y all illustrate religious themes and
are the work of Herr Aus der Ohe, the pianist's only brother, who passed
away at the height of his career.

"Yes," said the composer, "my mother, brother and sister have been taken
away, since I was last in America, and now I am quite alone; but I have
my art."

XIX

ELEANOR SPENCER

MORE LIGHT ON LESCHETIZKY'S IDEAS

Eleanor Spencer, whose first American tour is announced for the coming
season, happened to be in Berlin during my visit there. I found her in
her charming apartments in the Schoenberg section of the city, far away
from the noise and bustle of traffic. Her windows look out upon a wide
inner court and garden, and she seems to have secured the quiet,
peaceful environment so essential to an artist's development. Indeed
Miss Spencer has solved the problems of how to keep house, with all the
comforts of an American home, in a great German city.

"I grew so tired of living in _pensions_ that I took this little
apartment over two years ago," she said, "and I like it so much better.

"I have been away from America for nine years, so the foreign cities
where I have lived seem almost more like home to me than my native land,
to which I have only paid two short visits during those nine years. But
I love America, and perhaps you can imagine how eagerly I am looking
forward to my coming tour.

"The first eight years of my life were spent in Chicago, and then my
family moved to New York. Here I studied with Dr. William Mason. When I
was about fifteen I went to Europe for further study, and although I had
another master at first, it was not so very long before I went to
Vienna, to Leschetizky, for I felt the need of more thorough preparation
than I had yet had. There is nothing like a firm technical foundation;
it is a rock to build upon; one cannot do great things without it. I
have had to labor hard for what I have attained, and am not ashamed to
say so. I practise 'all my spare time,' as one of my colleagues
expresses it; though, of course, if one studies with the necessary
concentration one cannot practise more than five hours to advantage.

[Illustration: To Miss Brower in appreciation and pleasant remembrance
of our Berlin meeting ...ELEANOR SPENCER]

"I thoroughly believe in practising technic outside of pieces; I have
always done so and still continue to do it. This brings the hand into
condition, and keeps it up to the mark, so that difficult compositions