essive playing, is largely a matter of the
player's mental attitude. Bach's _Chaconne_ or _Sicilienne_ calls for a
certain humility on the part of the artist. When I play Bach I do it
reverentially; a definite spiritual quality in my tone and expression is
the result. And to select a composer who in many ways is Bach's exact
opposite, Wieniawski, a certain audacious brilliancy cannot help but
make itself felt tonally, if this music is to be played in character.
The mental and spiritual attitude directly influences its own mechanical
transmission. No one artist should criticize another for differences in
interpretation, in expression, so long as they are justified by larger
concepts of art. Individuality is one of the artist's most precious
possessions, and there are always a number of different angles from
which the interpretation of an art work may be approached.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Violin mastery? There have been only three violinists within my own
recollection, whom I would call masters of the violin. These are
Kubelik (when at his best), Franz von Vecsey, Hubay's pupil, whom I
heard abroad, and Heifetz, with his cameo-like perfection of technic.
These I would call masters of the violin, as an instrument, since they
have mastered every intricacy of the instrument. But I could name
several others who are greater musicians, and whose playing and
interpretation, to say nothing of tone, I prefer.

TONE PRODUCTION: RHYTHM

"In one sense true violin mastery is a question of tone production and
rhythm. And I believe that tone production depends principally upon the
imaginative ear of the player. This statement may seem somewhat
ambiguous, and one might ask, 'What is an imaginative ear?' My ear, for
instance, demands of my violin a certain quality of tone, which varies
according to the music I am playing. But before I think of playing the
music, I already know from reading it what I want it to sound like: that
is to say, the quality of the tone I wish to secure in each principal
phrase. Rhythm is perhaps the greatest factor in interpretation. Every
good musician has a 'good sense of rhythm' (that much abused phrase).
But it is only the _great_ musician who makes so striking and
individual an application of rhythm that his playing may be easily
distinguished by his use of it.

"There is not much to tell you as regards my method of work. I usually
work directly upon a p