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Scan 28
The violinist, 1903
33 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1Another View of Kocian
2By Edith Lynwood Winn
4Another of the pupils of Sevcik, the Prague violinist and teacher, has appeared among us. After we had pronounced Kubelik a technician, a prodigy without great depth of feeling and with a one-sided development—the result of too much study of the mere mechanism of violin playing—it would seem that Kocian would have despaired of a warm welcome from us. He came, cheered by certain laurels which Kubelik had won and by the promise of a good number of American gold pieces.
6Now Kocian is a delicate, refined young man, with a modest manner and a poetic face. It seemed almost a pity to refuse him reasonable support, but at his first concert in Boston he drew only a small audience, many of whom left the hall before he had finished his program.
8The Beethoven Sonata, opus 30, No. 2, is one of the most interesting, though perhaps not one of the most beautiful, of the sonatas played by virtuosi. This one and the one which follows it are dedicated to the Emperor Alexander III. Probably the famous Kreutzer sonata (opus 47) is more often played by great artists than any other. Kocian did not play the first movement—allegro con brio—at the usual tempo. His technique is not ample. He rouses you to no fine point of enthusiasm. I expected to find him a tone-colorist, but he disappointed me in that he does not paint the picture strongly.
10If the first movement of the sonata was a disappointment the adagio was a greater one. Kocian has been well advertised. In spite of fine foreign verdicts on his playing, his power of expression is not greater than that of Kubelik, who makes no claim to anything but a large technique, and his tone does not compare with that of Kubelik, while his technique is far in the rear of that of his classmate at Prague. Kocian is not even sentimental. He paints no pictures. His attitude toward you is negative rather than positive.
12Assume that the young violinist is too young to play Beethoven at nineteen, others have played the Beethoven sonatas well at that age. Joachim was able to play Bach and Beethoven as well at fourteen years of age as within the past six or seven years, in fact he gave to the classics a mature interpretation long before he was twenty years of age.
14Last year, after hearing Kubelik play a Beethoven romance, I ventured to ask him, having been invited to the "green room" after the concert, if he enjoyed playing Beethoven.
16"Yes," he replied, very politely, with about as much enthusiasm as I expected to see—that is to say with a slight indifference, Kubelik delights in "fireworks." Beethoven does not appeal to one who thirsts for renown as a Paganini player.
18Kocian does not play Paganini as well as Kubelik. "Il papite" did not arouse the audience to a fine frenzy. More than once last year Kubelik's clever fingers and still more clever bow awoke a deserving "bravo" from his audience, as he played some composition of Paganini.
20Last year both Kubelik and Kreisler catered too much to a popular taste for salon pieces. It requires a great artist to fill Symphony Hall with the tones of his violin. Salon pieces are not suitable there. It is only when playing concertos with orchestra that our best artists are able to demonstrate their command of a fine tone in Symphony Hall, and even then, to the listener in the first balcony, there are many fine effects which are dulled by distance.
22Kocian is really a great player. Both he and Kubelik have come out of a school in which technique is made the great aim of violin study and development. The man who gives up all for the sake of acquiring a large technique loses something of the broader culture of a true artist. I knew a young virtuoso in Berlin who had played everything at eighteen years of age. His friends and teachers knew that he would never become a great artist. He knew nothing of books, of travel, nor of people. He could not keep his own accounts, nor could he add a column of figures quickly and correctly. Neither Kubelik nor Kocian have been broadly educated. It will be a drawback to their future work as artists.
24I have examined the works of Sevcik. Some of the books are practical but the majority are tedious. One who has an extraordinary capacity for hard work, and who has a very fine physique, might actually accomplish Sevcik's plan of study.
26TRINITY COURT, BOSTON, MASS.
28Violin Making as it Was and Is
30Have you noticed that we are offering E. Heron Allen's "Violin Making as it Was and Is" for two dollars? This is the standard book on the subject, studied by all violin makers, and has two hundred illustrations and working models. For years the price has been three dollars, and still has had a very large sale.
32Practice makes the technician; learning makes the musician. Study the literature of music just as you would that of any other subject. Read the books and understand what art is.
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