e of the greatest
artists, who studied in Vienna and Paris. Eddy Brown, the brilliant
American violinist, finished at the Budapest Conservatory. In the Paris
Conservatory the number of pupils in a class is strictly limited; and
from these pupils each professor chooses the very best--who may not be
able to pay for their course--for free instruction. At the Petrograd
Conservatory, where Wieniawski preceded me, there were hundreds of free
scholarships available. If a really big talent came along he always had
his opportunity. We took and taught those less talented at the
Conservatory in order to be able to give scholarships to the deserving
of limited means. In this way no real violinistic genius, whom poverty
might otherwise have kept from ever realizing his dreams, was deprived
of his chance in life. Among the pupils there in my class, having
scholarships, were Kathleen Parlow, Elman, Zimbalist, Heifetz and
Seidel.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Violin mastery? To me it represents the sum total of accomplishment on
the part of those who live in the history of the Art. All those who may
have died long since, yet the memory of whose work and whose creations
still lives, are the true masters of the violin, and its mastery is the
record of their accomplishment. As a child I remember the well-known
composers of the day were Marschner, Hiller, Nicolai and others--yet
most of what they have written has been forgotten. On the other hand
there are Tartini, Nardini, Paganini, Kreutzer, Dont and Rode--they
still live; and so do Ernst, Sarasate, Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski.
Joachim (incidentally the only great German violinist of whom I
know--and he was a Hungarian!), though he had but few great pupils, and
composed but little, will always be remembered because he, together with
David, gave violin virtuosity a nobler trend, and introduced a higher
ideal in the music played for violin. It is men such as these who always
will remain violin 'masters,' just as 'violin mastery' is defined by
what they have done."

THE BACH VIOLIN SONATAS AND OTHER COMPOSITIONS

Replying to a question as to the value of the Bach violin sonatas,
Professor Auer said: "My pupils always have to play Bach. I have
published my own revision of them with a New York house. The most
impressive thing about these Bach solo sonatas is they do not need an
accompaniment: one feels it would be superfluous. Bach composed so
rapidly, he