with the Philharmonic, one that ought to be heard oftener.

PLAYING BACH

"Bach is one of the most difficult of the great masters to interpret on
the violin. His polyphonic style and interweaving themes demand close
study in order to make the meaning clear. In the Bach _Chaconne_, for
instance, some very great violinists do not pay enough attention to
making a distinction between principal and secondary notes of a chord.
Here [Mr. Pilzer took up a new Strad he has recently acquired and
illustrated his meaning] in this four-note chord there is one important
melody note which must stand out. And it can be done, though not without
some study. Bach abounds in such pitfalls, and in studying him the
closest attention is necessary. Once the problems involved overcome, his
music gains its true clarity and beauty and the enjoyment of artist and
listener is doubled.

XVI

MAUD POWELL

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: SOME HINTS
FOR THE CONCERT PLAYER

Maud Powell is often alluded to as our representative "American _woman_
violinist" which, while true in a narrower sense, is not altogether just
in a broader way. It would be decidedly more fair to consider her a
representative American violinist, without stressing the term "woman";
for as regards Art in its higher sense, the artist comes first, sex
being incidental, and Maud Powell is first and foremost--an artist. And
her infinite capacity for taking pains, her willingness to work hard
have had no small part in the position she has made for herself, and the
success she has achieved.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCERT VIOLINIST

"Too many Americans who take up the violin professionally," Maud Powell
told the writer, "do not realize that the mastery of the instrument is
a life study, that without hard, concentrated work they cannot reach the
higher levels of their art. Then, too, they are too often inclined to
think that if they have a good tone and technic that this is all they
need. They forget that the musical instinct must be cultivated; they do
not attach enough importance to musical surroundings: to hearing and
understanding music of every kind, not only that written for the violin.
They do not realize the value of _ensemble_ work and its influence as an
educational factor of the greatest artistic value. I remember