feel the rhythm of the music, the swing of it, the spirit of it.
In giving out the opening theme or subject, I feel it should be made
prominent, to arrest attention, to make it clear to the listener; when
it appears at other times in the piece, it can be softened or varied.
Variety of effect we must have; but whether a passage is played with
decreasing or increasing tone, whether this run is soft and the next
loud, or vice versa, does not matter so much as to secure variety and
individuality. I may look at it one way, another player an opposite way.
One should be broad-minded enough to see the beauty of each
interpretation. I do not expect my pupils to copy me or do things just
as I do them. I show them how I do it, then leave them to work it out
as they see it.

"_Pianissimo_ is one of the later things to teach. A beginner should not
attempt it too soon, for then it will only result in flabbiness. A true
_pianissimo_ is not the result of weakness but of strength.

MUSICAL CONDITIONS IN AMERICA

"America has made marvelous progress in the understanding and
appreciation of music; even the critics, many of them, know a great deal
about music. The audiences, even in small towns, are a pleasure and
delight to play to. I am asked sometimes why I attempt the last sonata
of Beethoven in a little town. But just such audiences listen to that
work with rapt attention; they hang on every note. How are they to learn
what is best in music unless we are willing to give it to them?

"The trouble with America is that it does not at all realize how much it
knows--how much talent is here. We are so easily tricked with a foreign
name and title; our serious and talented musicians are constantly being
pushed to the wall by some unknown with a name ending in _ski_. These
are the people who tour America (for one season at least), who get the
best places in our music schools and colleges, crowding out our native
musicians. It makes me very bitter against this utterly mistaken and
fallacious idea of ours. I have many talented students, who come to me
from all over the country. Some of them become most excellent concert
artists. If I recommend them to managers or institutions, should not my
word count for something? Ought I not to know what my students can do,
and what is required of a concert artist? But instead of their securing
an engagement, with such a recommendation, a foreigner with the
high-sounding name is the one invariably chosen