Violin Mastery | Page 8

After I had already appeared in concert at Albert Hall, London, in 1909,
where I played the Beethoven Concerto with orchestra, I decided to
study with Auer. When I first came to him he wanted to know why I
did so, and after hearing me play, told me that I did not need any
lessons from him. But I knew that there was a certain 'something' which
I wished to add to my violinistic make-up, and instinctively felt that he
alone could give me what I wanted. I soon found that in many
essentials his ideas coincided with those of Hubay. But I also
discovered that Auer made me develop my individuality unconsciously,
placing no undue restrictions whatsoever upon my manner of
expression, barring, of course, unmusicianly tendencies. When he has a
really talented pupil the Professor gives him of his best. I never gave a
thought to technic while I studied with him--the great things were a
singing tone, bowing, interpretation! I studied Brahms and Beethoven,
and though Hubay always finished with the Bach sonatas, I studied

them again carefully with Auer.
TECHNIC: SOME HINTS TO THE STUDENT
"At the bottom of all technic lies the scale. And scale practice is the
ladder by means of which all must climb to higher proficiency. Scales,
in single tones and intervals, thirds, sixths, octaves, tenths, with the
incidental changes of position, are the foundation of technic. They
should be practiced slowly, always with the development of tone in
mind, and not too long a time at any one session. No one can lay claim
to a perfected technic who has not mastered the scale. Better a good
tone, even though a hundred mistakes be made in producing it, than a
tone that is poor, thin and without quality. I find the Singer
_Fingerübungen_ are excellent for muscular development in scale work,
for imparting the great strength which is necessary for the fingers to
have; and the Kreutzer _études_ are indispensable. To secure an
absolute legato tone, a true singing tone on the violin, one should play
scales with a perfectly well sustained and steady bow, in whole notes,
slowly and _mezzo-forte_, taking care that each note is clear and pure,
and that its volume does not vary during the stroke. The quality of tone
must be equalized, and each whole note should be 'sung' with a single
bowing. The change from up-bow to down-bow and vice versa should
be made without a break, exclusively through skillful manipulation of
the wrist. To accomplish this unbroken change of bow one should
cultivate a loose wrist, and do special work at the extreme ends, nut and
tip.
"The vibrato is a great tone beautifier. Too rapid or too slow a vibrato
defeats the object desired. There is a happy medium of _tempo_, rather
faster than slower, which gives the best results. Carl Flesch has some
interesting theories about vibration which are worth investigating. A
slow and a moderately rapid _vibrato, from the wrist_, is best for
practice, and the underlying idea while working must be tone, and not
fingerwork.
Staccato is one of the less important branches of bow technic. There is
a knack in doing it, and it is purely pyrotechnical. Staccato passages in
quantity are only to be found in solos of the virtuoso type. One never
meets with extended staccato passages in Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch or
Lalo. And the Saint-Saëns's violin concerto, if I remember rightly,
contains but a single staccato passage.

"Spiccato is a very different matter from _staccato_: violinists as a rule
use the middle of the bow for _spiccato_: I use the upper third of the
bow, and thus get most satisfactory results, in no matter what tempo.
This question as to what portion of the bow to use for spiccato each
violinist must decide for himself, however, through experiment. I have
tried both ways and find that by the last mentioned use of the bow I
secure quicker, cleaner results. Students while practicing this bowing
should take care that the wrist, and never the arm, be used. Hubay has
written some very excellent studies for this form of 'springing bow.'
"The trill, when it rolls quickly and evenly, is a trill indeed! I never had
any difficulty in acquiring it, and can keep on trilling indefinitely
without the slightest unevenness or slackening of speed. Auer himself
has assured me that I have a trill that runs on and on without a sign of
fatigue or uncertainty. The trill has to be practiced very slowly at first,
later with increasing rapidity, and always with a firm pressure of the
fingers. It is a very beautiful embellishment, and one much used; one
finds it in Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, etc.
"Double notes never seemed hard to me, but harmonics are not as