oses, ought in six months to work
wonders. Rowing a boat is good to develop wrists for octave playing.

"You ask if I can tell how I obtain power. That is a very difficult
question. Why does one child learn to swim almost immediately, while
another cannot master it for a long time? To the first it comes
naturally--he has the _knack_, so to speak. And it is just so with the
quality of power at the piano. It certainly is not due to physique, nor
to brute strength, else only the athlete would have sufficient power.
No, it is the 'knack,' or rather it is the result of relaxation, as you
suggest.

"Take the subject of velocity. I never work for that special thing as
some do. I seldom practise with great velocity, for it interferes with
clearness. I prefer to play more slowly, giving the greatest attention
to clearness and good tone. By pursuing this course I find that when I
need velocity I have it.

"I am no pedagogue and have no desire to be one. I have no time for
teaching; my own studies and concert work fill all my days. I do not
think that one can both teach and play successfully. If I were teaching
I should no doubt acquire the habit of analyzing and criticizing the
work of others; of explaining and showing just how a thing should be
done. But I am not a critic nor a teacher, so I do not always know how I
produce effects. I play 'as the bird sings,' to quote an old German
song.

MODERN PIANO MUSIC

"Your MacDowell has written some nice music, some pretty music; I am
familiar with his Concerto in D minor, some of the short pieces and the
Sonatas. As for modern piano concertos there are not many, it is quite
true. There is the Rachmaninoff, the MacDowell I mentioned, the D minor
of Rubinstein, and the Saint-Saens in G minor. There is also a Concerto
by Neitzel, which is a most interesting work; I do not recall that it
has been played in America. I have played it on the other side, and I
may bring it out here during my present tour. This Concerto is a fine
work, into which the author has put his best thought, feeling and
power."

A BRAHMS CONCERTO

As I listened to the eloquent reading of the Brahms second Concerto,
which Mr. Bachaus gave soon afterward with the New York Symphony, I was
reminded of a memorable event which occurred during my student days in
Berlin. It was a special concert, at which the honored guest and soloist
was the great Brahms himself. Von Buelow conducted the orchestra, and
Brahms pla