The first half of the program went very well, and atmosphere of great warmth awaited us for the first performance of the toccata in the United States. We began with vigor, and the first fifty bars promised a good performance, when my memory suddenly went astray. I invented as I went along, trying to stay in the style of the music. Pierre turned his pages back and forth, but, realizing that what I was playing was not in the score, he finally discarded the music and, like myself, played by heart. Meanwhile, absorbed with many interesting ideas and harmonies, I saw an opportunity for a fugato. Pierre’s talent, or fear, made him match my inventions. The fugato led us gradually to the first theme, but this time, instead of energico, it was in a lyrical mood. We elaborated on it, using some new material. We must have liked it very much, for we clung to it for a long while. It was a charming dialogue between the two instruments, and it was hard for us to part from it, but we had to. We gradually built up to a great climax that led straight back to the beginning of the piece. Oh, what a joy- after the fiftieth bar I knew exactly the continuation. But now it was Pierre who did not! There was no choice. We had to improvise. The perspiration ran down my face and dropped on the fingerboard and on my cello. / Pierre shook his head. His fair fell over his forehead and his eyes. He swayed and groaned and encouraged me to still-greater efforts. It was something of a coda now, a great lead to the triumphal conclusion. Faster, stronger, still faster we stormed, until breath-takingly the composition was brought to a finish. / Exhausted, we responded to the applause. Artur Rodzinski came to see us after the concert. He and Mr. Eyle, the concertmaster of the Cleveland Symphony, took us to the station. The toccata, they said, was very impressive. << less