VIII
DAVID HOCHSTEIN
THE VIOLIN AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSION
AND EXPRESSIVE PLAYING
The writer talked with Lieutenant David
Hochstein, whose death in the battle of the Argonne
Forest was only reported toward the
end of January, while the distinguished young
violinist, then only a sergeant, was on the eve
of departure to France with his regiment and,
as he modestly said, his "thoughts on music
were rather scattered." Yet he spoke with keen
insight and authority on various phases of his
art, and much of what he said gains point from
his own splendid work as a concert violinist;
for Lieutenant Hochstein (whose standing has
been established in numerous European as
well as American recitals) could play what he
preached.
SEVČIK AND AUER: A CONTRAST IN TEACHING
Knowing that in the regimental band he was,
quite appropriately, a clarinetist, "the clarinet
in the military band being the equivalent of the
violin in the orchestra"—and a scholarship pupil
of the Vienna Meisterschule, it seemed
natural to ask him concerning his teachers.
And the interesting fact developed that he had
studied with the celebrated Bohemian pedagog
Sevčik and with Leopold Auer as well, two
teachers whose ideas and methods differ materially.
"I studied with Sevčik for two years,"
said the young violinist. "It was in 1909,
when a class of ten pupils was formed
for him in the Meisterschule, at Vienna, that
I went to him. Sevčik was in many ways a
wonderful teacher, yet inclined to overemphasize
the mechanical side of the art. He literally
taught his pupils how to practice, how to develop
technical control by the most slow and
painstaking study. In addition to his own fine
method and exercises, he also used Gavinies,
Dont, Rode, Kreutzer, applying in their
studies ideas of his own.
"Auer as a teacher I found altogether different.
Where Sevčik taught his pupils the
technic of their art by means of a system
elaborately worked out, Auer demonstrated
his ideas through sheer personality, mainly
from the interpretative point of view. Any
ambitious student could learn much of value
from either; yet in a general way one might
express the difference between them by saying
that Sevčik could take a pupil of medium talent
and—at least from the mechanical standpoint—make
an excellent violinist of him. But Auer
is an ideal teacher for the greatly gifted. And
he is especially skilled in taking some student
of the violin while his mind is still plastic and
susceptible and molding it—supplying it
with lofty concepts of interpretation and expression.
Of course Auer (I studied with him
in Petrograd and Dresden) has been especially
fortunate as regards his pupils, too, because
active in a land like Russia, where
musical genius has almost become a commonplace.
"Sevčik, though an admirable teacher, personally
is of a reserved and reflective type,
quite different from Auer, who is open and
expansive. I might recall a little instance
which shows Sevčik's cautious nature, the care
he takes not to commit himself too unreservedly.
When I took leave of him—it was
after I had graduated and won my prize—I
naturally (like all his pupils) asked him for
his photo. Several other pupils of his were in
the room at the time. He took up his pen (I
was looking over his shoulder), commenced to
write Meinem best.... And then he stopped,
glanced at the other pupils in the room, and
wrote over the best ... he had already written,
the word liebsten. But though I would, of
course, have preferred the first inscription,
had Sevčik completed it, I can still console
myself that the other, even though I value it,
was an afterthought. But it was a characteristic
thing for him to do!
THE VIOLIN AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSION
"What is my idea of the violin as a medium
of expression? It seems to me that it is that
of any other valid artistic medium. It is not
so much a question of the violin as of the violinist.
A great interpreter reveals his inner-most
soul through his instrument, whatever it
may be. Most people think the violin is more
expressive than any other instrument, but this
is open to question. It may be that most people
respond more readily to the appeal made
by the violin. But genuine expression, expressive
playing, depends on the message the
player has to deliver far more than on the instrument
he uses as a means. I have been as
much moved by some piano playing I have
heard as by the violin playing of some of the
greatest violinists.
"And variety, nuance in expressive playing,
is largely a matter of the player's mental attitude.
Bach's Chaconne or Sicilienne calls for
a certain humility on the part of the artist.
When I play Bach I do it reverentially; a
definite spiritual quality in my tone and expression
is the result. And to select a composer
who in many ways is Bach's exact opposite,
Wieniawski, a certain audacious brilliancy
cannot help but make itself felt tonally,
if this music is to be played in character. The
mental and spiritual attitude directly influences
its own mechanical transmission. No one
artist should criticize another for differences
in interpretation, in expression, so long as they
are justified by larger concepts of art. Individuality
is one of the artist's most precious
possessions, and there are always a number of
different angles from which the interpretation
of an art work may be approached.
VIOLIN MASTERY
"Violin mastery? There have been only
three violinists within my own recollection,
whom I would call masters of the violin. These
are Kubelik (when at his best), Franz von
Vecsey, Hubay's pupil, whom I heard abroad,
and Heifetz, with his cameo-like perfection
of technic. These I would call masters of the
violin, as an instrument, since they have mastered
every intricacy of the instrument. But
I could name several others who are greater
musicians, and whose playing and interpretation,
to say nothing of tone, I prefer.
TONE PRODUCTION: RHYTHM
"In one sense true violin mastery is a question
of tone production and rhythm. And I
believe that tone production depends principally
upon the imaginative ear of the player.
This statement may seem somewhat ambiguous,
and one might ask, 'What is an imaginative
ear?' My ear, for instance, demands of
my violin a certain quality of tone, which varies
according to the music I am playing. But before
I think of playing the music, I already
know from reading it what I want it to sound
like: that is to say, the quality of the tone I
wish to secure in each principal phrase.
Rhythm is perhaps the greatest factor in interpretation.
Every good musician has a 'good
sense of rhythm' (that much abused phrase).
But it is only the great musician who makes
so striking and individual an application of
rhythm that his playing may be easily distinguished
by his use of it.
"There is not much to tell you as regards my
method of work. I usually work directly upon
a program which has been previously mapped
out. If I have been away from my violin for
more than a week or two I begin by practicing
scales, but ordinarily I find my technical work
in the programs I am preparing."
Asked about his band experiences at Camp
Upton, Sergeant Hochstein was enthusiastic.
"No violinist could help but gain much from
work with a military band at one of the
camps," he said. "For instance, I had a more
or less theoretical knowledge of wind instruments
before I went to Camp Upton. Now
I have a practical working knowledge of them.
I have already scored a little violin composition
of mine, a 'Minuet in Olden Style' for
full band, and have found it possible by the
right manipulation to preserve its original
dainty and graceful character, in spite of the
fact that it is played by more than forty military
bandsmen.
"Then, too," he said in conclusion, "I have
organized a real orchestra of twenty-one players,
strings, brass, wood-wind, etc., which I
hope is going to be of real use on the other
side during our training period in France.
You see, 'over there' the soldier boys' chances
for leave are limited and we will have to depend
a good deal on our own selves for amusement
and recreation. I hope and believe my
orchestra is not only going to take its place as
one of the most enjoyable features of our army
life; but also that it will make propaganda of
the right sort for the best music in a broad,
catholic sense of the word!"
It is interesting to know that this patriotic
young officer found opportunities in camp and
in the towns of France of carrying out his wish
to "make propaganda of the right sort for the
best music" before he gave his life to further
the greater purpose which had called him overseas.
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