dagogic 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.

"I might call my teaching ideals a combination of those of the
Franco-Belgian and German schools. To the former I attribute my
preference for the large sweep of the bow-arm, its style and tonal
superiority; to the latter, vigor of interpretation and attention to
musical detail.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"How do I define 'Violin Mastery'? The violinist who has succeeded in
eliminating all superfluous tension or physical resistance, whose mental
control is such that the technic of the left hand and right arm has
become coordinate, thus forming a perfect mechanism not working at
cross-purposes; who, furthermore, is so well poised that he never
oversteps the boundaries of good taste in his interpretations, though
vitally alive to the human element; who, finally, has so broad an
outlook on life and Art that he is able to reveal the transcendent
spirit characterizing the works of the great masters--such a violinist
has truly attained mastery!"

XXIII

JACQUES THIBAUD

THE IDEAL PROGRAM

Jacques Thibaud, whose gifts as an interpreting artist have brought him
so many friends and admirers in the United States, is the foremost
representative of the modern French school of violin-playing. And as
such he has held his own ever since, at the age of twenty, he resigned
his rank as concert-master of the Colonne orchestra, to dedicate his