Handbook of violin playing

The rendering.

The rendering of a piece implies its artistic reproduction, every necessary artistic resource being therein blended. The violinist is capable of a perfect rendering only if,—in addition to a firm, easy technique of the left hand, adroitness in bowing and susceptibility to the modifications of tone, and a technique equal to all demands made upon it,—he has under his control a higher spiritual musical development, fine taste, and a warm individual feeling. Only through the combination of all these qualities can one reinvest the dead signs of the composer with spirit and life, and cause his work to pass before the hearer’s soul as an ideal, living picture.

Intellectual culture.

Under this head must be included a knowledge of the theory of music, which renders possible the clear understanding of the sequence of ideas which the composer has expressed through time, degrees of movement, dynamic signs, melodic periods, and the harmonies upon which they are constructed, the rhythmic combinations; and through all these peculiarities the character of a piece as well as the individuality of the composer. And where special directions for the rendering are not employed, to perceive from the text of the work itself the correct rendering.

Taste.

To render a piece of music with taste, signifies the reproduction of the same so that the hearer perceives through the player a complete understanding of it, and throughout its performance receives a correct impression of its character. If an artist has given expression to all the composer’s written dynamic gradations of tone colour with understanding and feeling, it will be artistically refined; if infused with his own individuality, and if no awkwardness appear technically with respect to the manipulation of his instrument, his performance will be regarded as tasteful.

It should be especially his concern to avoid the numerous faults common to many players; for example, “whining,” a mawkish drawling from one tone to another, exaggeration of the close shake on the part of the left hand, inartistic accentuation, unmeaning throwing of the bow upon the strings, &c.

Individuality.

If the artist has studied and learned how to give expression to the individual feeling of the composer, his own individuality in the performance is also of great consequence. It consists in this: that the same piece in performance shall appear ever fresh and new. Individual feeling is subject to continuous change, through influences from within and without, consequently an artist who has acquired a full and active control over all his powers does not perform a piece the second time in precisely the same manner as the first time. Where however, this is the case, it may be regarded as a sign that the performer has not yet arrived at a complete artistic freedom.

Phrasing.

Upon this subject no exhaustive treatise will be given, but only some observations upon intelligent phrasing as applied technically to violin playing. As in singing, and in wind instruments the breath, so in the playing of stringed instruments the change of bowing, is the potent medium through which phrases are divided, distinguished from each other, and rendered clear. Stringed instruments present considerably greater difficulty in this respect than singing, on account of the manifold kinds of stroke in bowing,—often within the compass of a short phrase the most varied bowings occur; moreover, it cannot be laid down that with each phrase or period the stroke must be changed. These phrases may, however, in many cases coincide with the change of bowing, and the player must in general make it his aim to obtain correct phrasing by a suitable application and adjustment of the changes in the stroke.

The following examples from Mendelssohn’s violin concerto are often incorrectly phrased, through changing the bow in the wrong places:—

The above passage is thus rendered by many violinists:

and in David’s edition of the concerto it is even marked thus:—

and a similar passage in this way:—

A prolongation of this theme also shows incorrect changes of bow, from which wrong phrasing ensues:—

The bowings indicated underneath the notes show the correct phrasing, and also the effect aimed at in connecting the idea with the previous example.

In passages where the phrasing is not plainly defined by the changes of bow, the change occurring in the middle of a phrase, the strokes must be made to follow each other as smoothly as possible (i. e. without a break):

Passages which, owing to rapid time and bowing, are not easily to be rendered clear by the player, must at least have the real meaning of the phrase indicated with correct accentuation. It will then become apparent in the rendering; for example.

c. Concerto by Lipinski (Bowing marks by David).

Here the phrasing would become clearer and more intelligible if the legato signs were made to include the notes next to them in the following passages: (1) the E in the second bar; (2) as far as D in the fourth bar; (3) E in the sixth bar, (which would be better tied to the F♯); then in the following bar the two d’s could be played in one bow, &c.

It is still harder than in compositions by violinists or in pieces marked by them, to make the right changes of bow in the sense of the phrasing in the works of composers who are not thoroughly familiar with the technical handling of the violin, and whose indications of bowing are somewhat eccentric, or merely mark the difference between staccato and legato. Even our classical composers have not always been sufficiently strict in this respect, and the appropriate phrasing has been supplied by many violinists, as for example in the Quartets of Mozart and Beethoven.

The fingering is just as essential to correct phrasing as the bowing. Generally the changes of position are made so as to suit the requirements of the phrasing, that it may be rendered smoothly. This is particularly needful in long sequences of notes on one string.

In the first four bars the positions are not so well suited to the phrasing as compared to bars 5 and 6.

In this passage from Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried”, most players change the position with the first note of the third bar, whereas it should occur after this note, on the C♯. In order to render it so, the 4ᵗʰ finger may be taken three times in succession, beginning with the highest C♯. Here also the changes of bowing should coincide with the phrasing marked.

It is essential to a correct rendering that, even in the first pieces played by a beginner, a perception of the phrasing as a whole should be acquired; not, as is usually the case, regarding the bowing marks and the legato signs as exclusively determinative of it. In this respect, unfortunately, there is nothing offered for the student’s enlightenment and the improvement of his taste in the existing violin methods; at least, no method is known to me containing apposite suggestions and remarks on this head.