AN EXPLANATION BY MR. WINTERNITZ

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 Tambourin Chinois.[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.”

[Footnote 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 Tambourin Chinois.  Invariably I had to repeat that.”  A strong indorsement of the internationalism of Art by the actual fighter in the trenches.]

STYLE, INTERPRETATION AND THE ARTISTIC IDEAL

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.

X

FRANZ KNEISEL

THE PERFECT STRING ENSEMBLE