The Early Violin and Viola: A Practical Guide

by Robin Stowell

• ISBN13: 9780521625555
• ISBN10: 0521625556
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-30
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This practical guide is intended for all violinists and viola players who wish to give - or to understand and appreciate - historically aware performances of early music for their instruments. It comprises discussion of the literature, history and repertory of the violin and viola, the myriad relevant primary sources and their interpretation, and the various aspects of style and technique that combine to make up well-grounded, period performances. It also considers various related family instruments, contains practical advice on the acquisition of appropriate instruments, and offers suggestions for further reading and investigation. Many of the principles outlined are put into practice in case studies of six works composed c.1700-c.1900, the core period which forms this series' principal (though not exclusive) focus. Music by Corelli, Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms is examined with a view to recreating performances as faithful as possible to the composer's original intention.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	x
Preface	xiii
Historical performance in context	1	(9)
The seeds of growth	1	(2)
The violin and viola literature	3	(2)
Period violinists and violists	5	(1)
Interpreting the evidence	6	(1)
Standards of verity	7	(1)
The value of historical performance	8	(2)
The repertory and principal sources	10	(18)
Introduction	10	(1)
The emancipation of the violin	10	(3)
The mainstream solo violin repertory (c.1700-c.1900): a brief overview	13	(4)
The mainstream solo viola repertory to c.1900: a brief overview	17	(1)
Primary sources	18	(1)
Principal violin treatises	19	(5)
Principal viola treatises	24	(1)
Other treatises	25	(1)
Surviving instruments, bows and accessories	25	(2)
Iconography	27	(1)
Equipment	28	(24)
The violin: origins and early history	28	(2)
Early centres of violin making	30	(4)
The viola: origins and early history	34	(1)
Accessories	35	(3)
The bow: history and development	38	(10)
Purchasing an early violin or viola	48	(1)
Purchasing a violin/viola bow for early music	49	(3)
Technique	52	(31)
Posture	52	(2)
Holding the instrument	54	(2)
Placement of the left hand and fingers	56	(1)
Positions and shifting	57	(5)
Diatonic and chromatic scale fingerings	62	(2)
Timbre	64	(1)
Vibrato	64	(3)
Harmonics	67	(1)
Pizzicato	67	(1)
Pitch	68	(1)
Tuning systems and scordatura	68	(6)
Holding the bow	74	(2)
Bow strokes and bow management	76	(5)
Multiple stopping	81	(2)
The language of musical style	83	(23)
Introduction	83	(1)
National idioms and changes in style	83	(2)
Specific and extempore ornamentation	85	(5)
Rhythmic alteration	90	(1)
Affect, rhetoric and phrasing (general principles)	91	(2)
Articulation, accentuation and melodic inflection as constituents of phrasing	93	(5)
Tempo and tempo rubato	98	(6)
Taste	104	(2)
Historical awareness in practice 1 - three eighteenth-century case studies: Corelli, Bach and Haydn	106	(33)
Corelli: Sonata in A major, Op. 5 no. 9	106	(10)
J. S. Bach: Partita no. 3 in E major for violin solo, BWV1006	116	(13)
Haydn: String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 33 no. 2 (Hob. III:38)	129	(10)
Historical awareness in practice 2 - three nineteenth-century case studies: Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms	139	(33)
Beethoven: Sonata in A major for violin and piano, Op. 47 (`Kreutzer')	139	(12)
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64	151	(13)
Brahms: Sonata in E flat major, Op. 120 no. 2 for piano and viola (clarinet)	164	(8)
Related family members	172	(8)
Notes	180	(33)
Select bibliography	213	(11)
Index	224