"How do I regard technic now? I think of it in the terms of the music
itself. Music should dictate the technical means to be used. The
composition and its phrases should determine bowing and the tone quality
employed. One should not think of down-bows or up-bows. In the Brahms
concerto you can find many long phrases: they cannot be played with one
bow; yet there must be no apparent change of bow. If the player does not
know what the phrase means; how to interpret it, how will he be able to
bow it correctly?
"And there are so many different _nuances_, especially in _legato_. It
is as a rule produced by a slurred bow; yet it may also be produced by
other bowings. To secure a good _legato_ tone watch the singer. The
singer can establish the perfect smoothness that _legato_ calls for to
perfection. To secure a like effect the violinist should convey the
impression that there is no point, no frog, that the bow he uses is of
indefinite length. And the violinist should never think: 'I must play
this up-bow or down-bow.' Artists of the German school are more apt to
begin a phrase with a down-bow; the French start playing a good deal at
the point. Up or down, both are secondary to finding out, first of all,
what quality, what balance of tone the phrase demands. The conductor of
a symphonic orchestra does not care how, technically, certain effects
are produced by the violins, whether they use an up-bow or a down-bow.
He merely says: 'That's too heavy: give me less tone!' The result to be
achieved is always more important than the manner of achievement.
"All phases of technical accomplishment, if rightly acquired, tend to
become second nature to the player in the course of time: _staccato_, a
brilliant trick; _spiccato_, the reiteration of notes played from the
wrist, etc. The _martellato_, a _nuance_ of _spiccato_, should be played
with a firm bowing at the point. In a very broad _spiccato_, the arm
may be brought into play; but otherwise not, since it makes rapid
playing impossible. Too many amateurs try to play _spiccato_ from the
arm. And too many teachers are contented with a trill that is merely
brilliant. Kneisel insists on what he calls a 'musical trill,' of which
Kreisler's beautiful trill is a perfect example. The trill of some
violinists is _invariably_ brilliant, whether brilliancy is appropriate
or not. Brilliant trills in Bach always seem out of place to me; while
in Paganini and in Wieniawski's _Carnaval de Venise_ a high brilliant
trill is very effective.
"As to double-stops--Edison once said that violin music should be
written only in double-stops--I practice them playing first the single
notes and then the two together, and can recommend this mode of practice
from personal experience. Harmonics, where clarity is the most important
thing, are mainly a matter of bowing, of a sure attack and sustaining by
the bow. Of course the harmonics themselves are made by the fingers; but
their tone quality rests altogether with the bow.