Walker-My_Musical_Ex.. - Walter Cosand

HENSELT 173
he meant by legato and ' binding '; and one may
perhaps ask whether I was much surprised—whether
my consternation was not great on hearing something
which I was utterly unable to follow ' even afar off.'
Ajid I reply that my surprise, my consternation—if
you will have it more strongly, my despair—did not
come until I had been for some time under the
Meister's influence. To feel one's own impotence— ^to
appreciate the last fine touches of art—one must one's
self be on the quest of the unattainable ; and since I
have known Henselt this has dawned on me, and
more and ever more do I appreciate him. I tried
hard to follow out Henselt' s intentions in this first
lesson ; and he was very kind to me—looked at my
hand, which was, he said, a good one, though rather
small in size ; he showed his hands to me, and
pointing to the palms, which were quite flat, the
result of extension, he said, ' Just look at the hand
leather—how it is stretched !' He gave me on that
day a study for widening the hand ; and in spite of
the blow given to my amour p7-opre by his choosing to
ignore that I had a large repertoire, and would have
liked to play if only one piece to him, I was on the
whole far from being dissatisfied at the prospect
before me.
His wife came in just as I was rising to go, and
observed to him, ' She has a very sweet touch, has
she not ?'
' She has nofleisch,' was the reply, in a surly tone.
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