as I have heard Sarasate play, did I ever hear him play a wrong
note, one not in perfect pitch. His Spanish things he played like a god!
And he had a wonderful gift of phrasing which gave a charm hard to
define to whatever he played. And playing in quartet--the greatest solo
violinist does not always shine in this _genre_--he was admirable.
Though he played all the standard repertory, Bach, Beethoven, etc., I
can never forget his exquisite rendering of modern works, especially of
a little composition by Raff, called _La Fee d'Amour_. He was the first
to play the violin concertos of Saint-Saens, Lalo and Max Bruch. They
were all written for him, and I doubt whether they would have been
composed had not Sarasate been there to play them. Of course, in his own
Spanish music he was unexcelled--a whole school of violin playing was
born and died with him! He had a hobby for collecting canes. He had
hundreds of them of all kinds, and every sovereign in Europe had
contributed to his collection. I know Queen Christina of Spain gave him
no less than twenty. He once gave me a couple of his canes, a great sign
of favor with him. I have often played quartet with Sarasate, for he
adored quartet playing, and these occasions are among my treasured
memories.

STRADIVARIUS AND GUARNERIUS PLAYERS

"My violin? It is a Stradivarius--the same which once belonged to the
celebrated Baillot. I think it is good for a violin to rest, so during
the three months when I am not playing in concert, I send my
Stradivarius away to the instrument maker's, and only take it out about
a month before I begin to play again in public. What do I use in the
meantime? Caressa, the best violin maker in Paris, made me an exact copy
of my own Strad, exact in every little detail. It is so good that
sometimes, when circumstances compelled me to, I have used it in
concert, though it lacks the tone-quality of the original. This
under-study violin I can use for practice, and when I go back to the
original, as far as the handling of the instrument is concerned, I never
know the difference.

"But I do not think that every one plays to the best advantage on a
Strad. I'm a believer in the theory that there are natural Guarnerius
players and natural Stradivarius players; that certain artists do their
best with the one, and certain others with the other. And I also believe
that any one who is 'equally' good in both, is great on neither. The
reason I belie