it can
_feel_. I know very well that when my chance came to sing _Shanewis_, if
I had not been able to do it, no amount of influence would have helped
the situation. I had it in my own hand to make or mar my career. I often
wonder whether audiences really know anything about what you are trying
to do; whether they have any conception of what is right in singing, or
whether they are merely swayed by the temperament of the singer.

"Whether we are, or are not to be a musical nation should be a question
of deep interest to all music lovers. If we really become a great
musical people, it will be largely due to the work of the records. We
certainly have wonderful advantages here, and are doing a tremendous lot
for music.

"I had an interesting experience recently. It was in a little town in
North Carolina, where a song recital had never before been given. Can
you fancy a place where there had never even been a concert? The people
in this little town were busy producing tobacco and had never turned
their thought toward music. In the face of the coming concert what did
those people do? They got a program, studied what pieces I had sung on
the Victor, got the music of the others; so they had a pretty good idea
of what I was going to sing. When I stepped on the platform that night
and saw the little upright piano (no other instrument could be secured)
and looked into those eager faces, I wondered how they would receive my
work. My first number was an aria from _Orfeo_. When I finished, the
demonstration was so deafening I had to wait minutes before I could go
on. And so it continued all the evening.

"How do I work? Very hard, at least six hours a day. Of these I actually
sing perhaps three hours. I begin at nine and give the first hour to
memory work on repertoire. I give very thorough study to my programs;
for I must know every note in them, both for voice and piano. I make it
a point to know the accompaniments, for in case I am ever left without
an accompanist, I can play for myself, and it has a great effect on
audiences. They may not know or care whether you can play Beethoven or
Chopin, but the fact that you can play while you sing, greatly impresses
them.

"In committing a song, I play it over and sing it sufficiently to get a
good idea of its construction and meaning; then I work in detail,
learning words and music at the same time, usually. Certain things are
very difficult for me, things requiring absolute evenness