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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by James Madison University James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Dissertations The Graduate School Spring 2014 Violin pedagogy through time: The treatises of Leopold Mozart, Carl Flesch, and Ivan Galamian Steffany Ann Shock James Madison University Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss201019 Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Shock, Steffany Ann, "Violin pedagogy through time: The treatises of Leopold Mozart, Carl Flesch, and Ivan Galamian" (2014). Dissertations. 92. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss201019/92 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Violin Pedagogy Through Time: The Treatises of Leopold Mozart, Carl Flesch, and Ivan Galamian Steffany Shock A music document submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts The School of Music May 2014 2 For my parents, William and Kathy Shock. ii 3 Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………v Chapter One……………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter Two……………………………………………………………………….5 Chapter Three……………………………………………………………………...19 Chapter Four……………………………………………………………………….34 Chapter Five………………………………………………………………………..46 Chapter Six…………………………………………………………………………63 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………..66 iii 4 List of Tables Table 1………………………………………………………………………………49 Table 2…………………………………………………………………………........51 Table 3………………………………………………………………………………53 Table 4………………………………………………………………………………54 Table 5……………………………………………………………………………….57 Table 6……………………………………………………………………………….58 Table 7…………………………………………………………………………….....59 Table 8……………………………………………………………………………….60 Table 9………………………………………………………………………………..62 iv 5 Historical traditions specific to pedagogical approaches that were developed and used by significant figures in the history of violin pedagogy permeate the profession of violin teaching and playing today. A solid knowledge of the history of these approaches from a historical perspective is vital to today’s violin teacher as it provides a broader perspective from which to compare, contrast, and analyze the efficiency, with which they go about approaching their own teaching of specific violin technique. While a number of significantly important treatises have been written through the history of the violin, in the initial processes of familiarizing oneself with the pedagogical approaches of important violin pedagogues it is useful to examine those identified as the most groundbreaking and informative of their time. Therefore, the purpose of this document was to examine both individually and comparatively, the content and main pedagogical principles of three important treatises in the history of violin pedagogy authored by Leopold Mozart, Carl Flesch, and Ivan Galamian with an emphasis on investigating how their approaches to specific aspects of applied violin technique either remained the same or evolved over time. While the content of the treatises of Carl Flesch’s The Art of Violin Playing (1923) and Ivan Galamian’s Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching (1962) are most easily applied today (partly due to the fact that the actual violins and bows they used are still current), almost 260 years later, some of the pedagogical ideas presented by Leopold Mozart in A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing (1756) are still used despite the fact that the specific equipment in existence at that time in the history of the violin was slightly different. v 6 The three treatises compared in this document were selected because of their historical importance and the reputations of Mozart, Flesch, and Galamian as both exceptional violinists and pedagogues. As previously mentioned, violin teachers should not underestimate the usefulness of examining the history of violin pedagogy as they approach their own current day teaching. The process involved in doing so provides clarity and authenticity to the ideas that violin teachers use in their own studios, with an eye to determining what works and what does not for their own students. Perhaps not surprisingly, ideas that work have remained in use for a long time and those that do not work are either dropped completely or improved by later generations. By examining how violin pedagogy has evolved historically, the violin teacher will help this field evolve further by continuing to apply those ideas that have worked in their own teaching, and by adding their own effective new ideas, without the inefficiency of repeating ideas that have not survived the test of time that might inadvertently contribute to the delay of the progress of their own students. vi Chapter 1 Introduction 2 There is a strong oral tradition present in the field of violin pedagogy, in which the influence of a single teacher can be felt for many generations. Current violin teachers have a large responsibility to pass on to their students a strong foundation of technique and musicianship so that one day the students will be able to adequately teach both themselves and their own future students. Because of this responsibility, it is important for the violin teacher to be able to adequately pass on information in variety of ways in order to suit each individual student, thus enabling every student to gain something from their violin studies. A thorough understanding of the history of violin pedagogy is imperative to being an effective teacher. There have been many great violin pedagogues through the history of the violin, along with many important treatises on both playing and teaching the violin. Any of these treatises can serve as a valuable resource in the study of violin pedagogy. The treatises that served as the basis for this document were Leopold Mozart’s Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing (1756), Carl Flesch’s The Art of Violin Playing, Volume I (1923), and Ivan Galamian’s Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching (1962). These three treatises were chosen as representatives of the violin playing styles from three centuries, the eighteenth (Mozart), nineteenth (Flesch-although his treatise was written in 1923, he was still influenced by and therefore served as a representative of the nineteenth century), and the twentieth century (Galamian). Although there were many treatises written throughout the history of the violin, Mozart, Flesch, and Galamian were chosen for this document largely because of their success rates as both violinists and teachers. Leopold Mozart was known as the best violin teacher in Salzburg during his lifetime and “his teaching was sought after even in 3 his old age.” 1During my own journey as a violinist and teacher, I have collected some of the main treatises written on violin pedagogy, and that of Leopold Mozart was one of these treatises, which I collected but unfortunately never read. I used this document as an opportunity to finally read Mozart’s treatise. Also, through out music history, Leopold Mozart has unfortunately been overshadowed by his son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, therefore not many people know that Leopold Mozart was a very good violinist. My hope is that by including his treatise in this document, Leopold Mozart’s work as both a violinist and teacher will be better appreciated by current violinists and teachers. Carl Flesch was successful both as a violin soloist and as a violin teacher. His students included Henryk Szeryng, Ida Haendel, and Ginette Neveu. Flesch’s Scale System is a valuable tool that is used by current violinists. My first exposure to the work of Carl Flesch was through his Scale System . This book has been a crucial part of my violin studies, and it is part of my daily practice ritual. I selected his treatise for inclusion this document because I wanted to learn more about Flesch and his teaching style. Ivan Galamian was one of the twentieth century’s greatest violin pedagogues. One of his famous students was Itzhak Perlman, who wrote that Galamian “was a virtuoso teacher whose system of teaching the violin was both ingenious and logical. He applied that system to all of his students, and it worked, no matter how much or how little talent the student had-a true sign of a great pedagogue.” 2 His treatise was chosen for this document because its influence is felt the most by current day violinists. Over the course of my violin studies I have had violin teachers who have studied with either Galamian, or 1 Leopold Mozart, A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing, trans. Editha Knocker (1756; repr. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, xxx 2 Ivan Galamian, Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1962),vi 4 his former students, therefore my overall violin technique has been greatly influenced by Galamian’s teachings. Upon examination of the treatises written by Mozart, Flesch, and Galamian, it is evident that the fundamentals of violin technique and pedagogy have not changed greatly through history. It is important for the current day violin teacher to know the fundamentals that have been proven through history in order to guide their own teaching. This document examined the basic aspects of the left and right hand violin technique. The left hand technique covered includes

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