> others.</p> + +<p>"Yet despite all this there has been a notable +development of violin study in the direction +of <i>ensemble</i> work with, as a result, an attitude +on the part of the violinists cultivating +it, of greater humility as regards music in general, +a greater appreciation of the charm of +artistic collaboration: and—I insist—a technic +both finer and more flexible. Chamber music—originally +music written for the intimate +surroundings of the home, for a small circle +of listeners—carries out in its informal way +many of the ideals of the larger orchestral +<i>ensemble</i>. And, as regards the violinist, he is +not dependent only on the literature of the +string quartet; there are piano quintets and +quartets, piano trios, and the duos for violin +and piano. Some of the most beautiful instrumental +thoughts of the classic and modern +composers are to be found in the duo for +violin and piano, mainly in the sonata form. +Amateurs—violinists who love music for its +own sake, and have sufficient facility to perform +such works creditably—do not do nearly +enough <i>ensemble</i> playing with a pianist. It is +not always possible to get together the four +players needed for the string quartet, but a +pianist is apt to be more readily found.</p> + +<p>"The combination of violin and piano is as +a rule obtainable and the literature is particularly +rich. Aside from sonatas by Corelli, +Locatelli, Tartini, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, +Haendel, Brahms and Schumann, nearly all +the romantic and modern composers have contributed +to it. And this music has all been +written so as to show the character of each instrument +at its best—the piano, harmonic in +its nature; the violin, a natural melodic voice, +capable of every shade of <i>nuance</i>." That Mr. +Mannes, as an artist, has made a point of +"practicing what he preaches" to the student +as regards the <i>ensemble</i> of violin and piano will +be recalled by all who have enjoyed the 'Sonata +Recitals' he has given together with Mrs. +Mannes. And as an interpreting solo artist +his views regarding the moot question of gut +<i>versus</i> wire strings are of interest.</p> + + +<h4><br />GUT VERSUS WIRE STRINGS</h4> + +<p>"My own violin, a Maggini of more than the +usual size, dates from the year 1600. It +formerly belonged to Dr. Leopold Damrosch. +Which strings do I use on it? The whole question +as to whether gut or wire strings are to be +preferred may, in my opinion, be referred to +the violin itself for decision. What I mean is +that if Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Amati, Maggini +and others of the old-master builders of +violins had ever had wire strings in view, they +would have built their fiddles in accordance, +and they would not be the same we now possess. +First of all there are scientific reasons against +using the wire strings. They change the tone +of the instrument. The rigidity of tension of +the wire E string where it crosses the bridge +tightens up the sound of the lower strings. +Their advantages are: reliability under adverse +climatic conditions and the incontestable +fact that they make things easier technically. +They facilitate purity of intonation. Yet I +am willing to forgo these advantages when I +consider the wonderful pliability of the gut +strings for which Stradivarius built his violins. +I can see the artistic retrogression of those who +are using the wire E, for when materially +things are made easier, spiritually there is a +loss.</p> + + +<h4><br />CHIN RESTS</h4> + +<p>"And while we are discussing the physical +aspects of the instrument there is the 'chin +rest.' None of the great violin makers ever +made a 'chin rest.' Increasing technical demands, +sudden pyrotechnical flights into the +higher octaves brought the 'chin rest' into being. +The 'chin rest' was meant to give the +player a better grasp of his instrument. I absolutely +disapprove, in theory, of chin rest, +cushion or pad. Technical reasons may be adduced +to justify their use, never artistic ones. +I admit that progress in violin study is infinitely +slower without the use of the pad; but +the more close and direct a contact with his +instrument the player can develop, the more +intimately expressive his playing becomes. +Students with long necks and thin bodies claim +they have to use a 'chin rest,' but the study of +physical adjustments could bring about a better +coördination between them and the instrument. +A thin pad 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 we accustom ourselves +to mechanical aids, the more we will +come to rely on them.... But the question +you ask anent 'Violin Mastery' leads altogether +away from the material!</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"To me it signifies technical efficiency +coupled with poetic insight, freedom from conventionally +accepted standards, the attainment +of a more varied personal expression along individual +lines. It may be realized, of course, +only to a degree, since the possessor of absolute +'Violin Mastery' would be forever glorified. +As it is the violin master, as I conceive +him, represents the embodier of the greatest +intimacy between himself, the artist, and his +medium of expression. Considered in this light +Pablo Casals and his 'cello, perhaps, most +closely comply with the requirements of the +definition. And this is not as paradoxical as +it may seem, since all string instruments are +brethren, descended from the ancient viol, and +the 'cello is, after all, a variant of the violin!"</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>XIV</h3> + + +<h2><br />TIVADAR NACHÉZ</h2> + +<h3>JOACHIM AND LÉONARD AS TEACHERS</h3> + + +<p><br />Tivadar Nachéz, the celebrated violin +virtuoso, is better known as a concertizing +artist in Europe, where he has played with all +the leading symphonic orchestras, than in this +country, to which he paid his first visit during +these times of war, and which he was about +to leave for his London home when the writer +had the pleasure of meeting him. Yet, though +he has not appeared in public in this country +(if we except some Red Cross concerts in California, +at which he gave his auditors of his +best to further our noblest war charity), his +name is familiar to every violinist. For is not +Mr. Nachéz the composer of the "Gypsy +Dances" for violin and piano, which have made +him famous?</p> + +<p>Genuinely musical, effective and largely successful +as they have been, however, as any one +who has played them can testify, the composer +of the "Gypsy Dances" regards them with +mixed feelings. "I have done other work that +seems to me, relatively, much more important," +said Mr. Nachéz, "but when my name happens +to be mentioned, echo always answers 'Gypsy +Dances,' my little rubbishy 'Gypsy Dances!' +It is not quite fair. I have published thirty-five +works, among them a 'Requiem Mass,' +an orchestral overture, two violin concertos, +three rhapsodies for violin and orchestra, variations +on a Swiss theme, Romances, a Polonaise +(dedicated to Ysaye), and Evening +Song, three <i>Poèmes hongrois</i>, twelve classical +masterworks of the 17th century—to say nothing +of songs, etc.—and the two concertos of +Vivaldi and Nardini which I have edited, practically +new creations, owing to the addition of +the piano accompaniments and orchestral +score. I wrote the 'Gypsy Dances' as a mere +boy when I was studying with H. Léonard in +Paris, and really at his suggestion. In one of +my lessons I played Sarasate's 'Spanish +Dances,' which chanced to be published at the +time, and at once made a great hit. So Léonard +said to me: 'Why not write some <i>Hungarian</i> +Gypsy dances—there must be wonderful material +at hand in the music of the <i>Tziganes</i> of +Hungary. You should do something with it!' +I took him at his word, and he liked my +'Dances' so well that he made me play them at +his musical evenings, which he gave often during +the winter, and which were always attended +by the musical <i>Tout Paris!</i> I may say that +during these last thirty years there has been +scarcely a violinist before the public who at +one time or the other has <i>not</i> played these +'Gypsy Dances.' Besides the <i>original</i> edition, +there are two (pirated!) editions in America +and six in Europe.</p> + + + +<!-- Picture of TIVADAR NACHEZ, Facing Page 160--> + +<a name="F_Page_160" id="F_Page_160"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p160a_m.jpg" width="431" height="700" alt="F_Page_128" title="TIVADAR NACHÉZ" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Tivadar Nachéz</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<!-- Signature of TIVADAR NACHEZ --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p160b_m.jpg" width="431" height="161" alt="F_Page_161" title="TIVADAR NACHÉZ SIGNATURE" /> +<br /><br /></div> + + + +<h4><br />THE BEGINNING OF A VIOLINISTIC CAREER:<br /> +PLAYING WITH LISZT</h4> + +<p>"No, Léonard was not my first teacher. I +took up violin work when a boy of five years +of age, and for seven years practiced from +eight to ten hours a day, studying with Sabathiel, +the leader of the Royal Orchestra in +Budapest, where I was born, though England, +the land of my adoption, in which I have +lived these last twenty-six years, is the land +where I have found all my happiness, and +much gratifying honor, and of which I have +been a devoted, ardent and loyal naturalized +citizen for more than a quarter of a century. +Sabathiel was an excellent routine teacher, and +grounded me well in the fundamentals—good +tone production and technical control. Later +I had far greater teachers, and they taught me +much, but—in the last analysis, most of the +little I have achieved I owe to myself, to hard, +untiring work: I had determined to be a violinist +and I trust I became one. No serious +student of the instrument should ever forget +that, no matter who his teacher may be, he +himself must supply the determination, the +continued energy and devotion which will lead +him to success.</p> + +<p>"Playing with Liszt—he was an intimate +friend of my father—is my most precious musical +recollection of Budapest. I enjoyed it a +great deal more than my regular lesson work. +He would condescend to play with me some +evenings and you can imagine what rare musical +enjoyment, what happiness there was in +playing with such a genius! I was still a boy +when with him I played the Grieg F major +sonata, which had just come fresh from the +press. He played with me the D minor sonata +of Schumann and introduced me to the mystic +beauties of the Beethoven sonatas. I can still +recall how in the Beethoven C minor sonata, in +the first movement, Liszt would bring out a +certain broken chromatic passage in the left +hand, with a mighty <i>crescendo</i>, an effect of +melodious thunder, of enormous depth of tone, +and yet with the most exquisite regard for the +balance between the violin and his own instrument. +And there was not a trace of condescension +in his attitude toward me; but always +encouragement, a tender affectionate and +paternal interest in a young boy, who at <i>that +moment</i> was a brother artist.</p> + +<p>"Through Liszt I came to know the great +men of Hungarian music of that time: Erkel, +Hans Richter, Robert Volkmann, Count +Geza Zichy, and eventually I secured a scholarship, +which the King had founded for music, +to study with Joachim in Berlin, where I remained +nearly three years. Hubay was my +companion there; but afterward we separated, +he going to Vieuxtemps, while I went to +Léonard.</p> + + +<h4><br />JOACHIM AS A TEACHER AND INTERPRETER</h4> + +<p>"Joachim was, perhaps, the most celebrated +teacher of his time. Yet it is one of the greatest +ironies of fate that when he died there was +not one of his pupils who was considered by +the German authorities 'great' enough to take +the place the Master had held. Henri Marteau, +who was not his pupil, and did not even exemplify +his style in playing, was chosen to +succeed him! Henri Petri, a Vieuxtemps pupil +who went to Joachim, played just as well when +he came to him as when he left him. The same +might be said of Willy Burmester, Hess, Kes +and Halir, the latter one of those Bohemian +artists who had a tremendous 'Kubelik-like' +execution. Teaching is and always will be a +special gift. There are many minor artists +who are wonderful 'teachers,' and <i>vice versa</i>!</p> + +<p>"Yet if Joachim may be criticized as regards +the way of imparting the secrets of technical +phases in his violin teaching, as a teacher of +interpretation he was incomparable! As an +interpreter of Beethoven and of Bach in particular, +there has never been any one to equal +Joachim. Yet he never played the same Bach +composition twice in the same way. We were +four in our class, and Hubay and I used to +bring our copies of the sonatas with us, to +make marginal notes while Joachim played to +us, and these instantaneous musical 'snapshots' +remain very interesting. But no matter how +Joachim played Bach, it was always with a big +tone, broad chords of an organ-like effect. +There is no greater discrepancy than the edition +of the Bach sonatas published (since his +death) by Moser, and which is supposed to embody +Joachim's interpretation. Sweeping +chords, which Joachim always played with the +utmost breadth, are 'arpeggiated' in Moser's +edition! Why, if any of his pupils had ever +attempted to play, for instance, the end of the +<i>Bourée</i> in the B minor <i>Partita</i> of Bach <i>à la +Moser</i>, Joachim would have broken his bow +over their heads!</p> + + +<h4><br />STUDYING WITH LÉONARD</h4> + +<p>"After three years' study I left Joachim +and went to Paris. Liszt had given me letters of +introduction to various French artists, among +them Saint-Saëns. One evening I happened +to hear Léonard play Corelli's <i>La Folia</i> in the +<i>Salle Pleyel</i>, and the liquid clarity and beauty +of his tone so impressed me that I decided I +must study with him. I played for him and +he accepted me as a pupil. I am free to admit +that my tone, which people seem to be pleased +to praise especially, I owe entirely to Léonard, +for when I came to him I had the so-called +'German tone' (<i>son allemand</i>), of a harsh, +rasping quality, which I tried to abandon absolutely. +Léonard often would point to his +ears while teaching and say: '<i>Ouvrez vos oreilles: +écoutéz la beauté du son!</i>' ('Open your +ears, listen for beauty of sound!'). Most Joachim +pupils you hear (unless they have reformed) +attack a chord with the nut of the bow, +the German method, which unduly stresses the +attack. Léonard, on the contrary, insisted with +his pupils on the attack being made with such +smoothness as to be absolutely unobtrusive. +Being a nephew of Mme. Malibran, he attached +special importance to the 'singing' tone, and +advised his pupils to hear great singers, to +<i>listen</i> to them, and to try and reproduce their +<i>bel canto</i> on the violin.</p> + +<p>"He was most particular in his observance +of every <i>nuance</i> of shading and expression. He +told me that when he played Mendelssohn's +concerto (for the first time) at the Leipsic +<i>Gewandhaus</i>, at a rehearsal, Mendelssohn himself +conducting, he began the first phrase with +a full <i>mezzo-forte</i> tone. Mendelssohn laid his +hand on his arm and said: 'But it begins <i>piano!</i>' +In reply Léonard merely pointed with his bow +to the score—the <i>p</i> which is now indicated in +all editions had been omitted by some printer's +error, and he had been quite within his rights +in playing <i>mezzo-forte</i>.</p> + +<p>"Léonard paid a great deal of attention +to scales and the right way to practice them. +He would say, <i>'Il faut filer les sons: c'est l'art +des maîtres</i>. ('One must spin out the tone: +that is the art of the masters.') He taught his +pupils to play the scales with long, steady +bowings, counting sixty to each bow. Himself +a great classical violinist, he nevertheless paid +a good deal of attention to <i>virtuoso</i> pieces; and +always tried to prepare his pupils for <i>public +life</i>. He had all sorts of wise hints for the +budding concert artist, and was in the habit +of saying: 'You must plan a program as you +would the <i>ménu</i> of a dinner: there should be +something for every one's taste. And, especially, +if you are playing on a long program, +together with other artists, offer nothing indigestible—let +<i>your</i> number be a relief!'</p> + + +<h4><br />SIVORI</h4> + +<p>"While studying with Léonard I met Sivori, +Paganini's only pupil (if we except Catarina +Caleagno), for whom Paganini wrote a concerto +and six short sonatas. Léonard took me +to see him late one evening at the <i>Hôtel de +Havane</i> in Paris, where Sivori was staying. +When we came to his room we heard the sound +of slow scales, beautifully played, coming from +behind the closed door. We peered through +the keyhole, and there he sat on his bed stringing +his scale tones like pearls. He was a little +chap and had the tiniest hands I have ever +seen. Was this a drawback? If so, no one +could tell from his playing; he had a flawless +technic, and a really pearly quality of tone. He +was very jolly and amiable, and he and Léonard +were great friends, each always going to +hear the other whenever he played in concert. +My four years in Paris were in the main years +of storm and stress—plain living and hard, +very hard, concentrated work. I gave some accompanying +lessons to help keep things going. +When I left Paris I went to London and then +began my public life as a concert violinist.</p> + + +<h4><br />GREAT MOMENTS IN AN ARTIST'S LIFE</h4> + +<p>"What is the happiest remembrance of my +career as a <i>virtuoso</i>? Some of the great moments +in my life as an artist? It is hard to say. +Of course some of my court appearances before +the crowned heads of Europe are dear +to me, not so much because they were <i>court</i> +appearances, but because of the graciousness +and appreciation of the highly placed personages +for whom I played.</p> + +<p>"Then, what I count a signal honor, I have +played no less than <i>three</i> times as a solo artist +with the Royal Philharmonic Society of London, +the oldest symphonic society in Europe, +for whom Beethoven composed his immortal +IXth symphony (once under Sir Arthur Sullivan's +baton; once under that of Sir A.C. +Mackenzie, and once with Sir Frederick +Cowen as conductor—on this last occasion I +was asked to introduce my new Second concerto +in B minor, Op. 36, at the time still in +ms.) Then there is quite a number of great +conductors with whom I have appeared, a few +among them being Liszt, Rubinstein, Brahms, +Pasdeloup, Sir August Manns, Sir Charles +Hallé, L. Mancinelli, Weingartner and Hans +Richter, etc. Perhaps, as a violinist, what I +like best to recall is that as a boy I was invited +by Richter to go with him to Bayreuth +and play at the foundation of the Bayreuth +festival theater, which however my parents +would <i>not</i> permit owing to my tender age. I +also remember with pleasure an episode at +the famous Pasdeloup Concerts in the <i>Cirque +d'hiver</i> in Paris, on an occasion when I performed +the F sharp minor concerto of Ernst. +After I had finished, two ladies came to the +green room: they were in deep mourning, and +one of them greatly moved, asked me to 'allow +her to thank me' for the manner in which I had +played this concerto—she said: <i>'I am the +widow of Ernst!'</i> She also told me that since +his death she had never heard the concerto +played as I had played it! In presenting to +me her companion, the Marquise de Gallifet +(wife of the General de Gallifet who led the +brigade of the <i>Chasseurs d'Afrique</i> in the +heroic charge of General Margueritte's cavalry +division at Sedan, which excited the admiration +of the old king of Prussia), I had the honor +of meeting the once world famous violinist +Mlle. Millanollo, as she was before her marriage. +Mme. Ernst often came to hear me +play her late husband's music, and as a parting +gift presented me with his beautiful +'Tourte' bow, and an autographed copy of the +first edition of Ernst's transcription for solo +violin of Schubert's 'Erlking.' It is so incredibly +difficult to play with proper balance +of melody and accompaniment—I never heard +any one but Kubelik play it—that it is almost +impossible. It is so difficult, in fact, that it +should not be played!</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLINS AND STRINGS: SARASATE</h4> + +<p>"My violin? I am a Stradivarius player, +and possess two fine Strads, though I also have +a beautiful Joseph Guarnerius. Ysaye, Thibaud +and Caressa, when they lunched with me +not long ago, were enthusiastic about them. +My favorite Strad is a 1716 instrument—I +have used it for twenty-five years. But I cannot +use the wire strings that are now in such +vogue here. I have to have Italian gut strings. +The wire E cuts my fingers, and besides I notice +a perceptible difference in sound quality. +Of course, wire strings are practical; they do +not 'snap' on the concert stage. Speaking of +strings that 'snap,' reminds me that the first +time I heard Sarasate play the Saint-Saëns +concerto, at Frankfort, he twice forgot his +place and stopped. They brought him the +music, he began for the third time and then—the +E string snapped! I do not think <i>any</i> +other than Sarasate could have carried off these +successive mishaps and brought his concert to +a triumphant conclusion. He was a great +friend of mine and one of the most <i>perfect</i> +players I have ever known, as well as one of +the greatest <i>grand seigneurs</i> among violinists. +His rendering of romantic works, Saint-Saëns, +Lalo, Bruch, was exquisite—I have never, +never heard them played as beautifully. On +the other hand, his Bach playing was excruciating—he +played Bach sonatas as though they +were virtuoso pieces. It made one think of +Hans von Bülow's <i>mot</i> when, in speaking of +a certain famous pianist, he said: 'He plays +Beethoven with velocity and Czerny with expression.' +But to hear Sarasate play romantic +music, his own 'Spanish Dances' for instance, +was all like glorious birdsong and +golden sunshine, a lark soaring heavenwards!</p> + + +<h4><br />THE NARDINI CONCERTO IN A</h4> + +<p>"You ask about my compositions? Well, +Eddy Brown is going to play my Second violin +concerto, Op. 36 in B flat, which I wrote +for the London Philharmonic Society, next +season; Elman the Nardini concerto in A, +which was published only shortly before the +outbreak of the war. Thirty years ago I found, +by chance, three old Nardini concertos for +violin and bass in the composer's <i>original</i> ms., +in Bologna. The best was the one in A—a +beautiful work! But the bass was not even +figured, and the task of reconstructing the accompaniment +for piano, as well as for orchestra, +and reverently doing justice to the composer's +original intent and idea; while at the +same time making its beauties clearly and expressively +available from the standpoint of +the violinist of to-day, was not easy. Still, +I think I may say I succeeded." And Mr. +Nachéz showed me some letters from famous +contemporaries who had made the acquaintance +of this Nardini concerto in A major. Auer, +Thibaud, Sir Hubert Parry (who said that he +had "infused the work with new life"), Pollak, +Switzerland's ranking fiddler, Carl Flesch, +author of the well-known <i>Urstudien</i>—all expressed +their admiration. One we cannot forbear +quoting a letter in part. It was from Ottokar +Sevčik. The great Bohemian pedagogue is +usually regarded as the apostle of mechanism +in violin playing: as the inventor of an inexorably +logical system of development, which +stresses the technical at the expense of the +musical. The following lines show him in +quite a different light:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I would not be surprised if Nardini, Vivaldi and +their companions were to appear to you at the midnight +hour in order to thank the master for having given new +life to their works, long buried beneath the mold of +figured basses; works whose vital, pulsating possibilities +these old gentlemen probably never suspected. Nardini +emerges from your alchemistic musical laboratory with +so fresh and lively a quality of charm that starving +fiddlers will greet him with the same pleasure with which +the bee greets the first honeyed blossom of spring."</p></div> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"And now you want my definition of 'Violin +Mastery'? To me the whole art of playing +violin is contained in the reverent and respectful +interpretation of the works of the great +masters. I consider the artist only their messenger, +singing the message they give us. And +the more one realizes this, the greater becomes +one's veneration especially for Bach's creative +work. For twenty years I never failed to play +the Bach solo sonatas for violin every day of +my life—a violinist's 'daily prayer' in its truest +sense! Students of Bach are apt, in the beginning, +to play, say, the <i>finale</i> of the G minor +sonata, the final <i>Allegro</i> of the A minor +sonata, the <i>Gigue</i> of the B minor, or the <i>Preludio</i> +of the E major sonata like a mechanical +exercise: it takes <i>constant</i> study to disclose +their intimate harmonic melodious conception +and poetry! One should always remember +that technic is, after all, only a <i>means</i>. It must +be acquired in order to be an unhampered +master of the instrument, as a medium for presenting +the thoughts of the great creators—but +<i>these thoughts</i>, and not their medium of expression, +are the chief objects of the true and +great artist, whose aim in life is to serve his +Art humbly, reverently and faithfully! You +remember these words:</p> + +<p>"'In the very torrent, tempest, and, as I +may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must +acquire and beget a temperance that may give +it smoothness. Oh, it offends me to the soul to +hear a robustious, periwig-pated fellow tear a +passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the +ears of the groundlings, who for the most part +are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows +and noise!...'"</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>XV</h3> + + +<h2><br />MAXIMILIAN PILZER</h2> + +<h3>THE SINGING TONE AND THE VIBRATO</h3> + + +<p><br />Maximilian Pilzer is deservedly prominent +among younger American concert violinists. +A pupil of Joachim, Shradieck, Gustav +Hollander, he is, as it has already been picturesquely +put, "a graduate of the rock and +thorn university," an artist who owes his success +mainly to his own natural gifts plus an infinite +capacity for taking pains. Though +primarily an interpreter his interlocutor yet +had the good fortune to happen on Mr. Pilzer +when he was giving a lesson. Essentially a +solo violinist, Mr. Pilzer nevertheless has the +born teacher's wish to impart, to share, where +talent justifies it, his own knowledge. He himself +did not have to tell the listener this—the +lesson he was giving betrayed the fact.</p> + +<p>It was Kreisler's <i>Tambourin Chinois</i> that +the student played. And as Mr. Pilzer illustrated +the delicate shades of <i>nuance</i>, of +phrasing, of bowing, with instant rebuke for +an occasional lack of "warmth" in tone, the +improvement was instantaneous and unmistakable. +The lesson over, he said:</p> + + +<h4><br />THE SINGING TONE</h4> + +<p>"The singing tone is the ideal one, it is the +natural violin tone. Too many violin students +have the technical bee in their bonnet and neglect +it. And too many believe that speed is +brilliancy. When they see the black notes they +take for granted that they must 'run to beat +the band.' Yet often it is the teacher's fault if +a good singing tone is not developed. Where +the teacher's playing is cold, that of the pupil +is apt to be the same. Warmth, rounded fullness, +the truly beautiful violin tone is more difficult +to call forth than is generally supposed. +And, in a manner of speaking, the soul of this +tone quality is the <i>vibrato</i>, though the individual +instrument also has much to do with +the tone.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE VIBRATO</h4> + +<p>"But not," Mr. Pilzer continued, "not as it +is too often mistakenly employed. Of course, +any trained player will draw his bow across +the strings in a smooth, even way, but that is +not enough. There must be an inner, emotional +instinct, an electric spark within the player +himself that sets the <i>vibrato</i> current in motion. +It is an inner, psychic vibration which +should be reflected by the intense, rapid vibration +in the fingers of the left hand on the +strings in order to give fluent expression to +emotion. The <i>vibrato</i> can not be used, +naturally, on the open strings, but otherwise it +represents the true means for securing warmth +of expression. Of course, some decry the <i>vibrato</i>—but +the reason is often because the <i>vibrato</i> +is too slow. One need only listen to +Ysaye, Elman, Kreisler: artists such as these +employ the quick, intense <i>vibrato</i> with ideal +effect. An exaggerated <i>vibrato</i> is as bad as +what I call 'the sentimental slide,' a common +fault, which many violinists cultivate under the +impression that they are playing expressively.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY AND ITS ATTAINMENT</h4> + +<p>"Violin mastery expresses more or less the +aspiration to realize an ideal. It is a hope, a +prayer, rather than an actual fact, since nothing +human is absolutely perfect. Ysaye, perhaps, +with his golden tone, comes nearest to +my idea of what violin mastery should be, both +as regards breadth and delicacy of interpretation. +And guide-posts along the long road +that leads to mastery of the instrument? Individuality +in teaching, progress along natural +lines, surety in bowing, a tone-production without +forcing, cultivating a sense of rhythm and +accent. I always remember what Moser once +wrote in my autograph album: 'Rhythm and +accent are the soul of music!'</p> + + +<h4><br />THE SHINING GOAL</h4> + +<p>"And what a shining goal is waiting to be +reached! The correct interpretation of Bach, +Haendel and the old Italian and French classics, +and of the vast realm of <i>ensemble</i> music +under which head come the 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 great violin concertos, in a class +by themselves. They represent, in a degree, +the utmost that the composer has done for the +interpreting artist. Yet they differ absolutely +in manner, style, thought, etc. Take Joachim's +own Hungarian concerto, which I played for +the composer, of which I still treasure the +recollection of his patting me on the shoulder +and saying: 'There is nothing for me to correct!' +It is a work deliberately designed for +technical display, and is tremendously difficult. +But the wonderful Brahms concerto, those +of Beethoven and Max Bruch; of Mozart and +Mendelssohn—it is hard to express a preference +for works so different in the quality of +their beauty. The Russian Conus has a fine +concerto in E, and Sinding a most effective +one in A major. Edmund Severn, the American +composer and violinist, has also written a +notably fine violin concerto which I have played, +with the Philharmonic, one that ought to be +heard oftener.</p> + + +<h4><br />PLAYING BACH</h4> + +<p>"Bach is one of the most difficult of the great +masters to interpret on the violin. His polyphonic +style and interweaving themes demand +close study in order to make the meaning clear. +In the Bach <i>Chaconne</i>, for instance, some very +great violinists do not pay enough attention to +making a distinction between principal and +secondary notes of a chord. Here [Mr. Pilzer +took up a new Strad he has recently acquired +and illustrated his meaning] in this four-note +chord there is one important melody note +which must stand out. And it can be done, +though not without some study. Bach abounds +in such pitfalls, and in studying him the closest +attention is necessary. Once the problems involved +overcome, his music gains its true +clarity and beauty and the enjoyment of artist +and listener is doubled.</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>XVI</h3> + + +<h2><br />MAUD POWELL</h2> + +<h3>TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: SOME HINTS<br /> +FOR THE CONCERT PLAYER</h3> + + +<p><br />Maud Powell is often alluded to as our +representative "American <i>woman</i> violinist" +which, while true in a narrower sense, is not altogether +just in a broader way. It would be +decidedly more fair to consider her a representative +American violinist, without stressing +the term "woman"; for as regards Art in its +higher sense, the artist comes first, sex being +incidental, and Maud Powell is first and foremost—an +artist. And her infinite capacity for +taking pains, her willingness to work hard +have had no small part in the position she +has made for herself, and the success she has +achieved.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCERT VIOLINIST</h4> + +<p>"Too many Americans who take up the +violin professionally," Maud Powell told the +writer, "do not realize that the mastery of the +instrument is a life study, that without hard, +concentrated work they cannot reach the higher +levels of their art. Then, too, they are too +often inclined to think that if they have a good +tone and technic that this is all they need. They +forget that the musical instinct must be cultivated; +they do not attach enough importance +to musical surroundings: to hearing and understanding +music of every kind, not only that +written for the violin. They do not realize +the value of <i>ensemble</i> work and its influence +as an educational factor of the greatest artistic +value. I remember when I was a girl of eight, +my mother used to play the Mozart violin +sonatas with me; I heard all the music I possibly +could hear; I was taught harmony and +musical form in direct connection with my +practical work, so that theory was a living +thing to me and no abstraction. In my home +town I played in an orchestra of twenty pieces—Oh, +no, not a 'ladies orchestra'—the other +members were men grown! I played chamber +music as well as solos whenever the opportunity +offered, at home and in public. In fact +music was part of my life.</p> + + +<!-- Picture of MAUD POWELL, Facing Page 184--> + +<a name="F_Page_184" id="F_Page_184"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p184a_m.jpg" width="448" height="700" alt="F_Page_184" title="MAUD POWELL" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Maud Powell</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<p>"No student who looks on music primarily +as a thing apart in his existence, as a bread-winning +tool, as a craft rather than an art, can +ever mount to the high places. So often girls +[who sometimes lack the practical vision of +boys], although having studied but a few years, +come to me and say: 'My one ambition is to +become a great <i>virtuoso</i> on the violin! I want +to begin to study the great concertos!' And I +have to tell them that their first ambition +should be to become musicians—to study, to +know, to understand music before they venture +on its interpretation. Virtuosity without +musicianship will not carry one far these days. +In many cases these students come from small +inland towns, far from any music center, and +have a wrong attitude of mind. They crave +the glamor of footlights, flowers and applause, +not realizing that music is a speech, an idiom, +which they must master in order to interpret +the works of the great composers.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE INFLUENCE OF THE TEACHER</h4> + +<p>"Of course, all artistic playing represents essentially +the mental control of technical means. +But to acquire the latter in the right way, while +at the same time developing the former, calls +for the best of teachers. The problem of the +teacher is to prevent his pupils from being too +imitative—all students are natural imitators—and +furthering the quality of musical imagination +in them. Pupils generally have something +of the teacher's tone—Auer pupils have the +Auer tone, Joachim pupils have a Joachim +tone, an excellent thing. But as each pupil +has an individuality of his own, he should never +sink it altogether in that of his teacher. It is +this imitative trend which often makes it hard +to judge a young player's work. I was very +fortunate in my teachers. William Lewis of +Chicago gave me a splendid start. Then I +studied in turn with Schradieck in Leipsic—Schradieck +himself was a pupil of Ferdinand +David and of Léonard—Joachim in Berlin, +and Charles Dancla in Paris. I might say that +I owe most, in a way, to William Lewis, a born +fiddler. Of my three European masters +Dancla was unquestionably the greatest as a +teacher—of course I am speaking for myself. +It was no doubt an advantage, a decided advantage +for me in my artistic development, +which was slow—a family trait—to enjoy the +broadening experience of three entirely different +styles of teaching, and to be able to assimilate +the best of each. Yet Joachim was a +far greater violinist than teacher. His method +was a cramping one, owing to his insistence on +pouring all his pupils into the same mold, so +to speak, of forming them all on the Joachim +lathe. But Dancla was inspiring. He taught +me De Bériot's wonderful method of attack; +he showed me how to develop purity of style. +Dancla's method of teaching gave his pupils a +technical equipment which carried bowing +right along, 'neck and neck' with the finger +work of the left hand, while the Germans are +apt to stress finger development at the expense +of the bow. And without ever neglecting technical +means, Dancla always put the purely +musical before the purely virtuoso side of playing. +And this is always a sign of a good teacher. +He was unsparing in taking pains and very +fair.</p> + +<p>"I remember that I was passed first in a +class of eighty-four at an examination, after +only three private lessons in which to prepare +the concerto movement to be played. I was +surprised and asked him why Mlle.—— who, +it seemed to me, had played better than I, had +not passed. 'Ah,' he said, 'Mlle.—— studied +that movement for six months; and in comparison, +you, with only three lessons, play it better!' +Dancla switched me right over in his +teaching from German to French methods, and +taught me how to become an artist, just as I +had learned in Germany to become a musician. +The French school has taste, elegance, imagination; +the German is more conservative, +serious, and has, perhaps, more depth.</p> + + +<h4><br />TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES</h4> + +<p>"Perhaps it is because I belong to an older +school, or it may be because I laid stress on +technic because of its necessity as a means of +expression—at any rate I worked hard at it. +Naturally, one should never practice any technical +difficulty too long at a stretch. Young +players sometimes forget this. I know that +<i>staccato</i> playing was not easy for me at one +time. I believe a real <i>staccato</i> is inborn; a +knack. I used to grumble about it to Joachim +and he told me once that musically <i>staccato</i> +did not have much value. His own, by the +way, was very labored and heavy. He admitted +that he had none. Wieniawski had such a +wonderful <i>staccato</i> that one finds much of it +in his music. When I first began to play his D +minor concerto I simply made up my mind to +get a <i>staccato</i>. It came in time, by sheer force +of will. After that I had no trouble. An artistic +<i>staccato</i> should, like the trill, be plastic +and under control; for different schools of composition +demand different styles of treatment +of such details.</p> + +<p>"Octaves—the unison, not broken—I did +not find difficult; but though they are supposed +to add volume of tone they sound hideous to +me. I have used them in certain passages of +my arrangement of 'Deep River,' but when I +heard them played, promised myself I would +never repeat the experiment. Wilhelmj has +committed even a worse crime in taste by putting +six long bars of Schubert's lovely <i>Ave +Maria</i> in octaves. Of course they represent +skill; but I think they are only justified in +show pieces. Harmonics I always found easy; +though whether they ring out as they should +always depends more or less on atmospheric +conditions, the strings and the amount of rosin +on the bow. On the concert stage if the player +stands in a draught the harmonics are sometimes +husky.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE AMERICAN WOMAN VIOLINIST AND AMERICAN MUSIC</h4> + +<p>"The old days of virtuoso 'tricks' have passed—I +should like to hope forever. Not that +some of the old type virtuosos were not fine +players. Remenyi played beautifully. So did +Ole Bull. I remember one favorite trick of +the latter's, for instance, which would hardly +pass muster to-day. I have seen him draw out +a long <i>pp</i>, the audience listening breathlessly, +while he drew his bow way beyond the string, +and then looked innocently at the point of the +bow, as though wondering where the tone had +vanished. It invariably brought down the +house.</p> + +<p>"Yet an artist must be a virtuoso in the +modern sense to do his full duty. And here in +America that duty is to help those who are +groping for something higher and better +musically; to help without rebuffing them. +When I first began my career as a concert +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 then existed against women +fiddlers, which even yet has not altogether been +overcome. The very fact that a Western manager +recently told Mr. Turner with surprise +that he 'had made a success of a woman artist' +proves it. When I first began to play here in +concert this prejudice was much stronger. Yet +I kept on and secured engagements to play +with orchestra at a time when they were difficult +to obtain. Theodore Thomas liked my +playing (he said I had brains), and it was with +his orchestra that I introduced the concertos +of Saint-Saëns (C min.), Lalo (F min.), and +others, to American audiences.</p> + +<p>"The fact that I realized that my sex was +against me in a way led me to be startlingly +authoritative and convincing in the masculine +manner when I first played. This is a mistake +no woman violinist should make. And from +the moment that James Huneker wrote that +I 'was not developing the feminine side of my +work,' I determined to be just myself, and +play as the spirit moved me, with no further +thought of sex or sex distinctions which, in Art, +after all, are secondary. I never realized this +more forcibly than once, when, sitting as a +judge, I listened to the competitive playing of +a number of young professional violinists and +pianists. The individual performers, unseen +by the judges, played in turn behind a screen. +And in three cases my fellow judges and myself +guessed wrongly with regard to the sex +of the players. When we thought we had +heard a young man play it happened to be a +young woman, and <i>vice versa</i>.</p> + +<p>"To return to the question of concert-work. +You must not think that I have played only +foreign music in public. I have always believed +in American composers and in American +composition, and as an American have tried +to do justice as an interpreting artist to the +music of my native land. Aside from the violin +concertos by Harry Rowe Shelly and Henry +Holden Huss, I have played any number of +shorter original compositions by such representative +American composers as Arthur +Foote, Mrs. H.H.A. Beach, Victor Herbert, +John Philip Sousa, Arthur Bird, Edwin +Grasse, Marion Bauer, Cecil Burleigh, Harry +Gilbert, A. Walter Kramer, Grace White, +Charles Wakefield Cadman and others. Then, +too, I have presented transcriptions by Arthur +Hartmann, Francis Macmillan and Sol Marcosson, +as well as some of my own. Transcriptions +are wrong, theoretically; yet some songs, +like Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Song of India' and +some piano pieces, like the Dvořák <i>Humoresque</i>, +are so obviously effective on the violin +that a transcription justifies itself. My +latest temptative in that direction is my 'Four +American Folk Songs,' a simple setting of +four well-known airs with connecting cadenzas—no +variations, no special development! I +used them first as <i>encores</i>, but my audiences +seemed to like them so well that I have played +them on all my recent programs.</p> + + +<h4><br />SOME HINTS FOR THE CONCERT PLAYER</h4> + +<p>"The very first thing in playing in public is +to free oneself of all distrust in one's own powers. +To do this, nothing must be left to chance. +One should not have to give a thought to +strings, bow, etc. All should be in proper condition. +Above all the violinist should play with +an accompanist who is used to accompanying +him. It seems superfluous to emphasize that +one's program numbers must have been mastered +in every detail. Only then can one defy +nervousness, turning excess of emotion into +inspiration.</p> + +<p>"Acoustics play a greater part in the success +of a public concert than most people realize. +In some halls they are very good, as in +the case of the Cleveland Hippodrome, an +enormous place which holds forty-three hundred +people. Here the acoustics are perfect, +and the artist has those wonderful silences +through which his slightest tones carry clearly +and sweetly. I have played not only solos, but +chamber music in this hall, and was always +sorry to stop playing. In most halls the acoustic +conditions are best in the evening.</p> + +<p>"Then there is the matter of the violin. I +first used a Joseph Guarnerius, a deeper toned +instrument than the Jean Baptista Guadagnini +I have now played for a number of years. The +Guarnerius has a tone that seems to come more +from within the instrument; but all in all I +have found my Guadagnini, with its glassy +clearness, its brilliant and limpid tone-quality, +better adapted to American concert halls. If +I had a Strad in the same condition as my +Guadagnini the instrument would be priceless. +I regretted giving up my Guarnerius, but I +could not play the two violins interchangeably; +for they were absolutely different in size and +tone-production, shape, etc. Then my hand +is so small that I ought to use the instrument +best adapted to it, and to use the same instrument +always. Why do I use no chin-rest? I +use no chin-rest on my Guadagnini simply because +I cannot find one to fit my chin. One +should use a chin-rest to prevent perspiration +from marring the varnish. My Rocca violin +is an interesting instance of wood worn in +ridges by the stubble on a man's chin.</p> + +<p>"Strings? Well, I use a wire E string. I +began to use it twelve years ago one humid, +foggy summer in Connecticut. I had had such +trouble with strings snapping that I cried: +'Give me anything but a gut string.' The +climate practically makes metal strings a necessity, +though some kind person once said that I +bought wire strings because they were cheap! +If wire strings had been thought of when Theodore +Thomas began his career, he might never +have been a conductor, for he told me he gave +up the violin because of the E string. And most +people will admit that hearing a wire E you +cannot tell it from a gut E. Of course, it is unpleasant +on the open strings, but then the open +strings never do sound well. And in the highest +registers the tone does not spin out long +enough because of the tremendous tension: +one has to use more bow. And it cuts the hairs: +there is a little surface nap on the bow-hairs +which a wire string wears right out. I had to +have my four bows rehaired three times last +season—an average of every three months. But +all said and done it has been a God-send to the +violinist who plays in public. On the wire A +one cannot get the harmonics; and the aluminum +D is objectionable in some violins, though +in others not at all.</p> + +<p>"The main thing—no matter what strings +are used—is for the artist to get his audience +into the concert hall, and give it a program +which is properly balanced. Theodore Thomas +first advised me to include in my programs +short, simple things that my listeners could +'get hold of'—nothing inartistic, but something +selected from their standpoint, not from mine, +and played as artistically as possible. Yet +there must also be something that is beyond +them, collectively. Something that they may +need to hear a number of times to appreciate. +This enables the artist to maintain his dignity +and has a certain psychological effect in that +his audience holds him in greater respect. At +big conservatories where music study is the +most important thing, and in large cities, +where the general level of music culture is +high, a big solid program may be given, where +it would be inappropriate in other places.</p> + +<p>"Yet I remember having many recalls at El +Paso, Texas, once, after playing the first movement +of the Sibelius concerto. It is one of +those compositions which if played too literally +leaves an audience quite cold; it must be rendered +temperamentally, the big climaxing effects +built up, its Northern spirit brought out, +though I admit that even then it is not altogether +easy to grasp.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"Violin mastery or mastery of any instrument, +for that matter, is the technical power to +say exactly what you want to say in exactly +the way you want to say it. It is technical +equipment that stands at the service of your +musical will—a faithful and competent servant +that comes at your musical bidding. If your +spirit soars 'to parts unknown,' your well +trained servant 'technic' is ever at your elbow +to prevent irksome details from hampering +your progress. Mastery of your instrument +makes mastery of your Art a joy instead of a +burden. Technic should always be the hand-maid +of the spirit.</p> + +<p>"And I believe that one result of the war +will be to bring us a greater self-knowledge, +to the violinist as well as to every other artist, +a broader appreciation of what he can do to +increase and elevate appreciation for music +in general and his Art in particular. And with +these I am sure a new impetus will be given +to the development of a musical culture truly +American in thought and expression."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>XVII</h3> + + +<h2><br />LEON SAMETINI</h2> + +<h3>HARMONICS</h3> + + +<p><br />Leon Sametini, at present director of the +violin department of the Chicago Music College, +where Sauret, Heermann and Sebald +preceded him, is one of the most successful +teachers of his instrument in this country. It +is to be regretted that he has not played in +public in the United States as often as in +Europe, where his extensive <i>tournées</i> in Holland—Leon +Sametini is a Hollander by birth—Belgium, +England and Austria have established +his reputation as a virtuoso, and the +quality of his playing led Ysaye to include him +in a quartet of artists "in order of lyric expression" +with himself and Thibaud. Yet, the +fact remains that this erstwhile <i>protégé</i> of +Queen Wilhelmina—she gave him his beautiful +Santo Serafin (1730) violin, whose golden +varnish back "is a genuine picture,"—to quote +its owner—is a distinguished interpreting +artist besides having a real teaching gift, which +lends additional weight to his educational +views.</p> + + +<h4><br />REMINISCENCES OF SEVČIK</h4> + +<p>"I began to study violin at the age of six, +with my uncle. From him I went to Eldering +in Amsterdam, now Willy Hess's successor +at the head of the Cologne Conservatory, +and then spent a year with Sevčik in Prague. +Yet—without being his pupil—I have learned +more from Ysaye than from any of my teachers. +It is rather the custom to decry Sevčik +as a teacher, to dwell on his absolutely mechanical +character of instruction—and not without +justice. First of all Sevčik laid all the stress +on the left hand and not on the bow—an absolute +inversion of a fundamental principle. +Eldering had taken great pains with my bow +technic, for he himself was a pupil of Hubay, +who had studied with Vieuxtemps and had his +tradition. But Sevčik's teaching as regards +the use of the bow was very poor; his pupils—take +Kubelik with all his marvelous finger +facility—could never develop a big bow technic. +Their playing lacks strength, richness of +sound. Sevčik soon noticed that my bowing +did not conform to his theories; yet since he +could not legitimately complain of the results +I secured, he did not attempt to make me +change it. Musical beauty, interpretation, in +Sevčik's case were all subordinated to mechanical +perfection. With him the study of some inspired +masterpiece was purely a mathematical +process, a problem in technic and mental arithmetic, +without a bit of spontaneity. Ysaye +used to roar with laughter when I would tell +him how, when a boy of fifteen, I played the +Beethoven concerto for Sevčik—a work which +I myself felt and knew it was then out of the +question for me to play with artistic maturity—the +latter's only criticisms on my performance +were that one or two notes were a little +too high, and a certain passage not quite clear.</p> + +<p>"Sevčik did not like the Dvořák concerto +and never gave it to his pupils. But I lived +next door to Dvořák at Prague, and meeting +him in the street one day, asked him some questions +anent its interpretation, with the result +that I went to his home various times and he +gave me his own ideas as to how it should be +played. Sevčik never pointed his teachings by +playing himself. I never saw him take up the +fiddle while I studied with him. While I was +his pupil he paid me the compliment of selecting +me to play Sinigaglia's engaging violin +concerto, at short notice, for the first time in +Prague. Sinigaglia had asked Sevčik to play +it, who said: 'I no longer play violin, but I +have a pupil who can play it for you,' and introduced +me to him. Sinigaglia became a good +friend of mine, and I was the first to introduce +his <i>Rapsodia Piedmontese</i> for violin and +orchestra in London. To return to Sevčik—with +all the deficiencies of his teaching +methods, he had one great gift. He taught +his pupils <i>how to practice</i>! And—aside from +bowing—he made all mechanical problems, +especially finger problems, absolutely clear and +lucid.</p> + + +<h4><br />A QUARTET OF GREAT TEACHERS WITH WHOM<br /> +ALL MAY STUDY</h4> + +<p>"Still, all said and done, it was after I had +finished with all my teachers that I really began +to learn to play violin: above all from +Ysaye, whom I went to hear play wherever +and whenever I could. I think that the most +valuable lessons I have ever had are those unconsciously +given me by four of the greatest +violinists I know: Ysaye, Kreisler, Elman and +Thibaud. Each of these artists is so different +that no one seems altogether to replace the +other. Ysaye with his unique personality, the +immense breadth and sweep of his interpretation, +his dramatic strength, stands alone. +Kreisler has a certain sparkling scintillance in +his playing that is his only. Elman might be +called the Caruso among violinists, with the +perfected sensuous beauty of his tone; while +Thibaud stands for supreme elegance and distinction. +I have learned much from each member +of this great quartet. And if the artist can +profit from hearing and seeing them play, why +not the student? Every recital given by such +masters offers the earnest violin student priceless +opportunities for study and comparison. +My special leaning toward Ysaye is due, aside +from his wonderful personality, to the fact that +I feel music in the same way that he does.</p> + + +<h4><br />TEACHING PRINCIPLES</h4> + +<p>'My teaching principles are the results of +my own training period, my own experience as +a concert artist and teacher—before I came to +America I taught in London, where Isolde +Menges, among others, studied with me—and +what either directly or indirectly I have learned +from my great colleagues. In the Music College +I give the advanced pupils their individual +lessons; but once a week the whole class assembles—as +in the European conservatories—and +those whose turn it is to play do so while +the others listen. This is of value to every +student, since it gives him an opportunity of +'hearing himself as others hear him.' Then, to +stimulate appreciation and musical development +there are <i>ensemble</i> and string quartet +classes. I believe that every violinist should be +able to play viola, and in quartet work I make +the players shift constantly from one to the +other instrument in order to hear what they +play from a different angle.</p> + +<p>"For left hand work I stick to the excellent +Sevčik exercises and for some pupils I use the +Carl Flesch <i>Urstudien</i>. For studies of real +<i>musical</i> value Rode, of course, is unexcelled. +His studies are the masterpieces of their kind, +and I turn them into concert pieces. Thibaud +and Elman have supplied some of them with +interesting piano accompaniments.</p> + +<p>"For bowing, with the exception of a few +purely mechanical exercises, I used Kreutzer +and Rode, and Gavinies. Ninety-nine per +cent. of pupils' faults are faults of bowing. It +is an art in itself. Sevčik was able to develop +Kubelik's left hand work to the last degree of +perfection—but not his bowing. In the case +of Kocian, another well-known Sevčik pupil +whom I have heard play, his bowing was by no +means an outstanding feature. I often have +to start pupils on the open strings in order to +correct fundamental bow faults.</p> + +<p>"When watching a great artist play the +student should not expect to secure similar results +by slavish imitation—another pupil fault. +The thing to do is to realize the principle behind +the artist's playing, and apply it to one's +own physical possibilities.</p> + +<p>"Every one holds, draws and uses the bow +in a different way. If no two thumb-prints +are alike, neither are any two sets of fingers +and wrists. This is why not slavish imitation, +but intelligent adaptation should be applied +to the playing of the teacher in the class-room +or the artist on the concert-stage. For instance, +the little finger of Ysaye's left hand +bends inward somewhat—as a result it is perfectly +natural for him to make less use of the +little finger, while it might be very difficult or +almost impossible for another to employ the +same fingering. And certain compositions and +styles of composition are more adapted to one +violinist than to another. I remember when 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.</p> + + +<h4><br />DOUBLE HARMONICS</h4> + +<p>"Would I care to discuss any special feature +of violin technic? I might say something anent +double harmonics—a subject too often taught +in a mechanical way, and one I have always +taken special pains to make absolutely plain to +my own pupils—for every violinist should be +able to play double harmonics out of a clear +understanding of how to form them.</p> + +<p>"There are only two kinds of harmonics: +natural and artificial. Natural harmonics may +be formed on the major triad of each open +string, using the open string as the tonic. As, +for example, on the G string [and Mr. Sametini +set down the following illustration]:</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p236_1a.png" width="501" height="134" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + +<p>Then there are four kinds of artificial harmonics, +only three of which are used: harmonics +on the major third (1); harmonics on the perfect +fourth (2); harmonics on the perfect fifth +(3); and harmonics—never used—on the octave:</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p237_1a.png" width="303" height="111" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + +<p>Where does the harmonic sound in each case? +Two octaves and a third higher (1); two octaves +higher (2); one octave and a fifth higher +(3) respectively, than the pressed-down note. +If the harmonic on the octave (4) were played, +it would sound just an octave higher than the +pressed-down note.</p> + +<p>"Now say we wished to combine different +double harmonics. The whole principle is +made clear if we take, let us say, the first +double-stop in the scale of C major in thirds +as an example:</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p237_1b.png" width="120" height="76" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<p>"Beginning with the lower of these +two notes, the C, we find that it cannot +not be taken as a natural harmonic</p> + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p237_1c.png" width="211" height="78" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<p>because natural harmonics +on the open strings run as follows: G, B, D on +the G string; D, F♯, A on the D string; A, C♯, +E on the A string; and E, G♯, B on the E +string. There are three ways of taking the C +before mentioned as an artificial harmonic. +The E may be taken in the following manner:</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<p class="figcenter"><b> Nat. harmonic</b></p> +<img src="images/p237_1d.png" width="103" height="70" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<p class="figcenter"><b>Artificial harmonic</b></p> +<img src="images/p237_1e.png" width="140" height="55" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<p>Now we have to combine the C and E as well +as we are able. Rejecting the following combinations +as <i>impossible</i>—any violinist will see +why—</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p238_1a.png" width="252" height="90" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + + +<p>we have a choice of the two <i>possible</i> combinations +remaining, with the fingering indicated:</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p238_1b.png" width="190" height="87" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<p>"With regard to the <i>actual execution</i> of +these harmonics, I advise all students to try +and play them with every bit as much expressive +feeling as ordinary notes. My experience +has been that pupils do not pay nearly enough +attention to the intonation of harmonics. In +other words, they try to produce the harmonics +<i>immediately</i>, instead of first making sure that +both fingers are on the right spot before they +loosen one finger on the string. For instance +in the following: + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p238_1c.png" width="49" height="57" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<p>first play</p> + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p238_1d.png" width="39" height="57" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<p>and then</p> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p238_1e.png" width="35" height="52" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<p>then loosen the fourth finger, and play</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p238_1f.png" width="49" height="57" alt="Music notation" /> +</div> + + +<p>"The same principle holds good when playing +double harmonics. Nine tenths of the +'squeaking' heard when harmonics are played +is due to the fact that the finger-placing is not +properly prepared, and that the fingers are not +on the right spot.</p> + +<p>"Never, when playing a harmonic with an +up-bow [Symbol: up-bow], at the point, smash down the bow +on the string; but have it already <i>on</i> the string +<i>before</i> playing the harmonic. The process is +reversed when playing a down-bow [Symbol: down-bow] harmonic. +When beginning a harmonic at the +frog, have the harmonic ready, then let the +bow <i>drop</i> gently on the string.</p> + +<p>"Triple and quadruple harmonics may be +combined in exactly the same way. Students +should never get the idea that you press down +the string as you press a button and—presto—the +magic harmonics appear! They are a +simple and natural result of the proper application +of scientific principles; and the sooner +the student learns to form and combine harmonics +himself instead of learning them by +rote, the better will he play them. Too often +a student can give the fingering of certain +double harmonics and cannot use it. Of course, +harmonics are only a detail of the complete +mastery of the violin; but mastery of all details +leads to mastery of the whole.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"And what is mastery of the whole? Mastery +of the whole, real violin mastery, I think, +lies in the control of the interpretative problem, +the power to awaken emotion by the use of the +instrument. Many feel more than they can +express, have more left hand than bow technic +and, like Kubelik, have not the perfected technic +for which perfected playing calls. The +artist who feels beauty keenly and deeply and +whose mechanical equipment allows him to +make others feel and share the beauty he himself +feels is in my opinion worthy of being +called a master of the violin."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>XVIII</h3> + + +<h2><br />ALEXANDER SASLAVSKY</h2> + +<h3>WHAT THE TEACHER CAN AND CANNOT DO</h3> + + +<p><br />Alexander Saslavsky is probably best +known as a solo artist, as the concertmaster of +a great symphonic orchestra, as the leader of +the admirable quartet which bears his name. +Yet, at the same time, few violinists can speak +with more authority anent the instructive +phases of their Art. Not only has he been active +for years in the teaching field; but as a +pedagog he rounds out the traditions of +Ferdinand David, Massard, Auer, and Grün +(Vienna <i>Hochschule</i>), acquired during his +"study years," with the result of his own long +and varied experience.</p> + +<p>Beginning at the beginning, I asked Mr. +Saslavsky to tell me something about methods, +his own in particular. "Method is a flexible +term," he answered. "What the word should +mean is the cultivation of the pupil's individuality +along the lines best suited to it. Not +that a guide which may be employed to develop +common-sense principles is not valuable. +But even here, the same guide (violin-method) +will not answer for every pupil. Personally I +find De Bériot's 'Violin School' the most generally +useful, and for advanced students, +Ferdinand David's second book. Then, for +scales—I insist on my pupils being able to play, +a perfect scale through three octaves—the +Hrimaly book of scales. Many advanced violinists +cannot play a good scale simply because +of a lack of fundamental work.</p> + +<p>"As soon as the pupil is able, he should take +up Kreutzer and stick to him as the devotee +does to his Bible. Any one who can play the +'42 Exercises' as they should be played may be +called a well-balanced violinist. There are +too many purely mechanical exercises—and the +circumstance that we have Kreutzer, Rode, +Fiorillo, Rovelli and Dont emphasizes the fact. +And there are too many elaborate and complicated +violin methods. Sevčik, for instance, +has devised a purely mechanical system of this +kind, perfect from a purely mechanical standpoint, +but one whose consistent use, in my opinion, +kills initiative and individuality. I have +had experience with Sevčik pupils in quartet +playing, and have found that they have no expression.</p> + + +<h4><br />WHAT THE TEACHER CAN AND CANNOT DO</h4> + +<p>"After all, the teacher can only supply the +pupil with the violinistic equipment. The pupil +must use it. There is tone, for instance. The +teacher cannot <i>make</i> tone for the pupil—he +can only show him how tone can be made. +Sometimes a purely physiological reason makes +it almost impossible for the pupil to produce +a good natural tone. If the finger-tips are +not adequately equipped with 'cushions,' and a +pupil wishes to use the <i>vibrato</i> there is nothing +with which he can vibrate. There is real meaning, +speaking of the violinist's tone, in the +phrase 'he has it at his fingers' tips.' Then +there is the matter of <i>slow</i> practice. It rests +with the pupil to carry out the teacher's injunctions +in this respect. The average pupil practices +too fast, is too eager to develop his Art as +a money maker. And too many really gifted +students take up orchestra playing, which no +one can do continuously and hope to be a solo +player. Four hours of study work may be +nullified by a single hour of orchestra playing. +Musically it is broadening, of course, but I am +speaking from the standpoint of the student +who hopes to become a solo artist. An opera +orchestra is especially bad in this way. In the +symphonic <i>ensemble</i> more care is used; but in +the opera orchestra they employ the <i>right</i> arm +for tremolo! There is a good deal of <i>camouflage</i> +as regards string playing in an opera +orchestra, and much of the music—notably +Wagner's—is quite impracticable.</p> + +<p>"And lessons are often made all too short. +A teacher in common honesty cannot really +give a pupil much in half-an-hour—it is not +a real lesson. There is a good deal to be said +for class teaching as it is practiced at the +European conservatories, especially as regards +interpretation. In my student days I learned +much from listening to others play the concertos +they had prepared, and from noting +the teacher's corrections. And this even in a +purely technical way: I can recall Kubelik +playing Paganini as a wonderful display of +the <i>technical</i> points of violin playing.</p> + + +<h4><br />A GREAT DEFECT</h4> + +<p>"Most pupils seem to lack an absolute sense +of rhythm—a great defect. Yet where latent +it may be developed. Here Kreutzer is invaluable, +since he presents every form of rhythmic +problem, scales in various rhythms and bowings. +Kreutzer's 'Exercise No. 2,' for example, +may be studied with any number of +bowings. To produce a broad tone the bow +must move slowly, and in rapid passages should +never seem to introduce technical exercises in +a concert number. The student should +memorize Kreutzer and Fiorillo. Flesch's +<i>Urstudien</i> offer the artist or professional +musician who has time for little practice excellent +material; but are not meant for the pupil, +unless he be so far advanced that he may be +trusted to use them alone.</p> + + +<h4><br />TONE: PRACTICE TIME</h4> + +<p>"Broad playing gives the singing tone—the +true violin tone—a long bow drawn its full +length. Like every general rule though, this +one must be modified by the judgment of the +individual player. Violin playing is an art +of many mysteries. Some pupils grasp a point +at once; others have to have it explained seven +or eight different ways before grasping it. +The serious student should practice not less +than four hours, preferably in twenty minute +intervals. After some twenty minutes the +brain is apt to tire. And since the fingers are +controlled by the brain, it is best to relax for +a short time before going on. Mental and +physical control must always go hand in hand. +Four hours of intelligent, consistent practice +work are far better than eight or ten of +fatigued effort.</p> + + +<h4><br />A NATIONAL CONSERVATORY</h4> + +<p>"Some five years ago too many teachers gave +their pupils the Mendelssohn and Paganini +concertos to play before they knew their +Kreutzer. But there has been a change 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 such +brilliant pupils is that poor students were received +at the Petrograd Conservatory free of +charge. All they had to supply was talent; +and I look forward to the time when we will +have a National conservatory in this country, +supported by the Government. Then the poor, +but musically gifted, pupil will have the same +opportunities that his brother, who is well-to-do, +now has.</p> + + +<h4><br />SOME PERSONAL VIEWS AND REFLECTIONS</h4> + +<p>"You ask me to tell you something of my +own musical preferences. Well, take the concertos. +I have reached a point where the +Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and +Brahms concertos seen to sum up what is truly +worth while. The others begin to bore me; +even Bruch! Paganini, Wieniawski, etc., are +mainly mediums of display. Most of the great +violinists, Ysaye, Thibaud, etc., during recent +years are reverting to the violin sonatas. +Ysaye, for instance, has recently been playing +the Lazzari sonata, a very powerful and beautiful +work.</p> + +<p>"My experiences as a 'concertmaster'? I +have played with Weingartner; Saint-Saëns +(whose amiability to me, when he first visited +this country, I recall with pleasure); Gustav +Mahler, Tschaikovsky, Safonoff, Seidel, +Bauer, and Walter Damrosch, whose friend +and associate I have been for the last twenty-two +years. He is a wonderful man, many-sided +and versatile; a notably fine pianist; and +playing chamber music with him during successive +summers is numbered among my pleasantest +recollections.</p> + +<p>"In speaking of concertos some time ago, I +forgot to mention one work well worth studying. +This is the Russian Mlynarski's concerto +in D, which I played with the Russian Symphony +Orchestra some eight years ago for the +first time in this country, as well as a fine +'Romance and Caprice' by Rubinstein.</p> + +<p>"Is the music a concertmaster is called upon +to play always violinistic? Far from it. +Symphonic music—in as much as the concertmaster +is concerned, is usually not idiomatic +violin music. Richard Strauss's violin concerto +can really be played by the violinist. The +<i>obbligatos</i> in his symphonies are a very different +matter; they go beyond accepted technical +boundaries. With Stravinsky it is the same. +The violin <i>obbligato</i> in Rimsky-Korsakov's +<i>Schéhérazade</i>, though, is real violin music. Debussy +and Ravel are most subtle; they call for +a particularly good ear, since the harmonic +balance of their music is very delicate. The +concertmaster has to develop his own interpretations, +subject, of course, to the conductor's +ideas.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"Violin Mastery? It means to me complete +control of the fingerboard, a being at home in +every position, absolute sureness of fingering, +absolute equality of tone under all circumstances. +I remember Ysaye playing Tschaikovsky's +<i>Sérénade Mélancolique</i>, and using a +fingering for certain 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 I cannot, because I really do not +remember which fingers I used!' That is +mastery—a control so complete that fingering +was unconscious, and the interpretation of the +thought was all that was in the artist's mind! +Sevčik's 'complete technical mastery' is after +all not perfect, since it represents mechanical +and not mental control."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>XIX</h3> + + +<h2><br />TOSCHA SEIDEL</h2> + +<h3>HOW TO STUDY</h3> + + +<p><br />Toscha Seidel, though one of the more +recent of the young Russian violinists who represent +the fruition of Professor Auer's formative +gifts, has, to quote H.F. Peyser, "the +transcendental technic observed in the greatest +pupils of his master, a command of mechanism +which makes the rough places so plain that the +traces of their roughness are hidden to the unpracticed +eye." He commenced to study the +violin seriously at the age of seven in Odessa, +his natal town, with Max Fiedemann, an Auer +pupil. A year and a half later Alexander +Fiedemann heard him play a De Bériot concerto +in public, and induced him to study at +the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, with Brodsky, +a pupil of Joachim, with whom he remained +for two years.</p> + +<p>It was in Berlin that the young violinist +reached the turning point of his career. "I was +a boy of twelve," he said, "when I heard Jascha +Heifetz play for the first time. He played the +Tschaikovsky concerto, and he played it wonderfully. +His bowing, his fingering, his whole +style and manner of playing so greatly impressed +me that I felt I <i>must</i> have his teacher, +that I would never be content unless I studied +with Professor Auer! In 1912 I at length +had an opportunity to play for the Professor in +his home at Loschivitz, in Dresden, and to +my great joy he at once accepted me as a pupil.</p> + + +<h4><br />STUDYING WITH PROFESSOR AUER</h4> + +<p>"Studying with Professor Auer was a +revelation. I had private lessons from him, +and at the same time attended the classes at +the Petrograd Conservatory. I should say +that his great specialty, if one can use the word +specialty in the case of so universal a master +of teaching as the Professor, was bowing. In +all violin playing the left hand, the finger hand, +might be compared to a perfectly adjusted +technical machine, one that needs to be kept +well oiled to function properly. The right +hand, the bow hand, is the direct opposite—it +is the painter hand, the artist hand, its phrasing +outlines the pictures of music; its <i>nuances</i> +fill them with beauty of color. And while the +Professor insisted as a matter of course on +the absolute development of finger mechanics, +he was an inspiration as regards the right +manipulation of the bow, and its use as a +medium of interpretation. And he made his +pupils think. Often, when I played a passage +in a concerto or sonata and it lacked clearness, +he would ask me: 'Why is this passage not +clear?' Sometimes I knew and sometimes I +did not. But not until he was satisfied that +I could not myself answer the question, would +he show me how to answer it. He could make +every least detail clear, illustrating it on his +own violin; but if the pupil could 'work out his +own salvation' he always encouraged him to do +so.</p> + + +<!-- Picture of TOSCHA SEIDEL, Facing Page 220--> + +<a name="F_Page_220" id="F_Page_220"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p220a_m.jpg" width="544" height="700" alt="F_Page_220" title="TOSCHA SEIDEL" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Toscha Seidel</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<p>"Most teachers make bowing a very complicated +affair, adding to its difficulties. But Professor +Auer develops a <i>natural</i> bowing, with +an absolutely free wrist, in all his pupils; for +he teaches each student along the line of his +individual aptitudes. Hence the length of +the fingers and the size of the hand make no +difference, because in the case of each pupil +they are treated as separate problems, capable +of an individual solution. I have known of +pupils who came to him with an absolutely stiff +wrist; and yet he taught them to overcome it.</p> + + +<h4><br />ARTIST PUPILS AND AMATEUR STUDENTS</h4> + +<p>"As regards difficulties, technical and other, +a distinction might be made between the artist +and the average amateur. The latter does not +make the violin his life work: it is an incidental. +While he may reasonably content himself with +playing well, the artist-pupil <i>must</i> achieve perfection. +It is the difference between an accomplishment +and an art. The amateur plays +more or less for the sake of playing—the 'how' +is secondary; but for the artist the 'how' comes +first, and for him the shortest piece, a single +scale, has difficulties of which the amateur is +quite ignorant. And everything is difficult in +its perfected sense. What I, as a student, +found to be most difficult were double harmonics—I +still consider them to be the most +difficult thing in the whole range of violin technic. +First of all, they call for a large hand, +because of the wide stretches. But harmonics +were one of the things I had to master before +Professor Auer would allow me to appear in +public. Some find tenths and octaves their +stumbling block, but I cannot say that they +ever gave me much trouble. After all, the +main thing with any difficulty is to surmount +it, and just <i>how</i> is really a secondary matter. +I know Professor Auer used to say: 'Play with +your feet if you must, but make the violin +sound!' With tenths, octaves, sixths, with any +technical frills, the main thing is to bring them +out clearly and convincingly. And, rightly +or wrongly, one must remember that when +something does not sound out convincingly on +the violin, it is not the fault of the weather, or +the strings or rosin or anything else—it is always +the artist's own fault!</p> + + +<h4><br />HOW TO STUDY</h4> + +<p>"Scale study—all Auer pupils had to practice +scales every day, scales in all the intervals—is +a most important thing. And following +his idea of stimulating the pupil's self-development, +the Professor encouraged us to +find what we needed ourselves. I remember +that once—we were standing in a corridor of +the Conservatory—when I asked him, 'What +should I practice in the way of studies?' he answered: +'Take the difficult passages from the +great concertos. You cannot improve on them, +for they are as good, if not better, as any +studies written.' As regards technical work +we were also encouraged to think out our own +exercises. And this I still do. When I feel +that my thirds and sixths need attention I practice +scales and original figurations in these +intervals. But genuine, resultful practice is +something that should never be counted by +'hours.' Sometimes I do not touch my violin +all day long; and one hour with head work is +worth any number of days without it. At the +most I never practice more than three hours a +day. And when my thoughts are fixed on other +things it would be time lost to try to practice +seriously. Without technical control a violinist +could not be a great artist; for he could not +express himself. Yet a great artist can give +even a technical study, say a Rode <i>étude</i>, a +quality all its own in playing it. That technic, +however, is a means, not an end, Professor +Auer never allowed his pupils to forget. He is +a wonderful master of interpretation. I +studied the great concertos with him—Beethoven, +Bruch, Mendelssohn, Tschaikovsky, <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Dvorák'">Dvořák</ins>, +the Brahms concerto (which I prefer to +any other); the Vieuxtemps Fifth and Lalo +(both of which I have heard Ysaye, that supreme +artist who possesses all that an artist +should have, play in Berlin); the Elgar concerto +(a fine work which I once heard Kreisler, +an artist as great as he is modest, play wonderfully +in Petrograd), as well as other concertos +of the standard repertory. And Professor Auer +always sought to have us play as individuals; +and while he never allowed us to overstep the +boundaries of the musically esthetic, he gave +our individuality free play within its limits. +He never insisted on a pupil accepting his own +<i>nuances</i> of interpretation because they were +his. I know that when playing for him, if I +came to a passage which demanded an especially +beautiful <i>legato</i> rendering, he would say: +'Now show how you can sing!' The exquisite +<i>legato</i> he taught was all a matter of perfect +bowing, and as he often said: 'There must be +no such thing as strings or hair in the pupil's +consciousness. One must not play violin, one +must sing violin!'</p> + + +<h4><br />FIDDLE AND STRINGS</h4> + +<p>"I do not see how any artist can use an instrument +which is quite new to him in concert. +I never play any but my own Guadagnini, +which is a fine fiddle, with a big, sonorous tone. +As to wire strings, I hate them! In the first +place, a wire E sounds distinctly different to +the artist than does a gut E. And it is a difference +which any violinist will notice. Then, +too, the wire E is so thin that the fingers have +nothing to take hold of, to touch firmly. And +to me the metallic vibrations, especially on the +open strings, are most disagreeable. Of +course, from a purely practical standpoint +there is much to be said for the wire E.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"What is violin mastery as I understand it? +First of all it means talent, secondly technic, +and in the third place, tone. And then one +must be musical in an all-embracing sense to +attain it. One must have musical breadth and +understanding in general, and not only in a +narrowly violinistic sense. And, finally, the +good God must give the artist who aspires to +be a master good hands, and direct him to a +good teacher!"</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>XX</h3> + + +<h2><br />EDMUND SEVERN</h2> + +<h3>THE JOACHIM BOWING AND OTHERS:<br /> +THE LEFT HAND</h3> + + +<p><br />Edmund Severn's activity in the field of +violin music is a three-fold one: he is a composer, +an interpreting artist and a teacher, and +his fortuitous control of the three vital phases +of his Art make his views as regards its study +of very real value. The lover of string music +in general would naturally attach more importance +to his string quartet in D major, +his trio for violin, 'cello and piano, his violin +concerto in D minor, the sonata, the "Oriental," +"Italian," "New England" suites for violin, +and the fine suite in A major, for two violins +and piano, than to his symphonic poems +for orchestra, his choral works and his songs. +And those in search of hints to aid them to +master the violin would be most interested in +having the benefit of his opinions as a teacher, +founded on long experience and keen observation. +Since Mr. Severn is one of those teachers +who are born, not made, and is interested +heart and soul in this phase of his musical work, +it was not difficult to draw him out.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE JOACHIM BOWING</h4> + +<p>"My first instructor in the violin was my +father, the pioneer violin teacher of Hartford, +Conn., where my boyhood was passed, and then +I studied with Franz Milcke and Bernard +Listemann, concertmaster of the Boston +Symphony Orchestra. But one day I happened +to read a few lines reprinted in the <i>Metronome</i> +from some European source, which +quoted Wilhelmj as saying that Emanuel +Wirth, Joachim's first assistant at the Berlin +<i>Hochschule</i>, 'was the best teacher of his generation.' +This was enough for me: feeling +that the best could be none too good, I made +up my mind to go to him. And I did. Wirth +was the viola of the Joachim Quartet, and +probably a better teacher than was Joachim +himself. Violin teaching was a cult with him, +a religion; and I think he believed God had +sent him to earth to teach fiddle. Like all the +teachers at the <i>Hochschule</i> he taught the regular +'Joachim' bowing—they were obliged to +teach it—as far as it could be taught, for it +could not be taught every one. And that is +the real trouble with the 'Joachim' bowing. It +is impossible to make a general application of +it.</p> + +<p>"Joachim had a very long arm and when he +played at the point of the bow his arm position +was approximately the same as that of the +average player at the middle of the bow. +Willy Hess was a perfect exponent of the Joachim +method of bowing. Why? Because he +had a very long arm. But at the <i>Hochschule</i> +the Joachim bowing was compulsory: they +taught, or tried to teach, all who came there +to use it without exception; boys or girls whose +arms chanced to be long enough could acquire +it, but big men with short arms had no chance +whatever. Having a medium long arm, by +dint of hard work I managed to get my bowing +to suit Wirth; yet I always felt at a disadvantage +at the point of the bow, in spite of the +fact that after my return to the United States +I taught the Joachim bowing for fully eight +years.</p> + +<p>"Then, when he first came here, I heard and +saw Ysaye play, and I noticed how greatly +his bowing differed from that of Joachim, the +point being that his first finger was always in +a position to press <i>naturally</i> without the least +stiffness. This led me to try to find a less +constrained bowing for myself, working along +perfectly natural lines. The Joachim bowing +demands a high wrist; but in the case of the +Belgian school an easy position at the point is +assumed naturally. And it is not hard to understand +that if the bow be drawn parallel +with the bridge, allowing for the least possible +movement of hands and wrist, the greatest +economy of motion, there is no contravention +of the laws of nature and playing is natural +and unconstrained.</p> + +<p>"And this applies to every student of the instrument, +whether or no he has a long arm. +While I was studying in Berlin, Sarasate +played there in public, with the most natural +and unhampered grace and freedom in the use +of his bow. Yet the entire <i>Hochschule</i> contingent +unanimously condemned his bowing +as being 'stiff'—merely because it did not conform +to the Joachim tradition. Of course, +there is no question but that Joachim was the +greatest quartet player of his time; and with +regard to the interpretation of the classics he +was not to be excelled. His conception of +Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms was wonderful. +The insistence at the <i>Hochschule</i> on +forcing the bowing which was natural to him +on all others, irrespective of physical adaptability, +is a matter of regret. Wirth was somewhat +deficient in teaching left hand technic, +as compared with, let us say, Schradieck. +Wirth's real strength lay in his sincerity and +his ability to make clear the musical contents +of the works of the great masters. In a Beethoven +or Spohr concerto he made a pupil give +its due emphasis to every single note.</p> + + +<h4><br />A PRE-TEACHING REQUISITE</h4> + +<p>"Before the violin student can even begin +to study, there are certain pre-teaching requisites +which are necessary if the teacher is +to be of any service to him. The violin is a +singing instrument, and therefore the first +thing called for is a good singing tone. That +brings up an important point—the proper adjustment +of the instrument used by the student. +If his lessons are to be of real benefit +to him, the component parts of the instrument, +post, bridge, bass-bar, strings, etc., must be +accurately adjusted, in order that the sound +values are what they should be.</p> + +<p>"From the teaching standpoint it is far more +important that whatever violin the student has +is one properly built and adjusted, than that +it be a fine instrument. And the bow must +have the right amount of spring, of elasticity +in its stick. A poor bow will work more harm +than a poor fiddle, for if the bow is poor, if it +lacks the right resilience, the student cannot +acquire the correct bow pressure. He cannot +play <i>spiccato</i> or any of the 'bouncing' bowings, +including various forms of arpeggios, with a +poor stick.</p> + + +<h4><br />DRAWING A LONG BOW</h4> + +<p>"When I say that the student should 'draw +a long bow,'" continued Mr. Severn with a +smile, "I do not say so at a venture. If his +instrument and bow are in proper shape, this +is the next thing for the student to do. Ever +since Tartini's time it has been acknowledged +that nothing can take the place of the study +of the long bow, playing in all shades of dynamics, +from <i>pp</i> to <i>ff</i>, and with all the inflections +of <i>crescendo</i> and <i>diminuendo</i>. Part of +this study should consist of 'mute' exercises—not +playing, but drawing the bow <i>above the +strings</i>, to its full length, resting at either end. +This ensures bow control. One great difficulty +is that as a rule the teacher cannot induce +pupils to practice these 'mute' exercises, +in spite of their unquestionable value. All the +great masters of the violin have used them. +Viotti thought so highly of them that he taught +them only to his favorite pupils. And even +to-day some distinguished violinists play +dumb exercises before stepping on the recital +stage. They are one of the best means that +we have for control of the violinistic nervous +system.</p> + + +<h4><br />WRIST-BOWING</h4> + +<p>"Wrist-bowing is one of the bowings in +which the student should learn to feel absolutely +and naturally at home. To my thinking +the German way of teaching wrist-bowing +is altogether wrong. Their idea is to keep +the fingers neutral, and let the stick move the +fingers! Yet this is wrong—for the player +holds his bow at the finger-tips, that terminal +point of the fingers where the tactile nerves +are most highly developed, and where their +direct contact with the bow makes possible the +greatest variety of dynamic effect, and also +allows the development of far greater speed +in short bowings.</p> + +<p>"Though the Germans say 'Think of the +wrist!' I think with the Belgians: Put your +mind where you touch and hold the bow, concentrate +on your fingers. In other words, +when you make your bow change, do not make +it according to the Joachim method, with the +wrist, but in the natural way, with the fingers +always in command. In this manner only will +you get the true wrist motion.</p> + + +<h4><br />STACCATO AND OTHER BOWINGS</h4> + +<p>"After all, there are only two general principles +in violin playing, the long and short bow, +<i>legato</i> and <i>staccato</i>. Many a teacher finds it +very difficult to teach <i>staccato</i> correctly, which +may account for the fact that many pupils find +it hard to learn. The main reason is that, in +a sense, <i>staccato</i> is opposed to the nature of +the violin as a singing instrument. To produce +a true <i>staccato</i> and not a 'scratchato' it +is absolutely necessary, while exerting the +proper pressure and movement, to keep the +muscles loose. I have evolved a simple +method for quickly achieving the desired result +in <i>staccato</i>. First I teach the attack in +the middle of the bow, without drawing the +bow and as though pressing a button: I have +pupils press up with the thumb and down with +the first finger, with all muscles relaxed. This, +when done correctly, produces a sudden sharp +attack.</p> + +<p>"Then, I have the pupil place his bow in the +middle, in position to draw a down-stroke from +the wrist, the bow-hair being pressed and held +against the string. A quick down-bow follows +with an immediate release of the string. +Repeating the process, use the up-stroke. The +finished product is merely the combination of +these two exercises—drawing and attacking +simultaneously. I have never failed to give a +pupil a good <i>staccato</i> by this exercise, which +comprises the principle of all genuine <i>staccato</i> +playing.</p> + +<p>"One of the most difficult of all bowings is +the simple up-and-down stroke used in the second +Kreutzer <i>étude</i>, that is to say, the bowing +between the middle and point of the bow, <i>tête +d'archet</i>, as the French call it. This bowing +is played badly on the violin more often than +any other. It demands constant rapid changing +and, as most pupils play it, the <i>legato</i> quality +is noticeably absent. Too much emphasis +cannot be laid on the truth that the 'singing +stroke' should be employed for all bowings, +long or short. Often pupils who play quite +well show a want of true <i>legato</i> quality in their +tone, because there is no connection between +their bowing in rapid work.</p> + +<p>"Individual bowings should always be practiced +separately. I always oblige my pupils +to practice all bowings on the open strings, and +in all combinations of the open strings, because +this allows them to concentrate on the bowing +itself, to the exclusion of all else; and they advance +far more quickly. Students should +never be compelled to learn new bowings while +they have to think of their fingers at the same +time: we cannot serve two masters simultaneously! +All in all, bowing is most important in +violin technic, for control of the bow means +much toward mastery of the violin.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE LEFT HAND</h4> + +<p>"It is evident, however, that the correct use +of the left hand is of equal importance. It +seems not to be generally known that finger-pressure +has much to do with tone-quality. +The correct poise of the left hand, as conspicuously +shown by Heifetz for instance, throws +the extreme tips of the fingers hammerlike on +the strings, and renders 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 the quality of the +open string. As for intonation—that is +largely a question of listening. To really listen +to oneself is as necessary as it is rare. It +would take a volume to cover that subject +alone. We hear much about the use of the +<i>vibrato</i> these days. It was not so when I was +a student. I can remember when it was +laughed at by the purists as an Italian evidence +of bad taste. My teachers decried it, yet if we +could hear the great players of the past, we +would be astonished at their frugal use of it.</p> + +<p>"One should remember in this connection +that there was a conflict among singers for +many years as to whether the straight tone as +cultivated by the English oratorio singers, or +the vibrated tone of the Italians were correct. +As usual, Nature won out. The correctly vibrated +voice outlasted the other form of production, +thus proving its lawful basis. But +to-day the <i>vibrato</i> is frequently made to cover +a multitude of violin sins.</p> + +<p>"It is accepted by many as a substitute for +genuine warmth and it is used as a <i>camouflage</i> +to 'put over' some very bad art in the shape of +poor tone-quality, intonation and general sloppiness +of technic. Why, then, has it come into +general use during the last twenty-five years? +Simply because it is based on the correctly +produced human voice. The old players, especially +those of the German school, said, and +some still say, the <i>vibrato</i> should only be used +at the climax of a melody. If we listen to a +Sembrich or a Bonci, however, we hear a vibration +on every tone. Let us not forget that +the violin is a singing instrument and that even +Joachim said: 'We must imitate the human +voice,' This, I think, disposes of the case +finally and we must admit that every little boy +or girl with a natural <i>vibrato</i> is more correct +in that part of his tone-production than many +of the great masters of the past. As the Negro +pastor said: 'The world do move!'</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"Are 'mastery of the violin' and 'Violin +Mastery' synonymous in my mind? Yes and +no: 'Violin Mastery' may be taken to mean +that technical mastery wherewith one is enabled +to perform any work in the entire literature +of the instrument with precision, but not +necessarily with feeling for its beauty or its +emotional content. In this sense, in these days +of improved violin pedagogy, such mastery is +not uncommon. But 'Violin Mastery' may +also be understood to mean, not merely a cold +though flawless technic, but its living, glowing +product when used to express the emotions +suggested by the music of the masters. This +latter kind of violin mastery is rare indeed.</p> + +<p>"One who makes technic an end travels light, +and should reach his destination more quickly. +But he whose goal is music with its thousand-hued +beauties, with its call for the exertion of +human and spiritual emotion, sets forth on a +journey without end. It is plain, however, +that this is the only journey worth taking with +the violin as a traveling companion. 'Violin +Mastery', then, means to me technical proficiency +used to the highest extent possible, for +artistic ends!"</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>XXI</h3> + + +<h2><br />ALBERT SPALDING</h2> + +<h3>THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE<br /> +DEVELOPMENT OF AN ARTIST</h3> + + +<p><br />For the duration of the war Albert Spalding +the violinist became Albert Spalding +the soldier. As First Lieutenant in the Aviation +Service, U.S.A., he maintained the +ideals of civilization on the Italian front +with the same devotion he gave to those of Art +in the piping times of peace. As he himself +said not so very long ago: "You cannot do two +things, and do them properly, at the same time. +At the present moment there is more music +for me in the factories gloriously grinding out +planes and motors than in a symphony of Beethoven. +And to-day I would rather run on +an office-boy's errand for my country and do +it as well as I can, if it's to serve my country, +than to play successfully a Bach Chaconne; +and I would rather hear a well directed battery +of American guns blasting the Road of +Peace and Victorious Liberty than the combined +applause of ten thousand audiences. For +it is my conviction that Art has as much at +stake in this War as Democracy."</p> + + + +<!-- Picture of ALBERT SPALDING, Facing Page 240--> + +<a name="F_Page_240" id="F_Page_240"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p240a_m.jpg" width="489" height="700" alt="F_Page_240" title="ALBERT SPALDING" /> +</div> + +<div class="centered"><table border="0" width="489" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Copyright"> +<tr><td class="copyright"><i>Copyright by Matzene, Chicago</i></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="centered"><span class="smcap"><b>Albert Spalding</b></span><br /><br /></div> + + + +<p>Yet Lieutenant Spalding, despite the arduous +demands of his patriotic duties, found +time to answer some questions of the writer in +the interests of "Violin Mastery" which, representing +the views and opinions of so eminent +and distinctively American a violinist, cannot +fail to interest every lover of the Art. Writing +from Rome (Sept. 9, 1918), Lieutenant Spalding +modestly said that his answers to the questions +asked "will have to be simple and short, +because my time is very limited, and then, too, +having been out of music for more than a year, +I feel it difficult to deal in more than a general +way with some of the questions asked."</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"As to 'Violin Mastery'? To me it means +effortless mastery of details; the correlating of +them into a perfect whole; the subjecting of +them to the expression of an architecture which +is music. 'Violin Mastery' means technical +mastery in every sense of the word. It means +a facility which will enable the interpreter to +forget difficulties, and to express at once in a +language that will seem clear, simple and eloquent, +that which in the hands of others appears +difficult, obtuse and dull.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT<br /> +OF AN ARTIST</h4> + +<p>"As to the processes, mental and technical, +which make an artist? These different processes, +mental and technical, are too many, too +varied and involved to invite an answer in a +short space of time. Suffice it to say that the +most <i>important</i> mental process, to my mind, is +the development of a perception of beauty. +All the perseverance in the study of music, all +the application devoted to it, is not worth a +tinker's dam, unless accompanied by this +awakening 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 his own personal masters. +The true student of Art should be able to derive +benefit and instruction from every beautiful +work of Art that he hears or sees; otherwise +he will be limited by the technical and +mental limitations of his own prejudices and +jealousies. One's greatest difficulties may +turn out to be one's greatest aids in striving +toward artistic results. By this I mean that +nothing is more fatally pernicious for the true +artist than the precocious facility which invites +cheap success. Therefore I make the statement +that one's greatest difficulties are one's +greatest facilities.</p> + + +<h4><br />A LESS DEVELOPED PHASE OF VIOLIN TECHNIC</h4> + +<p>"In the technical field, the phase of violin +technic which is less developed, it seems to me +is, in most cases, bowing. One often notes a +highly developed left hand technic coupled +with a monotonous and oftentimes faulty bowing. +The <i>color</i> and <i>variety</i> of a violinist's art +must come largely from his intimate acquaintance +with all that can be accomplished by the +bow arm. The break or change from a down-bow +to an up-bow, or <i>vice versa</i>, should be under +such control as to make it perceptible only +when it may be desirable to use it for color or +accentuation.</p> + + +<h4><br />GOOD AND BAD HANDS: MENTAL STUDY</h4> + +<p>"The influence of the physical conformation +of bow hand and string hand on 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 the finest development of technic +comes from the head, not from the hand. +Quickness of thought and action is what distinguishes +the easy player from the clumsy +player. Students should develop mental +study even of technical details—this, of course, +in addition to the physical practice; for this +mental study is of the highest importance in +developing the student so that he can gain that +effortless mastery of detail of which I have +already spoken.</p> + + +<h4><br />ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE OF CONCERT ATTENDANCE<br /> +FOR THE STUDENT</h4> + +<p>"Concerts undoubtedly have great value in +developing the student technically and mentally; +but too often they have a directly contrary +effect. I think there is a very doubtful +benefit to be derived from the present +habit, as illustrated in New York, London, or +other centers, of the student attending concerts, +sometimes as many as two or three a day. +This habit dwarfs the development of real appreciation, +as the student, under these conditions, +can little appreciate true works of art +when he has crammed his head so full of truck, +and worn out his faculties of concentration until +listening to music becomes a mechanical +mental process. The <i>indiscriminate</i> attending +of concerts, to my mind, has an absolutely pernicious +effect on the student.</p> + + +<h4><br />NATIONALITY AS A FORMATIVE INFLUENCE</h4> + +<p>"Nationality and national feeling have a +very real influence in the development of an +artist; but this influence is felt subconsciously +more than consciously, and it reacts more on +the creative than on the interpretative artist. +By this I mean that the interpretative artist, +while reserving the right to his individual expression, +should subject himself to what he +considers to have been the artistic impulse, the +artistic intentions of the composer. As to type +music to whose appeal I as an American am +susceptible, I confess to a very sympathetic +reaction to the syncopated rhythms known as +'rag-time,' and which appear to be especially +American in character." For the benefit of +those readers who may not chance to know it, +Lieutenant Spalding's "Alabama," a Southern +melody and dance in plantation style, for +violin and piano, represents a very delightful +creative exploitation of these rhythms. The +writer makes mention of the fact since with regard +to this and other of his own compositions +Lieutenant Spalding would only state: "I +felt that I had something to say and, therefore, +tried to say it. Whether what I have to +say is of any interest to others is not for me to +judge.</p> + + +<h4><br />PLAYING WHILE IN SERVICE</h4> + +<p>"Do I play at all while in Service? I gave +up all playing in public when entering the +Army a year ago, and to a great extent all +private playing as well. I have on one or two +occasions played at charity concerts during the +past year, once in Rome, and once in the little +town in Italy near the aviation camp at which +I was stationed at the time. I have purposely +refused all other requests to play because one +cannot do two things at once, and do them +properly. My time now belongs to my country: +When we have peace again I shall hope +once more to devote it to Art."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>XXII</h3> + + +<h2><br />THEODORE SPIERING</h2> + +<h3>THE APPLICATION OF BOW EXERCISES TO<br /> +THE STUDY OF KREUTZER</h3> + + +<p><br />A. Walter Kramer has said: "Mr. Spiering +knows how serious a study can be made of +the violin, because he has made it. He has investigated +the 'how' and 'why' of every detail, +and what he has to say about the violin is the +utterance of a big musician, one who has mastered +the instrument." And Theodore Spiering, +solo artist and conductor, as a teacher has +that wider horizon which has justified the +statement made that "he is animated by the +thoughts and ideals which stimulate a Godowsky +or Busoni." Such being the case, it was +with unmixed satisfaction that the writer found +Mr. Spiering willing to give him the benefit +of some of those constructive ideas of his as regards +violin study which have established his +reputation so prominently in that field.</p> + + +<h4><br />TWO TYPES OF STUDENTS</h4> + +<p>"There are certain underlying principles +which govern every detail of the violinist's +Art," said Mr. Spiering, "and unless the violinist +fully appreciates their significance, and +has the intelligence and patience to apply them +in everything he does, he will never achieve +that absolute command over his instrument +which mastery implies.</p> + +<p>"It is a peculiar fact that a large percentage +of students—probably believing that they can +reach their goal by a short cut—resent the +mental effort required to master these principles, +the passive resistance, evident in their +work, preventing them from deriving true +benefit from their studies. They form that +large class which learns merely by imitation, +and invariably retrograde the moment they are +no longer under the teacher's supervision.</p> + +<p>"The smaller group, with an analytical bent +of mind, largely subject themselves to the +needed mental drill and thus provide for themselves +that inestimable basic quality that +makes them independent and capable of developing +their talent to its full fruition.</p> + + + +<!-- Picture of THEODORE SPIERING, Facing Page 248--> + +<a name="F_Page_248" id="F_Page_248"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p248a_m.jpg" width="531" height="700" alt="F_Page_248" title="THEODORE SPIERING" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Theodore Spiering</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + + +<h4><br />MENTAL AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES COÖRDINATED</h4> + +<p>"The conventional manner of teaching provided +an inordinate number of mechanical exercises +in order to overcome so called 'technical +difficulties.' Only the <i>prima facie</i> disturbance, +however, was thus taken into consideration—not +its actual cause. The result +was, that notwithstanding the great amount of +labor thus expended, the effort had to be repeated +each time the problem was confronted. +Aside from the obviously uncertain results secured +in this manner, it meant deadening of +the imagination and cramping of interpretative +possibilities. It is only possible to reduce +to a minimum the element of chance by scrupulously +carrying out the dictates of the laws +governing vital principles. Analysis and the +severest self-criticism are the means of determination +as to whether theory and practice +conform with one another.</p> + +<p>"<i>Mental preparedness</i> (Marcus Aurelius +calls it 'the good ordering of the mind') is the +keynote of technical control. Together with +the principle of <i>relaxation</i> it provides the +player with the most effective means of establishing +precise and sensitive coöperation between +mental and physical processes. Muscular +relaxation at will is one of the results of +this coöperation. It makes sustained effort +possible (counteracting the contraction ordinarily +resulting therefrom), and it is freedom +of movement more than anything else that +tends to establish confidence.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE TWO-FOLD VALUE OF CELEBRATED STUDY WORKS</h4> + +<p>"The study period of the average American +is limited. It has been growing less year by +year. Hence the teacher has had to redouble +his efforts. The desire to give my pupils the +essentials of technical control in their most concentrated +and immediately applicable form, +have led me to evolve a series of 'bow exercises,' +which, however, do not merely pursue +a mechanical purpose. Primarily enforcing +the carrying out of basic principles as pertaining +to the bow—and establishing or correcting +(as the case may be) arm and hand (right +arm) positions, they supply the means of creating +a larger interpretative style.</p> + +<p>"I use the Kreutzer studies as the medium of +these bow-exercises, since the application of +new technical ideas is easier when the music itself +is familiar to the student. I have a two-fold +object in mind when I review these studies +in my particular manner, technic and appreciation. +I might add that not only Kreutzer, +but Fiorillo and Rode—in fact all the celebrated +'Caprices,' with the possible exception +of those of Paganini—are viewed almost entirely +from the purely technical side, as belonging +to the classroom, because their musical +qualities have not been sufficiently pointed out. +Rode, in particular, is a veritable musical treasure +trove.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE APPLICATION OF BOW EXERCISES<br /> +TO THE STUDY OF KREUTZER</h4> + +<p>"How do I use the Kreutzer studies to develop +style and technic? By making the student +study them in such wise that the following +principles are emphasized in his work: +<i>control before action</i> (mental direction at all +times); <i>relaxation</i>; and <i>observance of string +levels</i>; for unimpeded movement is more important +than pressure as regards the carrying +tone. These principles are among the most +important pertaining to right arm technic.</p> + +<p>"In Study No. 2 (version 1, up-strokes only, +version 2, down-strokes only), I have my pupils +use the full arm stroke (<i>grand detaché</i>). +In version 1, the bow is taken from the string +after completion of stroke—but in such a way +that the vibrations of the string are not interfered +with. Complete relaxation is insured by +release of the thumb—the bow being caught +in a casual manner, third and fourth fingers +slipping from their normal position on stick—and +holding, but not tightly clasping, the bow.</p> + +<p>"Version 2 calls for a <i>return down-stroke</i>, +the return part of the stroke being accomplished +over the string, but making no division +in stroke, no hesitating before the return. Relaxation +is secured as before. Rapidity of +stroke, elimination of impediment (faulty hand +or arm position and unnecessary upper arm +action), is the aim of this exercise. The pause +between each stroke—caused by relinquishing +the hold on the bow—reminds the student that +mental control should at all times be paramount: +that analysis of technical detail is of +vital importance.</p> + +<p>"In Study No. 7 I employ the same vigorous +full arm strokes as in No. 2: the up and +down bows as indicated in the original version. +The bow is raised from the strings after +each note, by means of hand (little finger, first +and thumb) not by arm action. Normal hand +position is retained: thumb not released.</p> + +<p>"The <i>observance of string levels</i> is very essential. +While the stroke is in progress the +arm must not leave its level in an anticipatory +movement to reach the next level. Especially +after the down-stroke is it advisable to verify +the arm position with regard to this feature.</p> + +<p>"No. 8 affords opportunity for a <i>résumé</i> of +the work done in Nos. 2 and 7:</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p290_1a.png" width="319" height="104" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + +<p>"It is evident that the tempo of this study +must be very much reduced in speed. The <i>return</i> +down-stroke as in No. 2: the <i>second</i> +down-stroke as in No. 7: the up-strokes as in +No. 2.</p> + +<p>"In Study No. 5 I use the hand-stroke only—at +the frog—arm absolutely immobile, with +no attempt at tone. This exercise represents +the first attempt at dissecting the <i>martelé</i> +idea: precise timing of pressure, movement +(stroke), and relaxation. The pause between +the strokes is utilized to learn the value of left +hand preparedness, with the fingers in place +before bow action.</p> + +<p>"In Study No. 13 I develop the principles +of string crossing, of the extension stroke, and +articulation. String crossing is the main feature +of the exercise. I employ three versions, +in order to accomplish my aim. In version 1 +I consider only the crossing from a higher to +a lower level:</p> + + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p291_1a.png" width="330" height="98" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + +<p>version 2:</p> + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p291_1b.png" width="240" height="106" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + +<p>version 3 is the original version. In versions +1 and 2 I omit all repetitions:</p> + +<!-- [Illustration: Musical Notation] --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p291_1c.png" width="256" height="105" alt="Music notation" /> + +<br /></div> + + + +<p>Articulation is one of the main points at issue—the +middle note is generally inarticulate. +For further string crossing analysis I use +Kreutzer's No. 25. Study No. 10 I carry out +as a <i>martelé</i> study, with the string crossing +very much in evidence; establishing observance +of the notes occurring on the same string level, +consequently compelling a more judicious use +of the so-called wrist movement (not merely +developing a supple wrist, with indefinite +crossing movements, which in many cases are +applied by the player without regard to actual +string crossing) and in consequence securing +stability of bow on string when string level is +not changed, this result being secured even in +rapid passage work.</p> + +<p>"In Studies 11, 19 and 21 I cover shifting +and left thumb action: in No. 9, finger action—flexibility +and evenness, the left thumb relaxed—the +fundamental idea of the trill. After the +<i>interrupted</i> types of bowing (grand <i>detaché</i>, +<i>martelé</i>, <i>staccato</i>) have been carefully studied, +the <i>continuous</i> types (<i>detaché</i>, <i>legato</i> and <i>spiccato</i>) +are then taken up, and in part the same +studies again used: 2, 7, 8. Lastly the slurred +<i>legato</i> comes under consideration (Studies 9, +11, 14, 22, 27, 29). Shifting, extension and +string crossing have all been previously considered, +and hence the <i>legato</i> should be allowed +to take its even course.</p> + +<p>"Although I do, temporarily, place these +studies on a purely mechanical level, I am convinced +that they thus serve to call into being +a broader <i>musical</i> appreciation for the whole +set. For I have found that in spite of the fact +that pupils who come to me have all played +their Kreutzer, with very few exceptions have +they realized the musical message which it contains. +The time when the student body will +have learned to depict successfully musical +character—even in studies and caprices—will +mark the fulfillment of the teacher's task with +regard to the cultivation of the right arm—which +is essentially the teacher's domain.</p> + + +<h4><br />SOME OF MR. SPIERING'S OWN STUDY SOUVENIRS</h4> + +<p>"It may interest you to know," Mr. Spiering +said in reply to a question, "that I began my +teaching career in Chicago immediately following +my four years with Joachim in Berlin. +It was natural that I should first commit +myself to the pedagogic methods of the <i>Hochschule</i>, +which to a great extent, however, I discarded +as my own views crystallized. I found +that too much emphasis allotted the wrist +stroke (a misnomer, by the way), was bound +to result in too academic a style. By transferring +primary importance to the control of +the full arm-stroke—with the hand-stroke incidentally +completing the control—I felt that +I was better able to reflect the larger interpretative +ideals which my years of musical development +were creating for me. Chamber +music—a youthful passion—led me to interest +myself in symphonic work and conducting. +These activities not only reacted favorably on +my solo playing, but influenced my development +as regards the broader, more dramatic +style, the grand manner in interpretation. It +is this realization that places me in a position +to earnestly advise the ambitious student not +to disregard the great artistic benefits to be +derived from the cultivation of chamber music +and symphonic playing.</p> + +<p>"I might call my teaching ideals a combination +of those of the Franco-Belgian and German +schools. To the former I attribute my +preference for the large sweep of the bow-arm, +its style and tonal superiority; to the latter, +vigor of interpretation and attention to musical +detail.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN MASTERY</h4> + +<p>"How do I define 'Violin Mastery'? The +violinist who has succeeded in eliminating all +superfluous tension or physical resistance, +whose mental control is such that the technic +of the left hand and right arm has become coordinate, +thus forming a perfect mechanism +not working at cross-purposes; who, furthermore, +is so well poised that he never oversteps +the boundaries of good taste in his interpretations, +though vitally alive to the human element; +who, finally, has so broad an outlook on +life and Art that he is able to reveal the transcendent +spirit characterizing the works of the +great masters—such a violinist has truly attained +mastery!"</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>XXIII</h3> + + +<h2><br />JACQUES THIBAUD</h2> + +<h3>THE IDEAL PROGRAM</h3> + + +<p><br />Jacques Thibaud, whose gifts as an interpreting +artist have brought him so many +friends and admirers in the United States, is +the foremost representative of the modern +French school of violin-playing. And as such +he has held his own ever since, at the age of +twenty, he resigned his rank as concert-master +of the Colonne orchestra, to dedicate his talents +exclusively to the concert stage. So great +an authority as the last edition of the Riemann +<i>Musik-Lexicon</i> cannot forbear, even in 1915, +to emphasize his "technic, absolutely developed +in its every detail, and his fiery and poetic manner +of interpretation."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Thibaud does not see any great difference +between the ideals of <i>la grande école +belge</i>, that of Vieuxtemps, De Bériot, Léonard, +Massart and Marsick, whose greatest +present-day exponent is Eugène Ysaye, and +the French. Himself a pupil of Marsick, he +inherited the French traditions of Alard +through his father, who was Alard's pupil and +handed them on to his son. "The two schools +have married and are as one," declared Mr. +Thibaud. "They may differ in the interpretation +of music, but to me they seem to have +merged so far as their systems of finger technic, +bowing and tone production goes.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE GREATEST DIFFICULTY TO OVERCOME</h4> + +<p>"You ask me what is most difficult in playing +the violin? It is bowing. Bowing makes +up approximately eighty per cent. of the sum +total of violinistic difficulties. One reason for +it is that many teachers with excellent ideas on +the subject present it to their pupils in too complicated +a manner. The bow must be used in +an absolutely natural way, and over elaboration +in explaining what should be a simple and +natural development often prevents the student +from securing a good bowing, the end in +view. Sarasate (he was an intimate friend of +mine) always used his bow in the most natural +way, his control of it was unsought and +unconscious. Were I a teacher I should not +say: 'You must bow as I do'; but rather: 'Find +the way of bowing most convenient and natural +to you and use it!' Bowing is largely a +physical and individual matter. I am slender +but have long, large fingers; Kreisler is a +larger man than I am but his fingers are small. +It stands to reason that there must be a difference +in the way in which we hold and use the +bow. The difference between a great and a +mediocre teacher lies in the fact that the first +recognizes that bowing is an individual matter, +different in the case of each individual pupil; +and that the greatest perfection is attained +by the development of the individual's capabilities +within his own norm.</p> + + + +<!-- Picture of JACQUES THIBAUD, Facing Page 260--> + +<a name="F_Page_260" id="F_Page_260"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p260a_m.jpg" width="475" height="700" alt="F_Page_260" title="JACQUES THIBAUD" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Jacques Thibaud</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<!-- Signature of JACQUES THIBAUD --> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p260b_m.jpg" width="475" height="86" alt="F_Page_261" title="JACQUES THIBAUD SIGNATURE" /> +<br /><br /></div> + + + +<h4><br />MARSICK AS A TEACHER</h4> + +<p>"Marsick was a teacher of this type. At +each of the lessons I took from him at the <i>Conservatoire</i> +(we went to him three days a week), +he would give me a new <i>étude</i>—Gavinies, +Rode, Fiorillo, Dont—to prepare for the next +lesson. We also studied all of Paganini, and +works by Ernst and Spohr. For our bow +technic he employed difficult passages made +into <i>études</i>. Scales—the violinist's daily +bread—we practiced day in, day out. Marsick +played the piano well, and could improvise +marvelous accompaniments on his violin when +his pupils played. I continued my studies +with Marsick even after I left the <i>Conservatoire</i>. +With him I believe that three essentials—absolute +purity of pitch, equality of tone +and sonority of tone, in connection with the +bow—are the base on which everything else +rests.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE MECHANICAL VERSUS THE NATURAL<br /> +IN VIOLIN PLAYING</h4> + +<p>"Sevčik's purely soulless and mechanical +system has undoubtedly produced a number +of excellent mechanicians of the violin. But +it has just as unquestionably killed real talent. +Kubelik—there was a genuinely talented violinist! +If he had had another teacher instead +of Sevčik he would have been great, for he had +great gifts. Even as it was he played well, +but I consider him one of Sevčik's victims. +As an illustration of how the technical point +of view is thrust to the fore by this system +I remember some fifteen years ago Kubelik +and I were staying at the same villa in Monte-Carlo, +where we were to play the Beethoven +concerto, each of us, in concert, two days +apart. Kubelik spent the live-long day before +the concert practicing Sevčik exercises. I +read and studied Beethoven's score, but did +not touch my violin. I went to hear Kubelik +play the concerto, and he played it well; but +then, so did I, when my turn came. And I +feel sure I got more out of it musically and +spiritually, than I would have if instead of concentrating +on its meaning, its musical message, +I had prepared the concerto as a problem in +violin mechanics whose key was contained in a +number of dry technical exercises arbitrarily +laid down.</p> + +<p>"Technic, in the case of the more advanced +violinist, should not have a place in the foreground +of his consciousness. I heard Rubinstein +play when a boy—what did his false notes +amount to compared with his wonderful manner +of disclosing the spirit of the things he +played! Planté, the Parisian pianist, a kind +of keyboard cyclone, once expressed the idea +admirably to an English society lady. She +had told him he was a greater pianist than +Rubinstein, because the latter played so many +wrong notes. 'Ah, Madame,' answered +Planté, 'I would rather be able to play Rubinstein's +wrong notes than all my own correct +ones.' A violinist's natural manner of playing +is the one he should cultivate; since it is individual, +it really represents him. And a +teacher or a colleague of greater fame does him +no kindness if he encourages him to distrust +his own powers by too good naturedly 'showing' +him how to do this, that or the other. I +mean, when the student can work out his problem +himself at the expense of a little initiative.</p> + +<p>"When I was younger I once had to play +Bach's G minor fugue at a concert in Brussels. +I was living at Ysaye's home, and since +I had never played the composition in public +before, I began to worry about its interpretation. +So I asked Ysaye (thinking he would +simply show me), 'How ought I to play this +fugue?' The Master reflected a moment and +then dashed my hopes by answering: <i>'Tu +m'embêtes!'</i> (You bore me!) 'This fugue +should be played well, that's all!' At first I +was angry, but thinking it over, I realized that +if he had shown me, I would have played it just +as he did; while what he wanted me to do was +to work out my own version, and depend on my +own initiative—which I did, for I had no +choice. It is by means of concentration on the +higher, the interpretative phases of one's Art +that the technical side takes its proper, secondary +place. Technic does not exist for me +in the sense of a certain quantity of mechanical +work which I must do. I find it out of +the question to do absolutely mechanical technical +work of any length of time. In realizing +the three essentials of good violin playing +which I have already mentioned, Ysaye and +Sarasate are my ideals.</p> + + +<h4><br />SARASATE</h4> + +<p>"All really good violinists are good artists. +Sarasate, whom I knew so intimately and remember +so well, was a pupil of Alard (my +father's teacher). He literally sang on the +violin, like a nightingale. His purity of intonation +was remarkable; and his technical +facility was the most extraordinary that I have +ever seen. He handled his bow with unbelievable +skill. And when he played, the unassuming +grace of his movements won the +hearts of his audiences and increased the enthusiasm +awakened by his tremendous talent.</p> + +<p>"We other violinists, all of us, occasionally +play a false note, for we are not infallible; +we may flat a little or sharp a little. But +never, as often as I have heard Sarasate play, +did I ever hear him play a wrong note, one not +in perfect pitch. His Spanish things he +played like a god! And he had a wonderful +gift of phrasing which gave a charm hard to +define to whatever he played. And playing in +quartet—the greatest solo violinist does not always +shine in this <i>genre</i>—he was admirable. +Though he played all the standard repertory, +Bach, Beethoven, etc., I can never forget his +exquisite rendering of modern works, especially +of a little composition by Raff, called +<i>La Fée d'Amour</i>. He was the first to +play the violin concertos of Saint-Saëns, +Lalo and Max Bruch. They were all written +for him, and I doubt whether they +would have been composed had not Sarasate +been there to play them. Of course, in +his own Spanish music he was unexcelled—a +whole school of violin playing was born and +died with him! He had a hobby for collecting +canes. He had hundreds of them of all kinds, +and every sovereign in Europe had contributed +to his collection. I know Queen Christina of +Spain gave him no less than twenty. He once +gave me a couple of his canes, a great sign of +favor with him. I have often played quartet +with Sarasate, for he adored quartet playing, +and these occasions are among my treasured +memories.</p> + + +<h4><br />STRADIVARIUS AND GUARNERIUS PLAYERS</h4> + +<p>"My violin? It is a Stradivarius—the same +which once belonged to the celebrated Baillot. +I think it is good for a violin to rest, so during +the three months when I am not playing in +concert, I send my Stradivarius away to the +instrument maker's, and only take it out about +a month before I begin to play again in public. +What do I use in the meantime? Caressa, the +best violin maker in Paris, made me an exact +copy of my own Strad, exact in every little detail. +It is so good that sometimes, when circumstances +compelled me to, I have used it in +concert, though it lacks the tone-quality of the +original. This under-study violin I can use +for practice, and when I go back to the original, +as far as the handling of the instrument is concerned, +I never know the difference.</p> + +<p>"But I do not think that every one plays to +the best advantage on a Strad. I'm a believer +in the theory that there are natural Guarnerius +players and natural Stradivarius players; +that certain artists do their best with the one, +and certain others with the other. And I also +believe that any one who is 'equally' good in +both, is great on neither. The reason I believe +in Guarnerius players and Stradivarius players +as distinct is this. Some years ago I had +a sudden call to play in Ostende. It was a +concert engagement which I had overlooked, +and when it was recalled to me I was playing +golf in Brittany. I at once hurried to Paris +to get my violin from Caressa, with whom I +had left it, but—his safe, in which it had been +put, and to which he only had the combination, +was locked. Caressa himself was in +Milan. I telegraphed him but found that he +could not get back in time before the concert +to release my violin. So I telegraphed Ysaye +at Namur, to ask if he could loan me a violin +for the concert. 'Certainly' he wired back. So +I hurried to his home and, with his usual generosity, +he insisted on my taking both his treasured +Guarnerius and his 'Hercules' Strad +(afterwards stolen from him in Russia), in +order that I might have my choice. His brother-in-law +and some friends accompanied me +from Namur to Ostende—no great distance—to +hear the concert. Well, I played the Guarnerius +at rehearsal, and when it was over, +every one said to me, 'Why, what is the matter +with your fiddle? (It was the one Ysaye always +used.) It has no tone at all.' At the +concert I played the Strad and secured a big +tone that filled the hall, as every one assured +me. When I brought back the violins to Ysaye +I mentioned the circumstance to him, and he +was so surprised and interested that he took +them from the cases and played a bit, first on +one, then on the other, a number of times. +And invariably when he played the Strad +(which, by the way, he had not used for years) +he, Ysaye—imagine it!—could develop only a +small tone; and when he played the Guarnerius, +he never failed to develop that great, +sonorous tone we all know and love so well. +Take Sarasate, when he lived, Elman, myself—we +all have the habit of the Stradivarius: +on the other hand Ysaye and Kreisler are +Guarnerius players <i>par excellence</i>!</p> + +<p>"Yes, I use a wire E string. Before I +found out about them I had no end of trouble. +In New Orleans I snapped seven gut strings +at a single concert. Some say that you can +tell the difference, when listening, between a +gut and a wire E. I cannot, and I know a +good many others who cannot. After my last +New York recital I had tea with Ysaye, who +had done me the honor of attending it. 'What +strings do you use?' he asked me, <i>à propos</i> to +nothing in particular. When I told him I +used a wire E he confessed that he could not +have told the difference. And, in fact, he has +adopted the wire E just like Kreisler, Maud +Powell and others, and has told me that he is +charmed with it—for Ysaye has had a great +deal of trouble with his strings. I shall continue +to use them even after the war, when it +will be possible to obtain good gut strings +again.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE IDEAL PROGRAM</h4> + +<p>"The whole question of programs and program-making +is an intricate one. In my opinion +the usual recital program, piano, song or +violin, is too long. The public likes the recital +by a single vocal or instrumental artist, +and financially and for other practical reasons +the artist, too, is better satisfied with them. +But are they artistically altogether satisfactory? +I should like to hear Paderewski and +Ysaye, Bauer and Casals, Kreisler and Hofmann +all playing at the same recital. What a +variety, what a wealth of contrasting artistic +enjoyment such a concert would afford. +There is nothing that is so enjoyable for the +true artist as <i>ensemble</i> playing with his peers. +Solo playing seems quite unimportant beside +it.</p> + +<p>"I recall as the most perfect and beautiful +of all my musical memories, a string quartet +and quintet (with piano) session in Paris, in +my own home, where we played four of the +loveliest chamber music works ever written in +the following combination: Beethoven's 7th +quartet (Ysaye, Vo. I, myself, Vo. II, Kreisler, +viola—he plays it remarkably well—and +Casals, 'cello); the Schumann quartet (Kreisler, +Vo. I, Ysaye, Vo. II, myself, viola and +Casals, 'cello); and the Mozart G major quartet +(myself, Vo. I, Kreisler, Vo. II, Ysaye, +viola and Casals, 'cello). Then we telephoned +to Pugno, who came over and joined us and, +after an excellent dinner, we played the César +Franck piano quintet. It was the most enjoyable +musical day of my life. A concert +manager offered us a fortune to play in this +combination—just two concerts in every capital +in Europe.</p> + +<p>"We have not enough variety in our concert +programs—not enough collaboration. +The truth is our form of concert, which usually +introduces only one instrument or one +group of instruments, such as the string quartet, +is too uniform in color. I can enjoy playing +a recital program of virtuose violin pieces +well enough; but I cannot help fearing that +many find it too unicolored. Practical considerations +do not do away with the truth of +an artistic contention, though they may often +prevent its realization. What I enjoy most, +musically, is to play together with another +good artist. That is why I have had such +great artistic pleasure in the joint recitals I +have given with Harold Bauer. We could +play things that were really worth while for +each of us—for the piano parts of the modern +sonatas call for a virtuose technical and musical +equipment, and I have had more satisfaction +from this <i>ensemble</i> work than I would +have had in playing a long list of solo pieces.</p> + +<p>"The ideal violin program, to play in public, +as I conceive it, is one that consists of absolute +music, or should it contain virtuose +pieces, then these should have some definite +musical quality of soul, character, elegance or +charm to recommend them. I think one of the +best programs I have ever played in America +is that which I gave with Harold Bauer at +Æolian Hall, New York, during the season of +1917-1918:</p> + + +<h4><br /> +Sonata in B flat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<i>Mozart</i><br /> +<small><small>BAUER-THIBAUD</small></small><br /> +<br /> +Scenes from Childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <i>Schumann</i><br /> +<small><small>H. BAUER</small></small><br /> +<br /> +Poème . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <i>E. Chausson</i><br /> +<small><small>J. THIBAUD</small></small><br /> +<br /> +Sonata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <i>César Franck</i><br /> +<small><small>BAUER-THIBAUD</small></small><br /> +</h4> + + +<p><br />Or perhaps this other, which Bauer and I +played in Boston, during November, 1913:</p> + + +<h4><br /> +Kreutzer Sonata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<i>Beethoven</i><br /> +<small><small>BAUER-THIBAUD</small></small><br /> +<br /> +Sarabanda, Giga, Chaconne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<i>J.S. Bach</i><br /> +<small><small>J. THIBAUD</small></small><br /> +<br /> +Kreisleriana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <i>Schumann</i><br /> +<small><small>H. BAUER</small></small><br /> +<br /> +Sonata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <i>César Franck</i><br /> +<small><small>BAUER-THIBAUD</small></small><br /> +</h4> + + +<p><br />Either of these programs is artistic from the +standpoint of the compositions represented. +And even these programs are not too short—they +take almost two hours to play; while for +my ideal program an hour-and-a-half of beautiful +music would suffice. You will notice that +I believe in playing the big, fine things in +music; in serving roasts rather than too many +<i>hors d'oeuvres</i> and pastry.</p> + +<p>"On a solo program, of course, one must +make some concessions. When I play a violin +concerto it seems fair enough to give the +public three or four nice little things, but—always +pieces which are truly musical, not such +as are only 'ear-ticklers.' Kreisler—he has a +great talent for transcription—has made +charming arrangements. So has Tivadar Nachéz, +of older things, and Arthur Hartmann. +These one can play as well as shorter numbers +by Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski that are delightful, +such as the former's <i>Ballade et Polonaise</i>, +though I know of musical purists who +disapprove of it. I consider this <i>Polonaise</i> on +a level with Chopin's. Or take, in the virtuoso +field, Sarasate's <i>Gypsy Airs</i>—they are equal +to any Liszt Rhapsody. I have only recently +discovered that Ysaye—my life-long friend—has +written some wonderful original compositions: +a <i>Poème élégiaque</i>, a <i>Chant d'hiver</i>, an +<i>Extase</i> and a ms. trio for two violins and alto +that is marvelous. These pieces were an absolute +find for me, with the exception of the +lovely <i>Chant d'hiver</i>, which I have already +played in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and +Berlin, and expect to make a feature of my +programs this winter. You see, Ysaye is so +modest about his own compositions that he does +not attempt to 'push' them, even with his +friends, hence they are not nearly as well +known as they should be.</p> + +<p>"I never play operatic transcriptions and +never will. The music of the opera, no matter +how fine, appears to me to have its proper +place on the stage—it seems out of place on +the violin recital program. The artist cannot +be too careful in the choice of his shorter program +pieces. And he can profit by the example +set by some of the foremost violinists +of the day. Ysaye, that great apostle of the +truly musical, is a shining example. It is sad +to see certain young artists of genuine talent +disregard the remarkable work of their great +contemporary, and secure easily gained triumphs +with compositions whose musical value +is <i>nil</i>.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes the wish to educate the public, +to give it a high <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'standad'">standard</ins> of appreciation, leads +an artist astray. I heard a well-known German +violinist play in Berlin five years ago, and +what do you suppose played? Beethoven's +<i>Trios</i> transcribed for violin and piano! The +last thing in the world to play! And there +was, to my astonishment, no critical disapproval +of what he did. I regard it as little less +than a crime.</p> + +<p>"But this whole question of programs and +repertory is one without end. Which of the +great concertos do I prefer? That is a difficult +question to answer off-hand. But I can +easily tell you which I like least. It is the +Tschaikovsky violin concerto—- I would not exchange +the first ten measures of Vieuxtemps's +Fourth concerto for the whole of Tschaikovsky's, +that is from the musical point of view. +I have heard the <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Tchaikovsky'">Tschaikovsky</ins> played magnificently +by Auer and by Elman; but I consider +it the worst thing the composer has written."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277"></a>XXIV</h3> + + +<h2><br />GUSTAV SAENGER</h2> + +<h3>THE EDITOR AS A FACTOR IN "VIOLIN MASTERY"</h3> + + +<p><br />The courts of editorial appeal presided over +by such men as Wm. Arms Fisher, Dr. Theodore +Baker, Gustav Saenger and others, have +a direct relation to the establishment and maintenance +of standards of musical mastery in general +and, in the case of Gustav Saenger, with +"Violin Mastery" in particular. For this editor, +composer and violinist is at home with +every detail of the educational and artistic development +of his instrument, and a considerable +portion of the violin music published in the +United States represents his final and authoritative +revision.</p> + +<p>"Has the work of the editor any influence +on the development of 'Violin Mastery'?" was +the first question put to Mr. Saenger when he +found time to see the writer in his editorial +rooms. "In a larger sense I think it has," was +the reply. "Mastery of any kind comes as a +result of striving for a definite goal. In the +case of the violin student the road of progress +is long, and if he is not to stray off into the +numerous by-paths of error, it must be liberally +provided with sign-posts. These sign-posts, in +the way of clear and exact indications with regard +to bowing, fingering, interpretation, it is +the editor's duty to erect. The student himself +must provide mechanical ability and emotional +instinct, the teacher must develop and perfect +them, and the editor must neglect nothing in +the way of explanation, illustration and example +which will help both teacher and pupil to +obtain more intimate insight into the musical +and technical values. Yes, I think the editor +may claim to be a factor in the attainment of +'Violin Mastery.'</p> + + +<h4><br />OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES</h4> + +<p>"The work of the responsible editor of modern +violin music must have constructive value, +it must suggest and stimulate. When Kreutzer, +Gavinies and Rode first published their +work, little stress was laid on editorial revision. +You will find little in the way of fingering +indicated in the old editions of Kreutzer. +It was not till long after Kreutzer's death that +his pupil, Massart, published an excellent little +book, which he called 'The Art of Studying R. +Kreutzer's Études' and which I have translated. +It contains no less than four hundred +and twelve examples specially designed to aid +the student to master the <i>Études</i> in the spirit +of their composer. Yet these studies, as difficult +to-day as they were when first written, +are old wine that need no bush, though they +have gained by being decanted into new bottles +of editorial revision.</p> + + + +<!-- Picture of GUSTAV SAENGER, Facing Page 278--> + +<a name="F_Page_278" id="F_Page_278"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/p278a_m.jpg" width="473" height="700" alt="F_Page_278" title="GUSTAV SAENGER" /> +<p class="figcenter"><b><span class="smcap">Gustav Saenger</span></b></p> +<br /><br /></div> + + + +<p>"They have such fundamental value, that +they allow of infinite variety of treatment and +editorial presentation. Every student who has +reached a certain degree of technical proficiency +takes them up. Yet when studying them +for the first time, as a rule it is all he can do to +master them in a purely superficial way. When +he has passed beyond them, he can return to +them with greater technical facility and, because +of their infinite variety, find that they +offer him any number of new study problems. +As with Kreutzer—an essential to 'Violin Mastery'—so +it is with Rode, Fiorillo, and Gavinies. +Editorial care has prepared the studies in +distinct editions, such as those of Hermann and +Singer, specifically for the student, and that of +Emil Kross, for the advanced player. These +editions give the work of the teacher a more +direct proportion of result. The difference between +the two types is mainly in the fingering. +In the case of the student editions a simple, +practical fingering of positive educational value +is given; and the student should be careful to +use editions of this kind, meant for him. Kross +provides many of the <i>études</i> with fingerings +which only the virtuoso player is able to apply. +Aside from technical considerations the absolute +musical beauty of many of these studies +is great, and they are well suited for solo performance. +Rode's <i>Caprices</i>, for instance, are +particularly suited for such a purpose, and +many of Paganini's famous <i>Caprices</i> have +found a lasting place in the concert repertory, +with piano accompaniments by artists like +Kreisler, Eddy Brown, Edward Behm and +Max Vogrich—- the last-named composer's +three beautiful 'Characteristic Pieces' after +Paganini are worth any violinist's attention.</p> + + +<h4><br />AMERICAN EDITORIAL IDEALS</h4> + +<p>"In this country those intrusted with editorial +responsibility as regards violin music +have upheld a truly American standard of independent +judgment. The time has long since +passed when foreign editions were accepted on +their face value, particularly older works. In +a word, the conscientious American editor of +violin music reflects in his editions the actual +state of progress of the art of violin playing +as established by the best teachers and teaching +methods, whether the works in question represent +a higher or lower standard of artistic +merit.</p> + +<p>"And this is no easy task. One must remember +that the peculiar construction of the +violin with regard to its technical possibilities +makes the presentation of a violin piece difficult +from an editorial standpoint. A composition +may be so written that a beginner can play it +in the first position; and the same number may +be played with beautiful effects in the higher +positions by an artist. This accounts for the +fact that in many modern editions of solo music +for violin, double fingerings, for student and +advanced players respectively, are indicated—an +essentially modern editorial development. +Modern instructive works by such masters as +Sevčik, Eberhardt and others have made technical +problems more clearly and concisely get-at-able +than did the older methods. Yet some +of these older works are by no means negligible, +though of course, in all classic violin literature, +from Tartini on, Kreutzer, Spohr, Paganini, +Ernst, each individual artist represents his own +school, his own method to the exclusion of any +other. Spohr was one of the first to devote +editorial attention to his own method, one +which, despite its age, is a valuable work, +though most students do not know how to use +it. It is really a method for the advanced +player, since it presupposes a good deal of preliminary +technical knowledge, and begins at +once with the higher positions. It is rather a +series 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 and edited the American edition +of this work, and the many explanatory +notes with which Spohr has <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'provied'">provided</ins> it—as in +his own 9th, and the Rode concerto (included +as representative of what violin concertos really +should be), the measures being provided +with group numbers for convenience in reference—are +not obsolete. They are still valid, +and any one who can appreciate the ideals of +the <i>Gesangsscene</i>, its beautiful <i>cantilene</i> and +pure serenity, may profit by them. I enjoyed +editing this work because I myself had studied +with Carl Richter, a Spohr pupil, who had all +his master's traditions.</p> + + +<h4><br />THE MASTER VIOLINIST AS AN EDITOR</h4> + +<p>"That the editorial revisions of a number of +our greatest living violinists and teachers have +passed through my editorial rooms, on their +way to press, is a fact of which I am decidedly +proud. Leopold Auer, for instance, is one +of the most careful, exact and practical of editors, +and the fact is worth dwelling on since +sometimes the great artist or teacher quite naturally +forgets that those for whom he is editing +a composition have neither his knowledge nor +resources. Auer never loses sight of the composer's +<i>own ideas</i>.</p> + +<p>"And when I mention great violinists with +whom I have been associated as an editor, +Mischa Elman must not be forgotten. I +found it at first a difficult matter to induce an +artist like Elman, for whom no technical difficulties +exist, to seriously consider the limitations +of the average player in his fingerings +and interpretative demands. Elman, like every +great <i>virtuoso</i> of his caliber, is influenced in his +revisions by the manner in which he himself +does things. I remember in one instance I +could see no reason why he should mark the +third finger for a <i>cantilena</i> passage where a +certain effect was desired, and questioned it. +Catching up his violin he played the note preceding +it with his second finger, then instead +of slipping the second finger down the string, +he took the next note with the third, in such a +way that a most exquisite <i>legato</i> effect, like a +breath, the echo of a sigh, was secured. And +the beauty of tone color in this instance not only +proved his point, but has led me invariably to +examine very closely a fingering on the part of +a master violinist which represents a departure +from the conventional—it is often the technical +key to some new beauty of interpretation or +expression.</p> + +<p>"Fritz Kreisler's individuality is also reflected +in his markings and fingerings. Of +course those in his 'educational' editions are +strictly meant for study needs. But in general +they are difficult and based on his own manner +and style of playing. As he himself has remarked: +'I could play the violin just as well +with three as with four fingers.' Kreisler is +fond of 'fingered' octaves, and these, because +of his abnormal hand, he plays with the first +and third fingers, where virtuose players, as a +rule, are only too happy if they can play them +with the first and fourth. To verify this individual +character of his revisions, one need only +glance at his edition of Godowsky's '12 Impressions' +for violin—in every case the fingerings +indicated are difficult in the extreme; yet they +supply the key to definite effects, and since this +music is intended for the advance player, are +quite in order.</p> + +<p>"The ms. and revisions of many other distinguished +artists have passed through my +hands. Theodore Spiering has been responsible +for the educational detail of classic and +modern works; Arthur Hartmann—a composer +of marked originality—Albert Spalding, +Eddy Brown, Francis MacMillan, Max Pilzer, +David Hochstein, Richard Czerwonky, +Cecil Burleigh, Edwin Grasse, Edmund Severn, +Franz C. Bornschein, Leo Ornstein, Rubin +Goldmark, Louis Pershinger, Louis Victor +Saar—whose ms. always look as though engraved—have +all given me opportunities of +seeing the best the American violin composer +is creating at the present time.</p> + + +<h4><br />EDITORIAL DIFFICULTIES</h4> + +<p>"The revisional work of the master violinist +is of very great importance, but often great +artists and distinguished teachers hold radically +different views with regard to practically +every detail of their art. And it is by no means +easy for an editor like myself, who is finally +responsible for their editions, to harmonize a +hundred conflicting views and opinions. The +fiddlers best qualified to speak with authority +will often disagree absolutely regarding the use +of a string, position, up-bow or down-bow. +And besides meeting the needs of student and +teacher, an editor-in-chief must bear in mind +the artistic requirements of the music itself. +In many cases the divergence in teaching +standards reflects the personal preferences for +the editions used. Less ambitious teachers +choose methods which make the study of the +violin as <i>easy</i> as possible for <i>them</i>; rather than +those which—in the long run—may be most advantageous +for the <i>pupil</i>. The best editions of +studies are often cast aside for trivial reasons, +such as are embodied in the poor excuse that +'the fourth finger is too frequently indicated.' +According to the old-time formulas, it was +generally accepted that ascending passages +should be played on the open strings and descending +ones using the fourth finger. It +stands to reason that the use of the fourth finger +involves more effort, is a greater tax of +strength, and that the open string is an easier +playing proposition. Yet a really perfected +technic demands that the fourth finger be every +bit as strong and flexible as any of the others. +By nature it is shorter and weaker, and beginners +usually have great trouble with it—which +makes perfect control of it all the more essential! +And yet teachers, contrary to all sound +principle and merely to save effort—temporarily—for +themselves and their pupils, will often +reject an edition of a method or book of studies +merely because in its editing the fourth finger +has not been deprived of its proper chance of +development. I know of cases where, were it +not for the guidance supplied by editorial revision, +the average teacher would have had no +idea of the purpose of the studies he was using. +One great feature of good modern editions of +classical study works, from Kreutzer to Paganini, +is the double editorial numeration: one +giving the sequence as in the original editions; +the other numbering the studies in order of +technical difficulty, so that they may be practiced +progressively.</p> + + +<h4><br />A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF VIOLIN STUDIES</h4> + +<p>"What special editorial work of mine has +given me the greatest personal satisfaction in +the doing? That is a hard question to answer. +Off-hand I might say that, perhaps, the collection +of progressive orchestral studies for advanced +violinists which I have compiled and annotated +for the benefit of the symphony orchestra +player is something that has meant much +to me personally. Years ago, when I played +professionally—long before the days of 'miniature' +orchestra scores—it was almost impossible +for an ambitious young violinist to acquaint +himself with the first and second violin parts +of the great symphonic works. Prices of scores +were prohibitive—and though in such works as +the Brahms symphonies, for instance, the 'concertmaster's' +part should be studied from score, +in its relation to the rest of the <i>partitura</i>—often, +merely to obtain a first violin part, I +had to acquire the entire set of strings. So +when I became an editor I determined, in view +of my own unhappy experiences and that of +many others, to give the aspiring fiddler who +really wanted to 'get at' the violin parts of the +best symphonic music, from Bach to Brahms +and Richard Strauss, a chance to do so. And +I believe I solved the problem in the five books +of the 'Modern Concert-Master,' which includes +all those really difficult and important passages +in the great repertory works of the symphony +orchestra that offer violinistic problems. My +only regret is that the grasping attitude of +European publishers prevented the representation +of certain important symphonic numbers. +Yet, as it stands, I think I may say that +the five encyclopedic books of the collection +give the symphony concertmaster every practical +opportunity to gain orchestral routine, +and orchestral mastery.</p> + + +<h4><br />A NEW CLASSIFICATION OF VIOLIN LITERATURE</h4> + +<p>"What I am inclined to consider, however, +as even more important, in a sense, than my +editorial labors is a new educational classification +of violin literature, one which practically +covers the entire field of violin music, and +upon which I have been engaged for several +years. Insomuch as an editor's work helps +in the acquisition of 'Violin Mastery,' I am +tempted to think this catalogue will be a contribution +of real value.</p> + +<p>"As far as I know there does not at present +exist any guide or hand-book of violin literature +in which the fundamental question of +grading has been presented <i>au fond</i>. This is +not strange, since the task of compiling a really +valid and logically graded guide-book of violin +literature is one that offers great difficulties +from almost every point of view.</p> + +<p>"Yet I have found the work engrossing, because +the need of a book of the kind which +makes it easy for the teacher to bring his pupils +ahead more rapidly and intelligently by giving +him an oversight of the entire teaching-material +of the violin and under clear, practical +heads in detail order of progression is +making itself more urgently felt every day. In +classification (there are seven grades and a +preparatory grade), I have not chosen an +easier and conventional plan of <i>general</i> consideration +of difficulties; but have followed a +more systematic scheme, one more closely related +to the study of the instrument itself. +Thus, my 'Preparatory Grade' contains only +material which could be advantageously used +with children and beginners, those still struggling +with the simplest elementary problems—correct +drawing of the bow across the open +strings, in a certain rhythmic order, and the +first use of the fingers. And throughout the +grades are special sub-sections for special difficulties, +special technical and other problems. +In short, I cannot help but feel that I have +compiled a real guide, one with a definite educational +value, and not a catalogue, masquerading +as a violinistic Baedeker.</p> + + +<h4><br />VIOLIN EDITIONS "MADE IN AMERICA"</h4> + +<p>"One of the most significant features of the +violin guide I have mentioned is, perhaps, the +fact that its contents largely cover the whole +range of violin literature in American editions. +There was a time, years ago, when 'made in +Germany' was accepted as a certificate of editorial +excellence and mechanical perfection. +Those days have long since passed, and the +American edition has come into its own. It +has reached a point of development where it +is of far more practical and musically stimulating +value than any European edition. For +American editions of violin music do not take +so much for granted! They reflect in the highest +degree the needs of students and players +in smaller places throughout the country, and +where teachers are rare or non-existent they do +much to supply instruction by meticulous regard +for all detail of fingering, bowing, phrasing, +expression, by insisting in explanatory annotation +on the correct presentation of authoritative +teaching ideas and principles. In a +broader sense 'Violin Mastery' knows no nationality; +but yet we associate the famous artists +of the day with individual and distinctively +national trends of development and 'schools.' +In this connection I am convinced that one +result of this great war of world liberation we +have waged, one by-product of the triumph of +the democratic truth, will be a notably 'American' +ideal of 'Violin Mastery,' in the musical +as well as the technical sense. And in the +development of this ideal I do not think it is +too much to claim that American editions of +violin music, and those who are responsible for +them, will have done their part."</p> + +<p class="return"><a href="#contents">[TABLE OF CONTENTS]</a></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Violin Mastery, by Frederick H. 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