When asked for his definition of the term, Mr. Letz said: "There can be
no such thing as an _absolute_ mastery of the violin. Mastery is a
relative term. The artist is first of all more or less dependent on
circumstances which he cannot control--his mood, the weather, strings,
a thousand and one incidentals. And then, the nearer he gets to his
ideal, the more apt his ideal is to escape him. Yet, discounting all
objections, I should say that a master should be able to express
perfectly the composer's idea, reflected by his own sensitive soul.