“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 genre—­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 La Fee d’Amour.  He was the first to play the violin concertos of Saint-Saens, 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.

STRADIVARIUS AND GUARNERIUS PLAYERS

“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.

“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