" Mr. Kneisel went on in
answer to another question. "The first violin might be called the
chairman of the string meeting. His is the leading voice. Not that he
should be an autocrat, no, but he must hold the reins of discipline.
Many think that the four string players in a quartet have equal rights.
First of all, and above all, are the rights of the composer, Bach,
Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert,--as the case may be. But from the
standpoint of interpretation the first violin has some seventy per cent.
of the responsibility as compared with thirty per cent. for the
remaining voices. In all the famous quartet organizations, Joachim,
Hellmesberger, etc., the first violin has been the directing instrument
and has set the pace. As chairman it has been his duty to say when
second violin, viola and 'cello were entitled to hold the floor.
Hellmesberger, in fact, considered himself the _whole_ quartet." Mr.
Kneisel smiled and showed me a little book of Hellmesberger's Vienna
programs. Each program was headed:

HELLMESBERGER QUARTET

with the assistance of

MESSRS. MATH. DURST, CARL HEISSLER,
CARL SCHLESINGER

"In other words, Hellmesberger was the quartet himself, the other three
artists merely 'assisted,' which, after all, is going too far!

"Of course, quartets differ. Just as we have operas in which the alto
solo _role_ is the most important, so we have quartets in which the
'cello or the viola has a more significant part. Mozart dedicated
quartets to a King of Prussia, who played 'cello, and he was careful to
make the 'cello part the most important. And in Smetana's quartet _Aus
meinem Leben_, the viola plays a most important role. Even the second
violin often plays themes introducing principal themes of the first
violin, and it has its brief moments of prominence. Yet, though the
second violin or the 'cellist may be, comparatively speaking, a better
player than the first violin, the latter is and must be the leader.
Practically every composer of chamber music recognizes the fact in his
compositions. He, the first violin, should not command three slaves,
though; but guide three associates, and do it tactfully with regard to
their individuality and that of their instruments.

"ENSEMBLE" REHEARSING

"You ask what are the essentials of _ensemble_ practice on the part of
the artists? Real reverence, u