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, Dvorak*, 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 nuances of interpretation because they were his.  I know that when playing for him, if I came to a passage which demanded an especially beautiful legato rendering, he would say:  ‘Now show how you can sing!’ The exquisite legato 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!’

Transcriber’s note:  Original text read “Dvorak”.

FIDDLE AND STRINGS

“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.

VIOLIN MASTERY

“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!”

XX

EDMUND SEVERN

                      THE JOACHIM BOWING AND OTHERS: 
                              THE LEFT HAND