rue means for securing
warmth of expression. Of course, some decry the _vibrato_--but the
reason is often because the _vibrato_ is too slow. One need only listen
to Ysaye, Elman, Kreisler: artists such as these employ the quick,
intense _vibrato_ with ideal effect. An exaggerated _vibrato_ is as bad
as what I call 'the sentimental slide,' a common fault, which many
violinists cultivate under the impression that they are playing
expressively.

VIOLIN MASTERY AND ITS ATTAINMENT

"Violin mastery expresses more or less the aspiration to realize an
ideal. It is a hope, a prayer, rather than an actual fact, since nothing
human is absolutely perfect. Ysaye, perhaps, with his golden tone, comes
nearest to my idea of what violin mastery should be, both as regards
breadth and delicacy of interpretation. And guide-posts along the long
road that leads to mastery of the instrument? Individuality in teaching,
progress along natural lines, surety in bowing, a tone-production
without forcing, cultivating a sense of rhythm and accent. I always
remember what Moser once wrote in my autograph album: 'Rhythm and accent
are the soul of music!'

THE SHINING GOAL

"And what a shining goal is waiting to be reached! The correct
interpretation of Bach, Haendel and the old Italian and French classics,
and of the vast realm of _ensemble_ music under which head come the
Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas, and those of their successors,
Schumann, Brahms, etc. And aside from the classics, the moderns. And
then there are the great violin concertos, in a class by themselves.
They represent, in a degree, the utmost that the composer has done for
the interpreting artist. Yet they differ absolutely in manner, style,
thought, etc. Take Joachim's own Hungarian concerto, which I played for
the composer, of which I still treasure the recollection of his patting
me on the shoulder and saying: 'There is nothing for me to correct!' It
is a work deliberately designed for technical display, and is
tremendously difficult. But the wonderful Brahms concerto, those of
Beethoven and Max Bruch; of Mozart and Mendelssohn--it is hard to
express a preference for works so different in the quality of their
beauty. The Russian Conus has a fine concerto in E, and Sinding a most
effective one in A major. Edmund Severn, the American composer and
violinist, has also written a notably fine violin concerto which I have
played,