"And what a shining goal is waiting to be reached! The correct
interpretation of Bach, Haendel and the old Italian and French classics,
and of the vast realm of _ensemble_ music under which head come the
Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas, and those of their successors,
Schumann, Brahms, etc. And aside from the classics, the moderns. And
then there are the great violin concertos, in a class by themselves.
They represent, in a degree, the utmost that the composer has done for
the interpreting artist. Yet they differ absolutely in manner, style,
thought, etc. Take Joachim's own Hungarian concerto, which I played for
the composer, of which I still treasure the recollection of his patting
me on the shoulder and saying: 'There is nothing for me to correct!' It
is a work deliberately designed for technical display, and is
tremendously difficult. But the wonderful Brahms concerto, those of
Beethoven and Max Bruch; of Mozart and Mendelssohn--it is hard to
express a preference for works so different in the quality of their
beauty. The Russian Conus has a fine concerto in E, and Sinding a most
effective one in A major. Edmund Severn, the American composer and
violinist, has also written a notably fine violin concerto which I have
played, with the Philharmonic, one that ought to be heard oftener.