perfectly controlled instrument guided by the skill and intelligence of
the artist, to compel it to respond in movement to his every wish. The
artist must always be superior to his instrument, it must be his
servant, one that he can do with what he will.


TECHNICAL MASTERY AND TEMPERAMENT

"It appears to me that mastery of the technic of the violin is not so
much of a mechanical accomplishment as it is of mental nature. It may be
that scientists can tell us how through persistency the brain succeeds
in making the fingers and the arms produce results through the infinite
variety of inexplicable vibrations. The sweetness of tone, its
melodiousness, its _legatos_, octaves, trills and harmonics all bear
the mark of the individual who uses his strings like his vocal chords.
When an artist is working over his harmonics, he must not be impatient
and force purity, pitch, or the right intonation. He must coax the tone,
try it again and again, seek for improvements in his fingering as well
as in his bowing at the same time, and sometimes he may be surprised
how, quite suddenly, at the time when he least expects it, the result
has come. More than one road leads to Rome! The fact is that when you
get it, you have it, that's all! I am perfectly willing to disclose to
the musical profession all the secrets of the mastery of violin technic;
but are there any secrets in the sense that some of the uninitiated take
them? If an artist happens to excel in some particular, he is at once
suspected of knowing some secret means of so doing. However, that may
not be the case. He does it just because it is in him, and as a rule he
accomplishes this through his mental faculties more than through his
mechanical abilities. I do not intend to minimize the value of great
teachers who prove to be important factors in the life of a musician;