"It may interest you to know," Mr. Spiering said in reply to a question,
"that I began my teaching career in Chicago immediately following my
four years with Joachim in Berlin. It was natural that I should first
commit myself to the pedagogic methods of the _Hochschule_, which to a
great extent, however, I discarded as my own views crystallized. I found
that too much emphasis allotted the wrist stroke (a misnomer, by the
way), was bound to result in too academic a style. By transferring
primary importance to the control of the full arm-stroke--with the
hand-stroke incidentally completing the control--I felt that I was
better able to reflect the larger interpretative ideals which my years
of musical development were creating for me. Chamber music--a youthful
passion--led me to interest myself in symphonic work and conducting.
These activities not only reacted favorably on my solo playing, but
influenced my development as regards the broader, more dramatic style,
the grand manner in interpretation. It is this realization that places
me in a position to earnestly advise the ambitious student not to
disregard the great artistic benefits to be derived from the cultivation
of chamber music and symphonic playing.
"I might call my teaching ideals a combination of those of the
Franco-Belgian and German schools. To the former I attribute my
preference for the large sweep of the bow-arm, its style and tonal
superiority; to the latter, vigor of interpretation and attention to
musical detail.