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 martele 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.

“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 interrupted types of bowing (grand detache, martele, staccato) have been carefully studied, the continuous types (detache, legato and spiccato) are then taken up, and in part the same studies again used:  2, 7, 8.  Lastly the slurred legato comes under consideration (Studies 9, 11, 14, 22, 27, 29).  Shifting, extension and string crossing have all been previously considered, and hence the legato should be allowed to take its even course.

“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 musical 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.

SOME OF MR. SPIERING’S OWN STUDY SOUVENIRS

“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 Hochschule, 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.