music suits me, I think; at least I enjoy it. Even
here I still clung to my ideas of holding my hands and of touching the
keys, and always expect to do so.

"I remained with this professor about six years and then began my public
career.

"You ask about my present studies, and how I regulate my practise.
During my periods of rest from concert work, I practise a great deal--I
wish I could say all the time, but that is not quite possible. I give an
hour or more a day to technical practise. As to the material, I use
Chopin's Etudes constantly, playing them with high-raised, outstretched
fingers, in very slow tempo. One finds almost every technical problem
illustrated in these etudes; octaves, arpeggios, scales in double thirds
and sixths, repeated notes, as in number 7, broken chords and passage
work. I keep all these etudes in daily practise, also using some of the
Liszt _Etudes Transcendantes_, and, of course, Bach. The advantage of
using this sort of material is that one never tires of it; it is always
interesting and beautiful. With this material well in hand, I am always
ready for recital, and need only to add special pieces and modern music.

"In learning a new work I first study it very slowly, trying to become
familiar with its meaning. I form my concept of it and _live_ with it
for months before I care to bring it forward. I try to form an ideal
conception of the piece, work this out in every detail, then always
endeavor to render it as closely like the ideal as possible."

VII

ETHEL LEGINSKA

RELAXATION THE KEYNOTE OF MODERN PIANO PLAYING

The brilliant young pianist, Ethel Leginska, who is located for a time
in America, was seen in her Carnegie Hall studio, on her return from a
concert tour. The young English girl is a petite brunette; her face is
very expressive, her manner at once vivacious and serious. The firm
muscles of her fine, shapely hands indicate that she must spend many
hours daily at the keyboard.

"Yes, I have played a great deal in public--all my life, in fact--ever
since I was six. I began my musical studies at Hull, where we lived; my
first teacher was a pupil of McFarren. Later I was taken to London,
where some rich people did a great deal for me. Afterward I went to
Leschetizky, and was with him several years, until I was sixteen; I also
studied in Berlin. Then I began my career, and concertized all over
Europe; now I am in America for a time. I like it here; I am fond of
y