It would be pleasant to have a Talk about every one of the great
masters to see in what particular way each of them sacrificed for the
art he loved. In all of them the true qualities come out: in one as
earnestness; in another as determination; in another as patriotism;
but all are loyal to the art itself. It must be a very plain lesson to
us to see that when men are willing to give all their thoughts to a
subject they get much from it. And is it not quite as plain to see
that no one can get much if he gives but a few unwilling minutes to
it? I trust none who hear these Talks will ever think that with a
little time given to their music, and that not freely given, they can
ever get either pleasure or comfort from it. They never can. And
rather than do it so they would better leave it undone. If we set out
on the way to go to the masters we shall get there only by
earnestness. Lagging is a disgrace to the one who travels and to the
one to whom we go. It shows his laziness on the one hand, and his
misunderstanding of the master on the other; for if he understood he
would take no listless step.
Now we have said again and again that true music comes from the heart,
and is simple. At the same time we find it difficult to understand the
music of the masters. That is, some of us find it so. It seems
anything but simple to us; and naturally we conclude that there is
something wrong somewhere.
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