because the latter played so many wrong
notes. 'Ah, Madame,' answered Plante, 'I would rather be able to play
Rubinstein's wrong notes than all my own correct ones.' A violinist's
natural manner of playing is the one he should cultivate; since it is
individual, it really represents him. And a teacher or a colleague of
greater fame does him no kindness if he encourages him to distrust his
own powers by too good naturedly 'showing' him how to do this, that or
the other. I mean, when the student can work out his problem himself at
the expense of a little initiative.

"When I was younger I once had to play Bach's G minor fugue at a concert
in Brussels. I was living at Ysaye's home, and since I had never played
the composition in public before, I began to worry about its
interpretation. So I asked Ysaye (thinking he would simply show me),
'How ought I to play this fugue?' The Master reflected a moment and then
dashed my hopes by answering: _'Tu m'embetes!'_ (You bore me!) 'This
fugue should be played well, that's all!' At first I was angry, but
thinking it over, I realized that if he had shown me, I would have
played it just as he did; while what he wanted me to do was to work out
my own version, and depend on my own initiative--which I did, for I had
no choice. It is by means of concentration on the higher, the
interpretative phases of one's Art that the technical side takes its
proper, secondary place. Technic does not exist for me in the sense of a
certain quantity of mechanical work which I must do. I find it out of
the question to do absolutely mechanical technical work of any length of
time. In realizing the three essentials of good violin playing which I
have already mentioned, Ysaye and Sarasate are my ideals.

SARASATE

"All really good violinists are good artists. Sarasate, whom I knew so
intimately and remember so well, was a pupil of Alard (my father's
teacher). He literally sang on the violin, like a nightingale. His
purity of intonation was remarkable; and his technical facility was the
most extraordinary that I have ever seen. He handled his bow with
unbelievable skill. And when he played, the unassuming grace of his
movements won the hearts of his audiences and increased the enthusiasm
awakened by his tremendous talent.

"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