The Franco-Belgian Violin School: Pedagogy, Principles, and Comparison with the German and Russian Violin Schools, from the Eighteenth through Twentieth Centuries

A document submitted to The Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

in the Performance Studies Division of the College-Conservatory of Music Violin

2019 by Gyu Hyun Han

B.A., Korean National University of Arts, Korea, 2005 M.M., Korean National University of Arts, Korea, 2007

Committee Chair: Kurt Sassmannshaus, MM

Abstract

The Franco-Belgian violin school, famed for its elegance, detailed tone, polished sound, and variety of bow strokes, dominated violin performance at the turn of the twentieth century. Yet despite this popularity, and the continuing influence of the school as reflected in the standard violin repertoire, many violinists today do not know what constitutes the Franco-Belgian violin style. Partly, this is due to a lack of contextual information; while many scholars have written about the history of the violin and violin playing techniques, there is currently very little literature comparing the principles and performance characters of specific violin schools. This study therefore introduces the principles and techniques of the Franco-Belgian violin school, presented in comparison with those of the German and Russian violin schools; these features are catalogued and demonstrated both through examinations of each school’s treatises and analyses of video recordings by well-known violinists from each school.

ii

iii Table of Contents

Abstract ii List of Tables vi List if Figures vi List of Musical Examples vii

I. Introduction 1 II. Origin and history of violin schools 8 A. Franco-Belgian: 1. French: a. Viotti b. pupils at the Conservatoire de Paris 2. Belgian: a. Viotti’s pupils at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel 3. musical characteristics and principles B. German: 1. Spohr and the Mannheim school 2. later developments 3. musical characteristics and principles C. Russian: 1. Saint Petersburg Conservatory and Moscow Conservatory 2. Soviet era 3. musical characteristics and principles D. French influence across the schools

III. Comparing the pedagogy of the Franco-Belgian with other violin schools A. In treatises 20 1. Holding the violin and bow a. Bow grip

iv i.! Franco-Belgian: Middle Grip - appropriate space between forefinger and middle finger with relaxed finger ii.! German: Light Grip – bow held with fingertips iii.! Russian: Deep Grip - close distance between bow and hand b. Right arm posture i.! Franco-Belgian: Flexible right wrist ii.! German: High wrist

iii.! Russian: Stiffened wrist 2. Holding the violin and left hand posture 3. Left hand pressure 4. Position of legs 5. Position and fingering 6. Vibrato 7. Springing bow 8. Portamento i.! Franco-Belgian, and German: Encouraged various combinations of portamento ii.! Russian: Regulated portamento with strict rules

IV. Contrasting styles in recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major 51 A. Bow Grip B. Bow tightening C. Portamento D. Vibrato

V. Conclusion 59

Bibliography 61

v

List of Tables

Table 1. Franco-Belgian violin school ‘family tree’ 12

Table 2. German violin school ‘family tree’ 14

Table 3. Russian violin school ‘family tree’ 17

Table 4. Viotti’s influence on French violin pedagogy and its spread to other areas 19

List of Figures

Figure 1. Bow grip, Franco-Belgian violin school 22

Figure 2. Bow grip, German violin school 23

Figure 3. Bow grip, Russian violin school 24

Figure 4. Bow holding, German violin school 25

Figure 5. Left thumb placement, Franco-Belgian violin school 27

Figure 6. Left: Niccolò Paganini (Kersting 1830-31), with the right foot extended away from the body. Right: third position for the feet in ballet 31

Figure 7. Body posture in Baillot’s L'Art du Violon 32

Figure 8. Henryk Szeryng, using the Franco-Belgian violin school bow grip 52

Figure 9. Nathan Milstein, using the Russian violin school bow grip 53

Figure 10. Szeryng (left) and Milstein (right), force on the bow 54

vi List of Musical Examples

Example 1. Baillot’s scale exercises from fourth position to seventh position 35

Example 2. Mendelssohn, Violin concerto, Op. 64, third movement, mm. 670-671; Beethoven, Trio, Op.70, second movement, mm. 660-661. Both in Flesch 37

Example 3. Karl Röhrig’s fingering, W.A. Mozart, Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304, first movement, mm. 85-95 38

Example 4. Flesch (top) and Szeryng (bottom) fingerings, W.A. Mozart, Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304, first movement, mm. 85-95 38

Example 5. Karl Röhrig’s fingering, W.A. Mozart, Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304, second movement, mm. 70-76 39

Example 6. Flesch (top) and Szeryng (bottom) fingerings, W.A. Mozart, Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304, second movement, mm. 70-76 39

Example 7. Carl Flesch, two fingerings for an up-and-down scale 40

Example 8. Auer’s “rhythmic fingering” 41

Example 9. Bailiot, L’Art du violon 43

Example 10. Viotti, Violin Concerto No.19, G minor, first movement, mm. 89-98 43

Example 11. Vibrato directions in the Spohr Violinschule 45

Example 12. Springing bow practice in Kreutzer’s Études ou caprices 47

Example 13. Henri Vieuxtemps, Violin Concerto No. 4, Op. 31, fourth movement, mm. 118-126; springing bowing in fast sixteenth notes 47

Example 14. Henryk Wieniawski, Fantasy brilliante on themes from Gounod’s “Faust” for Violin and Piano, Op. 20, mm. 213-217; long saltando in the springing stroke. 48

Example 15. Bériot, Méthode de violon, Op.102; introduction of portamento 49

Example 16. Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, first movement, mm. 65-70

54

Example 17. Szeryng’s portamento, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, first movement, mm. 1-35 55

vii

Example 18. Milstein’s portamento, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, first movement, mm. 1-35 56

Example 19. Kulenkampff’s portamento, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, first movement, mm. 1-35 56

Example 20. Heifetz’s notable vibrato notes, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, second movement, mm. 1-37 57

Example 21. Kreisler’s non-vibrato notes, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, second movement, mm. 1-37 58

viii Chapter I

Introduction

Violin pedagogy is largely divided into three schools: German, Russian and Franco-

Belgian. Established in the eighteenth century, by the turn of the twentieth century the Franco-

Belgian violin school dominated European violin music. It is characterized by an emphasis on tone, and a wide range of dynamics and colors. Prominent composers of the school include Henri

Vieuxtemps (1820-1881), Charles-Auguste de Bériot (1802-1870), Henryk Wieniawski (1835-

1880), Carl Flesch (1873-1944), and Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931); their many works make up much of the standard violin repertoire.

Although the heyday of the Franco-Belgian school has passed, the usefulness of a working knowledge of their principles and techniques remains relevant. Music performance education today includes music history and music theory, reflecting the need for performers to understand the different styles and compositional methods of different historical periods. For instance, violinists are taught to use light bow for Classic Era works, or a more singing and broad sound for pieces from the Romantic period. However, despite many popular violin techniques used today having been developed from pedagogy treatises written by famous violin masters in the various violin schools, current violin pedagogy does not emphasize knowledge of and instruction in the most influential violin schools. As a result, many violinists do not know how a given technique has evolved, or why various techniques are used together in the certain works.

Just as understanding music history informs today’s performance practice and interpretation, knowing the pedagogy of each violin school offers tremendous value for violinists now. Understanding why particular techniques were developed, and when previous violinists

1 used those techniques, enables violinists to choose appropriate techniques to achieve their desired sound. In general, the Russian violin school is most well-known to musicians; while few are aware of even the name of the Franco-Belgian violin school, even though they have played many works by composers of the school. To help increase knowledge of this school, I will survey the violin principles and techniques of the Franco-Belgian violin school, comparing it with the German and Russian schools and demonstrating its style and performance practice.

I will use two complementary methods to conduct the research for this document. First, I will compare the principles of the Franco-Belgian violin school with that of the Russian and

German schools in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, determining the differences in pedagogical methods. Second, I will analyze recordings and videos of performances by violinists of the Franco-Belgian school, examining the character in their playing as well as noting any similarities with or differences from the other schools.

Literature Review

The earliest violin pedagogy book, Francesco Geminiani’s The Art of Playing on the

Violin, was written in 1751;1 many more writings on violin pedagogy were published in the late eighteenth century, collecting the principles of the developing violin schools. My survey starts with pedagogy books written by violinists of the Franco-Belgian school, and incorporates additional useful primary sources related to other schools.

1 Kateryna Kolesnyk, “Leopold Mozart as the Father of Violin Pedagogy and His Violinshule or A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing,” M.M. thesis, California State University, Northridge, 2014, 2.

2 Pierre Baillot, Pierre Rode, and Rodolphe Kreutzer’s Méthode de violon (1803) is the primary source for the teaching methods of the French violin school.2 The book does not go into great detail regarding advanced techniques, but contains the school’s earliest basic principles; because it became an official pedagogical document for the Conservatoire de Paris, the practices discussed in the treatise quickly spread. The professors collaborated on the content, which was then arranged by Baillot. He first introduces the nature and character of the violin; then, he explains how to produce brilliancy with the left hand and rich tone using bow divisions. The first section covers basic playing posture, providing etudes in various keys, and left hand position; the second section discusses embellishments, bow techniques, and tone production through bow management.

Auguste de Bériot’s Méthode de violon, Op. 102 (1858), shares basic elements with

Baillot’s treatise, but includes more detailed explanations and offers advanced etudes.3 This book has incredibly helpful illustrations showing posture and bow grip. Two parts discuss techniques, while a third part deals with musical style.

Carl Flesch’s Die Kunst des Violin-Spiels (The Art of Violin Playing, 1923-28) contains detailed instructions for achieving the Franco-Belgian violin school style.4 He tries to minimize the technical gaps between violinists at varying skill levels, believing that good tone quality, technique, and intonation can be learned through instruction and training. Flesch gives general information and primary techniques such as bow holding posture, string crossing, intonation, shifting, and so on; although relatively basic information, this source allows for easy, detailed

2 Baillot, Rode, and Kreutzer, Methode de violon, (Paris: Faubourg, n.d.Paris, 1803).

3 Charles de Bériot, De Beriot's Method for the Violin (Boston: Jean White, 1873).

4 Carl Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing: Book One, trans. Frederick H. Martens (New York: Carl Fischer, 1939).

3 comparison with other violin schools. Flesch also explains how to apply techniques from the first section of the treatise to violin practice, addressing topics such as fingerings at the octaves, proper fingering for each string, and so on.

There are limited primary sources on the German and Russian violin schools. Louis

Spohr’s Violinschule (1832) covers basic information on the violin; the structure and composition of the instrument; fundamentals of music theory; posture for violin playing, with illustrations; volume and dynamics; techniques such as scale and bow articulations; and preparation for playing the violin.5 Spohr also addresses the need for using the right playing style for different situations, such as performing concertos as the soloist versus being part of the orchestra.

Leopold Mozart’s Violinshule, a Treatise on Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing, was published in 1756.6 In addition to describing contemporary violin techniques, Mozart elaborated on his own principles in choosing bowings, trills, and embellishments. Although it was written before the emergence of the regional violin schools and is based on outdated violin construction, this treatise offers insight into how the violin was played in the mid-eighteenth century.

Yuri Yankelevich was a prominent violin teacher at the Moscow Conservatory; his sister

Elena Yankelevich published The Russian Violin School: Yuri Yankelevich's Legacy (2016), a book of his pedagogical teachings. This is one of the few sources on the Russian violin school that has been translated to English.7 In addition to discussing shifting, position of hands, and

5 Louis Spohr, and Henry Holmes, Spohr's Violin School. (London: Boosey, 1878).

6 Leopold Mozart, A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing, trans. Editha Knocker (London: Oxford University Press, 1959).

7 Yankelevich, Y., The Russian Violin School: Yuri Yankelevich's legacy, trans. Masha Lankovsky (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016).

4 bow techniques, this book compiles essays by Russian violinists, providing an important document on the Russian violin school which reflects Soviet pedagogical tradition.

Robin Stowell’s The Cambridge Companion to the Violin (1992) comprises 15 essays written by ten authors on violin-related topics.8 Stowell contributes the fourth essay, “The nineteenth-century bravura tradition,” which investigates the classical schools in France and

Belgium in the nineteenth century; this essay introduces Giovanni Battista Viotti as the root of these classical schools, and detailing Viotti’s extended influence through his pupils and disciples.

Another book by Stowell, Violin Technique and Performance Practice in the Late

Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (1985), compiles information from numerous violin treatises and pedagogies from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth centuries.9 The book contains information on the most important historical developments in the violin and the characters of the various violin schools. Stowell also provides guidance on many of the violin techniques used in that time period, and offers practice methods illustrated with numerous musical examples.

Boris Schwarz produces a list of the most influential violinists in his book Great Masters of the Violin: From Corelli and Vivaldi to Stern, Zukerman, and Perlman (1983).10 He includes violinists from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries, including Viotti, Henryk

Wieniawski, Eugène Ysaÿe, Fritz Kreisler, and so on, with short biographies and discussions of

8 Robin Stowell, The Cambridge Companion to the Violin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).

9 Stowell, Violin Technique and Performance Practice in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985).

10 Boris Schwarz, Great Masters of the Violin: From Corelli and Vivaldi to Stern, Zukerman, and Perlman (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983).

5 each performer’s musical style. This is a helpful source for tracing the style and lineage of major violinists, and how their influence spread over time and across schools.

Frederick Martins’ Violin Mastery; Talks with Master Violinists and Teachers,

Comprising Interviews with Ysaÿe, Kreisler, Elman, Auer, Thibaud, Heifetz, Hartmann, Maud

Powell and Others (1919) is a valuable collection of interviews with famous violinists.11

Providing a different perspective than that offered in histories and other formal literature, the interviews reveal how these performers think about violin principles in a more casual way.

Two recent dissertations have elaborated on aspects of the various violin schools. Kelley

M. Arney’s thesis, “A Comparison of the Violin Pedagogy of Auer, Flesch and Galamian:

Improving Accessibility and Use Through Characterization and Indexing” (2006), is particularly relevant to my document, as it compares pedagogy books from prominent violin teachers.12

Arney describes the pedagogical methods of these three prominent violinists regarding subjects such as body posture, intonation, and slide. Through this thesis, readers can learn and compare the teaching methods of famous violinists, and thereby infer information on the playing principles of the different violin schools.

Hana Yoo’s dissertation, “Capturing the French romantic essence of Gabriel Fauré's

Violin Sonata, op. 13: A Practice Guide for Violinists” (2010), contains relevant historical background on Fauré as a member of the Franco-Belgian violin school.13 Yoo provides a brief history of the Franco-Belgian violin school, and describes its goals and musical styles.

11 Frederick Herman Martins. Violin Mastery; Talks with Master Violinists and Teachers, Comprising Interviews with Ysaye, Kreisler, Elman, Auer, Thibaud, Heifetz, Hartmann, Maud Powell and Others (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1919).

12 Kelley M. Arney, “A Comparison of the Violin Pedagogy of Auer, Flesch and Galamian: Improving Accessibility and Use Through Characterization and Indexing,” M.M. thesis (University of Texas at Arlington, 2006).

13 Hana Yoo, “Capturing the French romantic essence of Gabriel Fauré's Violin Sonata, op. 13: A Practice

6 As the dates the primary pedagogical sources were published make evident, there is a century-long gap between the pedagogy books associated with the Franco-Belgian, German, and

Russian schools and the literature on those schools today. The majority of the original sources were written before the 1900s; the last representative pedagogy book from the Franco-Belgian violin school is Flesch’s Die Kunst des Violin-Spiels (The Art of Violin Playing), dating from the

1920s. In pedagogical writings from the remainder of the twentieth century, the various violin schools are sometimes mentioned, but the information is limited and comparisons between the schools extremely rare. In the twenty-first century, however, scholars and violinists have regained interest in the violin schools and their differences; nonetheless, while many have addressed aspects of each school’s character and techniques, the information is still lacking in scope.

To address this, I will collect featured literature from each school, and compare the principles and methods of these schools, as evidenced both in their pedagogical treatises, and through recordings from violinists who perform in the tradition of the Franco-Belgian, German, and Russian violin schools.

Guide for Violinists,” DMA dissertation (University of California, 2010).

7 Chapter II

Origin and History of Violin Schools

The evolution of the violin as a solo instrument led to the creation and development of regional violin schools. Prior to the Baroque Era, the violin was used for background music, accompanying dancing or singing. After 1610 and the emergence of the Italian sonata, the violin began to gain popularity as a solo instrument. This required violinists to extend the volume range of the instrument, as well as gain control over the whole fingerboard. Since solo instruments need loud sound, the violin bow shape changed from convex to concave; this in turn affected the playing posture of the wrist, arm, elbow, and shoulder. With Italian composers such as Antonio

Vivaldi (1678-1741) and Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) writing for the instrument, violinists experimented with strokes, broad expressions, and dynamic techniques to realize the newly composed music. The various violin schools grew out of regional practices, which were written down and spread through influential teachers and performers.

The Franco-Belgian school

The Franco-Belgian violin school originated in neither France nor Belgium. Rather, it traces back to Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824), an Italian violinist and composer. Viotti became a popular sensation after his Paris debut on the evening of 17 March 1782 in a concert sprituel. Many French musicians were excited by his strong and broad tone, beautiful singing legato, and variety of bowing techniques. Viotti’s playing style, which included techniques and principles from Italian, German, and French practices, was the model for the French violin school. Using the new Tourte family of bows, which have a concave shape, Viotti was known for

8 playing with a variety bow strokes, especially the “off string” technique producing a deep, expressive sound. The many pedagogy books of the school therefore include extensive discussion and examples of bow technique, both for teaching students to play Viotti’s works and mimicking his wide sound.

Viotti’s techniques and styles were quickly taken up by Parisian violinists including

Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831), Pierre Baillot (1771-1842), and Viotti’s pupil Pierre Rode

(1774-1830). When Kreutzer, Rode, and Baillot all became professors at the Conservatoire de

Paris, they developed Viotti’s style into a suitable practice method. Pierre Baillot in particular collected and promoted new techniques and practice methods; and, with Rode and Kreutzer, published Méthode de Violon, which became an official manual in the Paris Conservatory.14

This was the beginning of the French violin school.

Viotti’s practices were widely adopted and propagated in the French violin concertos he and his followers wrote: Viotti composed 29 concertos, Kreutzer 19, Rode 13, and Baillot nine.

Viotti’s concertos require various advanced techniques; showcasing the brilliant technique and emotional tone considered characteristic of the French violin school, their importance to the school is apparent in their frequent programming for “students’ exercises” (exercises des élèves), required for all violin students in the Conservatoire de Paris by 1797, even for students of other teachers.15 Generations of violinists therefore followed Viotti’s pedagogy and performance practices, passed down in the Conservatoire and through influential teachers. The famous pedagogue Lambert Massart (1811-1892), for instance, was pupil of Kreutzer and a professor in

14 Denise Yim, Viotti and the Chinnerys: A Relationship Charted through Letters, (Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2004), 2.

15 Warwick Lister, Amico: The Life of Giovanni Battista Viotti, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2009), 165.

9 the Conservatoire de Paris; his pupils included Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880), Fritz Kreisler

(1875-1962), and Martin Pierre Marsick (1847-1924). Marsick in turn became a professor in the

Conservatoire de Paris and cultivated renowned violinists such as Carl Flesch, Jacques Thibaud

(1880-1953), and George Enescu (1881-1955).

Pierre Baillot also trained prominent violin students. Unlike Rode and Kreutzer, Baillot was not a professional solo violinist, but an orchestra member. After his successful Viotti concerto performance, he became a member of the faculty in the Conservatoire de Paris.16

Baillot’s famous pupils included Jacques Féréol Mazas (1782-1849), Jean Baptiste Charles

Dancla (1817-1907), François Habeneck (1781-1849), and Charles Auguste de Bériot. Dancla and Habaneck too went on to teach at the Conservatoire. Habaneck taught Jean-Pierre Maurin

(1822- 1894); with Beriot, Maurin became a teacher of Lucien Capet (1873-1928), the author of the book Superior Bowing Technique, and teacher of famous American violin teacher Ivan

Galamian (1924-1981). The Franco-Belgian style later gained popularity in the U.S. through

Galamian, a violin professor at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, and founder of the Meadowmount School of Music summer program.

The Belgian violin school is an offshoot of French violin school, which also derived from Viotti’s stylistic descendants -- from 1843, those at the national conservatory Koninklijk

Conservatorium Brussel. The Belgian violin school’s founder, Charles Auguste de Bériot, was a student of Baillot at the Paris Conservatory, took lessons with Viotti’s student André

Robberechts (1797-1860), and received advice from Viotti himself.17 Beriot combined the elegant, singing sound of the French violin school with the virtuosity of Paganini to establish the

16 Stowell, The Cambridge Companion to the Violin, 62.

17 Ibid., 63.

10 Franco-Belgian violin school. In Brussels, Bériot trained virtuoso violinists such as Henri

Vieuxtemps and Henryk Wieniawski in the French school’s elegance and lyricism; later, Eugène

Ysaÿe (1858-1931) was taught by both Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski.

Bériot also wrote a prominent technical treatise, Méthode de violon, Op.102; it contains much taken from Viotti and Baillot’s violin method, such as the posture for instrument and bow, using a wide range of bow, sustained sound, rebounding bow stroke, and emphasis on the highest note of a chord. Indeed, because the French and Belgian violin schools share the same roots, principles, and similar ideals, they are commonly treated as a single school; although some occasionally refer to the "French style,” there is no “French school” separate from the Franco-

Belgian, so named by Beriot.

Today, the Franco-Belgian violin school is still centered at the Conservatoire de Paris

(now the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris). The style, moreover, is found worldwide due to the continuing influence of its famous practitioners and their generations of students.

11 Table 1. Franco-Belgian violin school ‘family tree’.

The German school

As with the Franco-Belgian school, the German violin school drew on the teachings of

Viotti through the influence of Louis Spohr (1784-1859). Spohr was a pupil of Franz Eck (1774-

1804), the last direct successor of the Mannheim school.18 A group of important musicians in the mid-eighteenth century, the Mannheim school worked in the court of Duke Charles-Theodore

(1724-99), developing a distinguished classical orchestral style featuring important melodic lines in the violin part, making unexpected and dramatic use of dynamic changes, and disposing of the fugal style. Although Eck passed this style on to Spohr, after a trip to Paris in 1820, Spohr

18 Clive Brown, 2001 "Spohr, Louis." Grove Music Online. 27 Dec. 2018., http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.000 1/omo-9781561592630-e-0000026446.

12 became a follower of Viotti, and shared Viotti’s emphasis on floating legato sound and high levels of techniques. Spohr therefore combined the old German style of the Mannheim school with Viotti’s Franco-Belgian style for a new German violin school, characterized by clean bowing and an expressive tone.

Spohr’s methods were soon spread throughout Europe by his pupil Ferdinand David

(1810-73). David worked for a concertmaster at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, where he was the first professor of violin at the Leipziger Konservatorium für Musik. A celebrated performer,

David was a close friend of Mendelssohn, and also worked with both Robert and Clara

Schumann; David gave Mendelssohn technical advice for his Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op.

64, which he then premiered.

Although Spohr added the virtuosic character of Viotti to the clean bowing and accurate sound of the Mannheim school, the original German violin style was overshadowed in Europe by the fame of Franco-Belgian violinists such as Kreisler. In reaction to this development, later

German school players criticized the brilliance of the Franco-Belgian violin school, with Joseph

Joachim (1831-1907) and Andreas Moser (1859-1925) both arguing for reviving German pedagogy. Joachim, one of the most influential violinists of his time, studied with David in

Leipzig and Joseph Böhm, the director of the Vienna Conservatory;19 his students included

Moser, Bram Eldering (1865-1943), Karl Klingler (1879-1971), Bernhard Listemann (1841-

1917), and Adila Fachiri (1886-1962). Joachim and his followers preferred a clean, “noble” sound made with calculated controlled bow technique; considered learning the historical background of a piece very important to its performance; and adopted a serious, sober emotional

19 Henry Joachim. "Joseph Joachim: First Violinist of a Modern Art." The Musical Times 74, no. 1087 (1933): 797-99. doi:10.2307/918237.

13 attitude for playing. The revival of the German school in the late nineteenth century was successful, but after Joachim’s death, weakened and died out.

Table 2. German violin school ‘family tree’.

The Russian school

Although developed and spread later than the Franco-Belgian and German schools, the

Russian school remains hugely influential even today because of the great violinists who popularized it globally following World War I, most notably David Oistrakh (1908-74), Nathan

Milstein (1904-92), and Jascha Heifetz (1901-87). In the 1850s, Anton Rubinstein (1829–94) and

Nikolay Rubinstein (1835–81) founded a Russian music society and Russia’s first conservatory, which became the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.20 As with Russia’s other principal conservatory, in Moscow, violinists at St. Petersburg started by learning technique according to

20 Daniel Jaffé, Historical Dictionary of Russian Music, (Lanham, MD.: Scarecrow Press, 2012), 324-325.

14 western European standards.21 To fill out the conservatory’s initial teaching staff, Wieniawski

(1835-80) came from the Paris Conservatory to St. Petersburg from 1860 to 1868, bringing with him the French technique and style; several aspects of the French school, such as their bow method, influenced following generations of the Russian violin school.22 Wieniawski was succeeded by Leopold Auer (1845-1930), who trained Milstein and Heifetz; Auer left Russia with the onset of the 1917 revolution, and introduced the Russian violin method to the United

States at both the Curtis Institute in 1926 and Julliard School in 1928.23

After World War I, some Russian violinists such as Milstein were sent to other countries to study western Europe music, but Moscow Conservatory became the center of music education in Russia. There, outstanding violin teachers (and Auer pupils) such as Lev Tseitlin (1881-1952),

Konstantin Mostras (1886-1965), and Abraham Yampolsky (1890-1956) continued to develop the Russian violin method during the Soviet years. Yampolsky’s students included Leonid

Kogan (1924-1982), Julian Sitkovetsky (1925-1958), Boris Goldstein, and Yuri Yankelevich

(1909-1973); some taught the Russian style in the U.S.S.R., while others had international careers and spread the Russian style around the world.

Pyotr Stolyarsky (1871-1944) was another notable pedagogue and founder of the Soviet violin school. A pupil of Josef Karbulka, Stolyarsky taught David Oistrakh (1908-1974), Boris

Goldstein (1922-1987), Elizaveta Grilels (1919-2008), and Mikhail Fichtengolz (1920-1985); his students went on to win violin competitions such as the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition and International Ysaÿe Competition.

21 Schwarz, 411.

22 Amanda Louise Villaret, “The Franco-Belgian and Russian methods of bowing: A pedagogic study,” D.A. diss., Ball State University, 1988, 33-34.

23 Ibid., 35.

15 Despite these international profiles of many violinists and pedagogues of the Russian school, due to the lack of open communication with violinists in other countries, their methodology was inaccessible to the West for a long time, and relevant materials remain difficult to find in English. As a result, the principles of the Russian violin school are something of a mystery, and it is hard to find the root of the school’s style or pedagogy. The “Russian violin style” is in fact a very broad term, as it combines native methods and those from other countries and over several centuries. The style is largely associated with a unique bow grip, extensive bow pressure, and a mellow, connected sound in the string crossing. With its increased prominence around the world and the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian style nowadays is typically blended with foreign styles and shows little trace of a Russian posture, even among Russian-born and -educated violinists.

16

Table 3. Russian violin school ‘family tree’.

Franco-Belgian influence

The Franco-Belgian school was a center of violin pedagogy in the nineteenth century, and its style gained worldwide influence due to its famous pedagogues and talented violinists.

Furthermore, both the German and Russian schools were influenced either directly or indirectly by the Franco-Belgian method. Even when following very different performance principles, as with the German school, there was integration of Franco-Belgian ideas and, in some cases, negative reaction to those ideas.

This influence is due in part to the widespread and immediate impact of Viotti’s technical prowess among his contemporary musicians and teachers; violinists all over Europe

17 were shocked by and attracted to his style. Because he gained a devoted following among the most prominent teachers at the Conservatoire de Paris -- Rode, Kreutzer, and Baillot – and because those teachers rapidly transferred his technique and character to a working pedagogy, his ideas and methods were taught extensively to the most talented violin students from 1800.

Likewise, the position of Baillot’s pupil Beriot at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, from

1843, extended the French style into an extensive pedagogy which dominated violin teaching and performance throughout the century.

Although the Russian violin school was principally influenced by the Franco-Belgian school through Wieniawski at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Russia was first exposed to the style soon after it was developed at the Paris Conservatory. Rode was in Saint Petersburg from

1804 to 1808 to play for Tsar Alexander I; and from 1805-1808, Baillot toured in Russia as part of Napoleon’s private band. With Wieniawski’s move from Paris to Saint Petersburg, the spread of the Franco-Belgian style in Russia through conservatory teachers and pedagogy took place rapidly.

The effect of the Franco-Belgian school on the German violin school was more indirect.

Spohr was attracted to Viotti’s playing style, and although he was unable to study with Viotti himself, he spent time with several violinists of the French school when he visited Paris in 1820.

In particular, Spohr was influenced by Rode’s composition and violin techniques.

18 1782 Viotti performs in Paris 1803 Kreutzer, Rode, and Baillot write Méthode de violon based on Viotti’s performance style and methods; the treatise is adopted as an official pedagogical document at the Conservatoire de Paris 1804-1808 Rode employed by Tsar Alexander I in Saint Petersburg; Baillot travels to Russia as part of Napoleon’s private band 1820 Spohr visits Paris 1843 Bériot appointed to the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel 1860-1868 Wieniwski teaches at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory

Table 4. Viotti’s influence on French violin pedagogy and its spread to other areas.

The work of Rode, Kreutzer, and Baillot in developing a pedagogy based on Viotti’s style, and the popularity of that pedagogy among important teachers and students at major conservatories, kept the Franco-Belgian violin school at the forefront of developments in violin style and technique across Europe throughout the nineteenth century. Consequently, knowledge of the principles of the Franco-Belgian school will better inform any comprehensive understanding of the history of violin pedagogy.

19 Chapter III

Comparing the Pedagogy of the Franco-Belgian with Other Violin Schools in Treatises

Many violinists hold generalized assumptions regarding the character of the main violin schools. Players in the Franco-Belgian tradition are thought to have a delicate, beautiful style with bright color and continuous vibrato, and may sometimes be a little greasy due to frequent portamento; those following the German violin school are said to prioritize accurate intonation and rhythm at the risk of sounding stiff; Russian violinists are believed to seek a wild, bold sound with a dark timbre. Some of these assumptions are more or less accurate, and reflect the treatises laying out the school’s principles; but just as often they are wrong, and based not on fact but on the image of a particular country or an especially well-known performer belonging to a given school.

Violin practice is not, and never has been, static or unchangeable. Across the schools, practices have changed according to historical styles, advancing techniques, and developments in the instrument itself. Each school’s pedagogy engages with different concept and styles according to aesthetic idea and educations; however, their final goal is, uniformly, to please audiences with an approachable, engaging sound and virtuosic technique.

The most fundamental distinction between the schools’ pedagogies involves the prioritization of violin technique versus tone quality. The pedagogy of the Franco-Belgian violin school begins with developing technique, and only deals with tone production towards the end of one’s studies; Carl Flesch states that expression in tone should be the final object, pursued only after mastering technically clean playing.24 Another primary tenet of the Franco-Belgian school

24 Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing, 100.

20 is that good tone quality can be achieved through adjusting the bow and the vibrato’s speed and pressure. The Russian violin school takes a different approach, as Leopold Auer worried about young violinists only practicing technique and ignoring what goes into artistry on the violin.25

The Russian school therefore aims for a multitude of tones, like an orchestra, to make the violin the ideal solo instrument. Likewise, Spohr and the German violin school cared more about tone quality and a cantabile sound than virtuoso technique.26

Despite these apparently different priorities in pedagogy, violin technique and tone quality have a close connection. Both require clear intonation as well as basic techniques, and the famous violinists of each school exhibit advanced violin techniques as well as great tone quality.

The Franco-Belgian violin school, for instance, did not value virtuoso technique more than tone; the distinction is simply in terms of the pedagogical process. It therefore cannot be said that a given school’s ideology is right or wrong. Rather, the schools reflect the personal preferences of each violinist. The Russian violinist Jascha Heifetz can admire Auer as a teacher of graceful sound, emphasizing the importance of artistry – as gained by imagining soulful emotions to play the way a singer’s voice works – even though Heifetz himself is famous for his virtuoso violin technique and clean sound. Likewise, the Franco-Belgian school’s violinist Kreisler can believe perfect technique is necessary to make a quality sound, due to the difficulty of presenting emotional expression when the playing is disrupted by technical mistakes.27

There are many more distinctions between the schools in terms of specific techniques and preferences. These can be broadly categorized as matters of hold, position, and executing

25 Martins, 18-19.

26 Michael Thomas Roeder, A History of the Concerto, (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1994), 210- 211.

27 Frederick Herman Martens, Violin Mastery: Interviews with Heifetz, Auer, Kreisler, and Others, (Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc.), 40.

21 techniques. Hold covers how one should hold the violin and bow, right arm posture, and left hand posture and pressure; positioning involves the legs and fingers; execution deals with vibrato, springing bow, and portamento techniques.

1. Bow grip and right arm posture

The Franco-Belgian violin school calls for the forefinger to be put on the bow stick

between the first and second joint of the finger, and the bow stick then placed on the tip of

the little (pinky) finger.28 The forefinger should be neither too close nor too far from the

middle finger; to maintain a natural posture, the forefinger must not be bent to the bow stick

or straightened out (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Bow grip, Franco-Belgian violin school.29

This practice is very different from both the German and Russian violin schools. The

German school holds the bow with fingertips. Spohr explains that the stick is surrounded by the first joint of forefinger and middle finger, while the ring finger and little finger rest loosely on

28 Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing, 51.

29 Flesch, end illustrations (not numbered).

22 the stick.30 All fingers, except the thumb, are kept close together, without space between them

(Figure 2).

Figure 2. Bow grip, German violin school.31

The bow grip of the Russian violin school is deeper than either the Franco-Belgian or

German school; the forefinger touches the bow stick with its second joint, and the other fingers are placed on the bow stick between the first and second joints.32 This method creates the least distance between the bow and the right hand. There should not be much distance between the forefinger and middle finger (Figure 3).

30 Spohr and Holmes, 14.

31 Flesch, end illustrations (not numbered).

32 Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing, 51.

23

Figure 3. Bow grip, Russian violin school.33

Bow grip affects the posture of the right arm as well as the angle of the bow hair. The

Franco-Belgian violin school emphasizes keeping the wrist in a straight line and using the forearm to control bow movement.34 The wrist position will change depending on the placement of the bow: when playing at the tip of the bow, the wrist must be at the same level as the elbow, not higher; when playing on the frog side, the wrist is bent to bring it in line with the mouth. The fingers should be relaxed, mostly using a small finger muscle to control the bow instead of bigger arm muscle. Bow changes are made by a combination of finger and wrist motions. The bow stick is tilted toward to the fingerboard, using the edge of the bow hair.

The fingertip bow holding posture of the German school causes a different right arm posture. Spohr explains that the wrist should be bent and placed in high position, but that the elbow must remain lower than wrist and near the player’s body (Figure 4).35 The bow tilt is like that of the Franco-Belgian school.

33 Flesch, end illustrations (pages not numbered).

34 Bériot, 4.

35 Spohr and Holmes, 14.

24

Figure 4. Bow holding, German violin school.36

The Russian violin school holds the right arm more stiffly; although the position for elbow and wrist is similar to that of the Franco-Belgian school, the elbow is placed at the same level with the wrist and hand. However, the bow is controlled more by arm movement than finger motions, with the forearm, wrist, and hand moving together as one piece; the motion begins from large muscles and moves to the smaller ones.37 This is true of Russian bowing change as well, where the wrist and fingers follow the arm movement. The bow stick is held straight and upright, and the bow hair should be flat to the string.

These different bow grips and holds effect bow techniques and sound. The Franco-

Belgian school’s bow grip achieves the most natural posture, allowing the player to control the bow with wrist and finger movement, producing a relaxed arm movement that can aid various bow techniques, such as springing bow. On the other hand, the German school’s stiff finger bow grip and lower arm posture constrains bow motion. The German school calls for controlling and feeling sensitively with the end of fingers to emphasize every note for a clear sound; this restricts

36 Spohr and Holmes, 16.

37 Villaret. 48.

25 relaxed techniques. The Russian school’s deep bow grip makes a broader and deeper sound than other schools by using the arm muscles.

Overall, the Russian school uses the largest muscles for bow control, and German school the smallest muscles, with the Franco-Belgian school in the middle range. The Franco-Belgian school therefore can easily adjust bow posture to accommodate various situations: the bow weight is exerted with large muscles for a large sound, while the small muscles with relaxed bow grip produce sensitive details.

2. Holding the violin and left hand

Nowadays, it is hard to find dogmatic approaches to holding a violin or setting the

fingers, due to the recognition that every player has a different body and different ways of

feeling comfortable in posture. Nonetheless, older violin treatises show a constant effort by

pedagogues to find a natural way to hold the violin. Although this is an oxymoron -- because

violinists need to twist their left arm to grasp the fingerboard, tension and an unnatural pose

are inherent in violin playing -- the Franco-Belgian, German, and Russian violin schools each

had preferred concepts for left hand positioning.

Many current pedagogues teach that the left thumb and the first finger should align when

in the first position. However, Carl Flesch taught that the left thumb should be placed

opposite the index finger. Bériot likewise describes the correct placement of the left thumb in

Méthode de violon (Figure 5) as opposite the index finger, placed at B on the G-string.38

Both call for the left hand thumb to be placed a half-note higher than is standard today.

38 Bériot, 4.

26

Figure 5. Left thumb placement, Franco-Belgian violin school.39

The Franco-Belgian school’s thumb placement possibly comes from that of Italian violin

practice. The Italian violin virtuoso Bartolomeo Campagnoli (1751-1827) indicates that the

left thumb should be placed opposite side of index finger, and even higher than the Franco-

Belgian school: at B on the G-string.40

The Russian violin school notes a placement similar to the Franco-Belgian school. Auer’s

treatise states that the left thumb position needs to be determined by the index finger, which

is placed by F on the D-string.41

Sometimes pedagogues gave more detailed directions. The Belgian pedagogue Gustave

Koeckert (1861-) claimed that the left hand thumb should be tilted to the scroll of the violin.

On the other hand, Russian violinist Viktor Valter states that the left thumb must be tilted

toward the violinist’s body.42 However, a violinists’ movement is not mechanical, and

relaxed motion is essential for good tone. Therefore, many renowned pedagogues do not

39 Ibid. 40 Yankelevich, 15.

41 Leopold Auer, Graded Course of Violin Playing: A Complete Outline of Violin Study for Individual and Class Instruction (New York: Carl Fischer, 1926), 34.

42 Yankelevich, 15.

27 insist on a very specific posture for students, all of whom will have different hands and different motions which bring about relaxed position.

All the different styles for holding the violin were designed for ease and to produce a clear sound. The Franco-Belgian and Russian school’s thumb placement would be uncomfortable to today’s musicians, but they help control the ring finger, although making the other fingers move more slowly.

3. Left finger pressure

Treatises on using left finger pressure are very rare, especially in the eighteenth century.

However, finger pressure is quite important to determining the character of a violin school, because it affects tone production, vibrato, and even shifting.

The Franco-Belgian school calls for a relaxed, natural posture across techniques.

Regarding finger pressure, they call for a “moderate” pressing of fingers on the fingerboard -

- neither too strong, nor too light, although nothing is more clearly defined than that. The finger pressure should be adjusted according to the music’s dynamic level, but it should always exceed the bow pressure. Baillot mentions finger pressure repeatedly in The art of the violin, emphasizing that the finger should be flexible and work towards evenness, especially for expressive melodies. He also says that fingers should be raised high enough and come down at the “appropriate” angle, as determined by the feeling of the fingers. Carl Flesch likewise asks for the left finger to be pressed on the fingerboard with natural pressure, cautioning that pressing too hard will get in the way of an elegant sound and make it difficult to play a fast passage smoothly.43 The virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate was a model for

43 Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing, 6.

28 this technique of light finger pressure. The violinists of the Franco-Belgian school generally found that less left hand pressure was better to produce a soft sound using a small amount of bow, and that more left hand pressure was needed for forte or fortissimo.

The German violin school requires a firmly pressed left finger, calling for “firm,” “strong,” and “like a hammer” finger pressure. Joachim argued that the left hand should fall with the tip of the fingers on the fingerboard in a hammer-like motion; furthermore, he held that the finger should retain this hammer position even when shifting the fingers.44 This tradition might come from the German school’s precursor, Leopold Mozart, who called for raising the left hand high and dropping it firmly, to achieve a “pure sound.”45 Both Joachim and Mozart stated that the left finger is as important as bowing to tone production.46

The Russian violin school seems to recognize that too much pressure on the left finger is not the best option, but they do prefer to press the left finger firmly to the fingerboard. The violinist Mischa Elman (1891-1967) said that pressure of the left finger and bow should be equal, although videos of him playing show him pressing the left finger more firmly.47

Elman’s teacher Auer however preferred left hand relaxation; he believed that “the pressure of the fingers must conform in exact measure to their physical strength.”48 Auer also found that more left hand pressure is needed to produce a softer sound such as piano or pianissimo, because it helps to make a good sound while using a small amount of the bow – a direct

44 Yankelevich, 70.

45 Mozart, 60.

46 Martens, 143.

47 Ibid., 46.

48 Auer, Violin Playing as I Teach It, (New York: Frederick Strokes Company, 1921), 90.

29 contradiction of the Franco-Belgian school.49 In practice, violinists of the Russian school used finger and bow pressure according to personal preference rather than a specific principle.

Firm pressure from the left hand creates a clearer sound than light pressure, but it prevents fast and relaxed finger movement. For this reason, the German school preferred hammer-like pressure producing a clear sound. On the other hand, the Franco-Belgian school teaches moderate pressure to avoid heaviness, which would cause slower movement by the left hand.

The Russian school treatise calls for relaxed pressure by the left hand, but the Russian school’s bow grip create lots of pressure, resulting in more pressure on the left finger than that of other schools. Because of this grip, some Russian violinists press fingers heavily even though it is not the best way to play violin.

4. Position of legs

Establishing bodily posture is the first task in learning to play the violin, and foot position is the root of body posture. However, many pedagogues do not deal seriously with foot posture. Typically, there has been agreement on placing the legs apart at shoulder width, and turning out the feet; but historically, which leg on which to put body weight has been contentious.

Many French and Italian violinists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries stood like ballet dancers. Niccolò Paganini stood in an opened third position (Figure 6), in which the right foot is extended away from the body and weight rests on the left foot; illustrations in some violin pedagogy literature likewise show a wide third position for the feet. This posture

49 Ibid., 91.

30 might be related to the tremendous popularity of ballet in the eighteenth century French

court: a violinist adopting the posture would look graceful to the audience.

Figure 6. Left: Niccolò Paganini (Kersting 1830-31), with the right foot extended away from the body. Right: third position for the feet in ballet.50

Following this tradition, the Franco-Belgian school used a similar foot posture. At the Paris

conservatory, Pierre Baillot taught a stance with the feet apart at shoulder width, and body

weight on the left leg.51 Baillot illustrated this posture in L'Art du Violon. (Figure 7)

50 Moniwindust. Ballet Dance Assessmen, accessed 17 April, 2019, https://moniwindust.wordpress.com/2015/04/23/ballet-dance-assessment

51 Pierre Baillot, The Art of the Violin, Trans. Louise Goldberg, (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1991), 11.

31

Figure 7. Body posture in Baillot’s L'Art du Violon.

However, not every Franco-Belgian pedagogue agreed with this posture. Carl Flesch was

concerned that the asymmetrical posture might cause disfigurement in the legs and hips, and

did not consider it a solid stance.52 Flesch, and the French violinist and composer Henri

Marteau (1874-1934), used a symmetrical foot posture. Flesch put both feet in a symmetric V

shape, with the weight equally distributed among both feet; he found that a V shape could

better support upper body motion, especially the brilliant left hand or bow movements which

require rocking the legs.

Spohr and Joachim used a similar foot posture to Baillot; Spohr illustrated the posture in

Violinschule.53 Joachim mentioned putting body weight on the left foot, but also noted that it

could be a disadvantage in terms of balance.54 He suggested that young students stand with a

V shape posture to prevent bad habits during their growth period.55

52 Flesch, 3.

53 Spohr, Violinschule, Trans. C. Rudolphus, (London: Wessel & Co.), plate 2.

54 Karl Courvoisier, The Technique of Violin Playing: The Joachim Method, (Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, inc., 2006), 7.

55 Joseph Joachim, Violinschule, Traité Du Violon, Violin School, ed, Andreas Moser (London: N, Simrock, 1956), 12.

32 The Russian violin school also puts weight on the left foot. Leopold Auer specified the

“weight of the body resting on the left foot, and with the right foot slightly in advance.”56 At the same time, he acknowledged that the asymmetrical pose is less stable; however, he thought that it looked more elegant than a V shape posture.

The foot posture does not directly affect the violin sound; the violin schools initially put weight on the left foot since they thought it looked graceful on the stage. However, this posture was harmful for the player’s leg and hips, causing imbalance; this risk led some pedagogues to recommend a V-shape foot posture.

5. Position and fingering

Position on the violin refers to the system of dividing the fingerboard. This position system has changed as violin playing changed, making it a useful tool to infer the playing style of a given period. Today’s position system depends on the interval between the first finger (index finger) and an open string. The first position is a major or minor second from the open string, where the first finger on the fingerboard is the lowest position: for instance,

E on the D string, or B on the A string. Second position is a major, minor, or augmented third from the open string, such as F on the D string, or C on the A string.

In the eighteenth century, the terminology and definition of position varied according to country or school, although even violinists in same school had different ideas of position.

The Italian violinist Carlo Tessarini (1690-1766) pioneered the codification of violin position, introducing three principal positions, in his 1750 treatise Nouvelle methode pour apprendre par theorie dans un mois de tems à jouer du violon divisée en trois classes, avec

56 Auer, Graded Course of Violin Playing, ed, Gustav Saenger (New York: Carl Fischer, 1926), Book I, 9.

33 des leçons à deux violons par gradation. The number of positions was fewer in Tessarini’s time because many violin playing techniques had not yet been developed. Tessarini’s first position is equivalent to today’s second position; his second position to today’s third position; and his third position to today’s seventh position.57

The Franco-Belgian violin school set up a modern position system comparatively earlier than other schools. French musicians such as L'Abbé le Fils (1727-1803) and Antoine

Bailleux (1761-1800) followed Tessarini’s assignment of positions. However, some later eighteenth century musicians such as Michel Woldemar (1750-1825) used position names matching today’s terminology, and this was adopted at the Paris Conservatoire. Due to the influence of the Paris Conservatoire, many musicians from many countries then adopted what has become today’s position system; it became standard around the turn of the nineteenth century.

Pierre Baillot introduced positions in the Art of the Violin, indicating high position up to seven; he also gave appropriate scales with fingerings for each position. Every scale is written in C major, and starts fingerings from third position, excepting the scale for second position (Example 1). This system shows that, at that time, the Paris Conservatoire calculated position based on C major, and treated third position as the foundation for shifting to higher position.

57 Yankelevich, 29.

34

Example 1. Baillot’s scale exercises from fourth position to seventh position.58

Leopold Mozart discussed position in Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule. Although published only six years after Tessarini, Mozart’s pedagogy shows a much more developed and sophisticated approach – evidence of how rapidly violin playing evolved in that time.

Mozart used many positions, and his number assignments correspond to today’s standard. He went further, however, dividing the positions into two groups: the odd number positions are labeled “whole position,” and even number positions “half position.” Mozart recommended shifting in the same group position, for instance using 1212 or 3434 fingering in the scale section.59

Mozart’s system was not universal among the German school. Louis Spohr found the grouping of half and whole positions inefficient and confusing; he instead adopted the

Franco-Belgian violin school’s position system.60 However, due to the lack of attention paid

58 Baillot. 59 Mozart, 132-146.

60 Spohr, Louis Spohr's Celebrated Violin School, (London: Fb&c Limited, 2018), 77.

35 to understanding positions, Spohr’s system was not entirely successful. Joachim calculated positions based on the interval of the finger on an open string in the given key. For example,

E is his first position for the D string when playing in G major or D major; this could then be changed to E when playing in E major or A major. This position system works well for tonal music; it is however confusing when playing atonal and post-tonal music because a given key is the basis for the position system .

Within the Russian violin school, Auer discussed position without referring to tonality, as seen in Violin Playing as I Teach It. To avoid confusion, Auer simply set the positions based on C Major: for instance, his second position on the G string is B, a major third from the open string; meanwhile, his second position on the D string is F natural, a minor third from the open string. This system both accommodated atonal and post-tonal compositions and allowed for a solid and stable posture in the left hand fingers.

In the practical side, there are some differences in the fingerings. Because the Franco-

Belgian violin school considered tone color more important than other schools, Kreutzer,

Rode, and Baillot call for changing positions often to achieve the appropriate tone and volume.61 Carl Flesch also dealt with fingerings related to tone color, holding that the choice of string should reflect a piece’s phrasing and volume, and the composer’s intention. For instance, he finds that forte is ideally played on a higher string, e.g. using the E string is better than the A string, the A string is better than the D string, and so on. Conversely, he recommends playing piano on the lower string to avoid an overly bright sound.62

61 Stowell, Violin Technique and Performance Practic, 94-96.

62 Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing, 133.

36 Flesch provides a short section of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Op. 64, and

Beethoven’s Trio, Op. 70, as examples of ideal fingering (Example 2). In the Mendelssohn

excerpt, he advises playing the high C on the E string, and warns against playing on the A

string. For the Beethoven excerpt, he suggests playing on the G string even though it is more

difficult than playing the same melody on the D string or A string: this is preferred because

the G string high position is more suitable for expressing feeling pianissimo; and because the

cello has this theme as well in the lower voice, and the D string or A string might be too

bright to match the cello voice. This fingering reflects the care and concern Flesch put into

setting fingerings to produce the best tone color and volume.

Example 2. Mendelssohn, Violin concerto, Op. 64, third movement, mm. 670-671; Beethoven, Trio, Op.70, second movement, mm. 660-661. Both in Flesch.

Overall, the Franco-Belgian violin school’s fingering is more complicated than that of

other schools. There are three Henle editions of Wolfgang Mozart’s Violin Sonata in E

Minor, K.304, edited respectively by Karl Röhrig, Flesch, and Henryk Szeryng. The German

37 violinist Röhrig provided many fingerings and bowings for G. Henle Verlag editions. His fingerings tend to change strings more often than move position; for instance, in the first movement at m. 89, Röhrig indicates playing in the first position on the E string and moving to the A string three beats later (Example 3). Flesch and Szeryng, by contrast, both start on the A string to avoid making too bright a sound for the piano melody, and stay on the same string to maintain an even timbre, even though the player needs to shift to other positions

(Example 4).

Example 3. Karl Röhrig’s fingering, W.A. Mozart, Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304, first movement, mm. 85-95.63

Example 4. Flesch64 (top) and Szeryng65 (bottom) fingerings, W.A. Mozart, Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304, first movement, mm. 85-95.

A similar contrast is seen in the respective fingerings chosen for mm. 70-73 in the second movement. Röhrig keeps one position for the player’s convenience despite the string

63 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonaten für Klavier und Violine, (Munich: G. Henle Verlag, 1995).

64 Ibid., Sonaten für Klavier und Violine, (Leipzig: C.F. Peters, 1912).

65 Ibid., Sonaten; violin and piano, (Frankfurt: C. F. Peters, 1940).

38 crossings (Example 5). However, Flesch and Szeryng change position and play on the same string to maintain the timbre (Example 6).

Example 5. Karl Röhrig’s fingering, W.A. Mozart, Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304, second movement, mm. 70-76.

Example 6. Flesch (top) and Szeryng (bottom) fingerings, W.A. Mozart, Violin Sonata in E Minor, K.304, second movement, mm. 70-76.

Most violinists agree that fingering is an individual matter for each violinist, since every player has different hand and finger shapes. However, a few recommend fingering rules.

Flesch prefers fingerings with short distance shifting and simple finger number. Example 7 is taken from Flesch, and shows two fingerings for the short scale excerpt (Example 7): he does not recommend the fingering shown above the notes, finding it hard to shift between the whole steps of either group, which call for extending the fingers before shifting; he prefers the fingering under the notes for its simplicity and ease of shifting with an E-F half step section.

39

Example 7. Carl Flesch, two fingerings for an up-and-down scale.66

Auer also notes that fingering is individual manner, but he recommends creating fingerings according to the piece’s rhythmic figures, to make rhythmic phrases easier to play.

Auer provides short examples, seen in Example 8, which contrast with the Franco-Belgian violin school practice: he states that shifting should come after a beat, not the middle of the beat, and prefers the fingerings shown in the first and third staves.

66 Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing, 111.

40

Example 8. Auer’s “rhythmic fingering”.67

The fingering reflects the character of each school. The Franco-Belgian school pursued a relaxed, legato sound with continuous vibrato. Since they were cautious of breaks between notes, they shift as closely as possible. For similar reasons, they try play on the same string to prevent color change within a phrase, even if that requires changing position frequently. By contrast, the German school prefers a clear sound, thus choosing to play in the same position to avoid shading the sound from high position. The Russian’s school’s rhythmic fingering produce continuity on the left finger, despite the discomfort when attempting to play a melody without a break; this shows Auer’s preference for finger security over continuous vibrato.

67 Auer, Violin Playing as I Teach It, 99.

41 6. Vibrato

A continuous vibrato is a typical feature of Franco-Belgian violin school, used by

prominent violinists such Fritz Kreisler, Eugène Ysaÿe, and Jacques Thibaud.68 In the early

eighteenth century, vibrato was considered an embellishment technique, like tremolo; in fact,

some explained the two skills similarly.69 Joseph Lambert Massart (1811-1892), a Belgian

violinist and the teacher of Wieniawski, Kreutzer, Kreisler, and others, invented systematic

vibrato: various methods of making different kinds of vibrato, such as tremolo-like vibrato or

slow and soft vibrato, depending on the character of piece. This is considered the origin of

the French-Belgian school’s vibrato practices,70 and in the following years vibrato became

recognized as a method for making a pleasing tone rather than just an embellishment for the

piece being performed.

Some pedagogues did worry about abusing the vibrato, such as Baillot: he warns that

using vibrato too often would cause the performer to lose the natural melody and the correct

style for the music – leaving only a dangerously uninteresting sound.71 Baillot suggests

limiting vibrato to held notes, and playing the beginning and end of those notes with a pure

tone (Example 9). He supports his argument with an excerpt from Viotti’s Violin Concerto

No. 19, in which vibrato is indicated on the long note with swelling dynamics (Example 10).

68 Brown, Classical and Romantic Performing Practice 1750-1900, (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 521.

69 Ibid., 517.

70 Zdenko Silvela, A New History of Violin Playing: The Vibrato and Lambert Massart's Revolutionary Discovery, (USA.: Universal Publishers, 2001), 177.

71 Baillot, 242.

42

Example 9. Bailiot, L’Art du violon.72

Example 10. Viotti, Violin Concerto No.19, G minor, first movement, mm. 89-98.73

In spite of Baillot’s warning, many Franco-Belgian pedagogues and violinists were very

enthusiastic about using vibrato. Kreisler in particular was known for his continuous vibrato;

Although Ysaÿe was considered the first to make a broader vibrato covering long sections,

Kreisler himself claims to have mentioned “French vibrato” earlier than Ysaÿe.74 Flesch,

another supporter of continuous vibrato, reminisces that Kreisler would use vibrato on both

slow notes and in fast, technically challenging passages.75 Wieniawski and Thibaud were

likewise famous for their prominent vibrato, with Kreisler recognizing Wieniawski as

bringing vibrato to its highest level.76 Sarasate’s vibrato was very wide with an expressive

72 Baillot, 240.

73 Giovanni Battista Viotti, Violin Concerto No. 19 in G Minor, G.91 (White I:22) (Paris: Frey).

74 Brown, The Decline of the 19th-century German School of Violin Playing, accessed 12 April, 2019, http://mhm.hud.ac.uk/chase/article/the-decline-of-the-19th-century-german-school-of-violin-playing-clive-brown/ 75 Flesch, The Memoirs of Carl Flesch, (Bois de Boulogne, 1957), 120.

76 Louis Paul Lochner, Fritz Kreisler, (London 1951), 19.

43 tone; Joseph Gold notes Flesch’s assessment of Sarasate’s vibrato as unique in consistently

maintaining its speed and width.77 Thibaud’s vibrato was considered very similar to

Kreisler’s continuous vibrato, even in technical passages and when playing double stops.

Kreisler and Thibaud’s use of vibrato in turn influenced a younger generation of performers

including Heifetz, Enescu, and Elman.

The German violin school held much more conservative opinions about vibrato. They

often used fingered, narrow vibrato, which is closer to a tremolo-like motion than the wide

vibrato of the Franco-Belgian school; furthermore, since the beginning of the school, vibrato

was considered appropriate only at the climax of the melody. Spohr divided vibrato into four

categories: fast, slow, moving from slow to fast with a crescendo, and moving from fast to

slow with a decrescendo. Example 11 (from Spohr) shows instances of each type of vibrato

(fast vibrato in green, moving from slow to fast in blue, and moving fast to slow in red

circle), when and where they would be acceptable. Spohr also limited use of the vibrato as an

embellishment for a sustained note, and taught his pupils to avoid using it on the harmonic,

fifth, unison, or octave.78

77 Cihat Askin, (1996). Early Recorded Violinists. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London), http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/7937/, 84.

78 Spohr, Louis Spohr's Celebrated Violin School, 168

44

Example 11. Vibrato directions in the Spohr Violinschule.79

Joachim likewise considered vibrato an ornament, although he acknowledged its importance as a method of expression. He cited Spohr’s philosophy in stating that the vibrato motion should be narrow to preserve a pure sound, and only used infrequently as an embellishment in its proper place.80

Auer’s philosophy for the Russian school was akin to German school practices. Auer limits all special effects, including vibrato, to particularly important moments. He criticizes

79 Spohr, Louis Spohr’s Grand Violin School, trans. C. Rudolphus, (London: Wessel & Co.), 163.

80 J. Joachim and Moser, Violin School Volume 2, 96.

45 violinists who use vibrato to hide poor intonation or tone production; he also opposes

continuous vibrato, emphasizing strongly that vibrato is an effect which should be used,

sparely and sensitively, for occasions of climax.81 However, although Auer continuously

warned against the Franco-Belgian fashion for vibrato, the following generation of Russian

violinists typically used continuous vibrato, including Auer’s pupils Heifetz and Mischa

Elman.

Vibrato gives echo effect to the sound by shaking a pitch. It creates brilliant sound, but

also obscures pure sound and pitch. The Franco-Belgian school use vibrato to make plentiful

floating sound; however, since vibrato originated from tremolo, the German and Russian

schools treated vibrato as an embellishment only, and cautioned against abusing it, especially

in Baroque and Classical era works, such as those by Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart.

7. Springing bow

The Franco-Belgian violin school experimented with various bow strokes, with pedagogues showing enormous interest especially in springing bowing. Flesch came up with the term “springing” in describing the two types of short stroke bowings: thrown stroke and springing stroke. The springing stroke is also known as “bouncing stroke bowing,” typically called spiccato or Sautillé today; it is designed for playing in a faster tempo than thrown bowing.

Where the thrown stroke is controlled, staccato bowing allows the bow to bounce by itself without heavy pressure, creating a light and lively feeling with brilliant sound. In The Art of

Violin Playing, Book 1, Flesch covers springing bow practice methods and how to determine the proper location of the bow depending on the types and speed of the music; Kreutzer introduces the springing bow stroke to students in etudes (Example 12).

81 Auer, Violin Playing as I Teach It, 61.

46

Example 12. Springing bow practice in Kreutzer’s Études ou caprices.82

The bouncing stroke became a standard notation for virtuosic pieces composed by

Franco-Belgian musicians. For instance, Vieuxtemps instructs violinists to play bouncing bow in his Violin Concerto No. 4 (Example 13); likewise, Wieniawski indicates frequent springing bow, as well as long saltando which could be considered a type of springing bow stroke (Example 14).

Example 13. Henri Vieuxtemps, Violin Concerto No. 4, Op. 31, fourth movement, mm. 118-126; springing bowing in fast sixteenth notes.83

82 Rodolphe Kreutzer, Fourty Two Studies or Caprices for the Violin, edited by Edmund Singer, (New York: G. Schirmer, inc., 1894), 4.

83 Henri Vieuxtemps, Violin Concerto No.4 for Violin and Piano, (New York: Carl Fischer, No.387, 1905), 14.

47

Example 14. Henryk Wieniawski, Fantasy brilliante on themes from Gounod’s “Faust” for Violin and Piano, Op. 20, mm. 213-217; long saltando in the springing stroke. 84

The German violin school again takes an opposing approach from the Franco-Belgian school to the technique, preferring the springing bow method or thrown stroke bow. Even in the old German violin school, pedagogues believed that overuse of springing bow worked against composers’ intentions, instead serving only to highlight the performer’s brilliance. While

Joachim acknowledges that the Franco-Belgian school’s violinists have virtuoso technique, he considers their mannerisms such as springing bow to produce strange interpretations of Bach,

Mozart, and Beethoven.85 Spohr goes further, criticizing springing bow as that “contemptible king of bowing, and not in keeping with the dignity of Arts.”86

The Russian violin school adopted the springing bow stroke. Auer mentions the term in his treatise Violin playing as I teach it, when introducing the two types of springing bow stroke -- ricochet-saltato and spiccato Sautillé -- and explaining how to perform the techniques.87

The springing bow creates a light sound as well as producing brilliance. It also allows for faster playing than staccato on the string, but it has a less clear sound and is hard to control. The

84 Henryk Wieniawski, Fantasy Faust Opera by Gounod Violin and Piano, (New York: G. Schirmer, 1901), 5.

85 J. Joachim and Moser, Violinschule, volume 3, trans. Alfred Moffat, (Berlin: N. Simrock, 1905), 32.

86 Ibid., 12

87 Auer, Violin Playing as I Teach It, 73-76.

48 Franco-Belgian used springing bow extensively, which the German school criticized for its too- light effect and interference with a clear, controlled, and gentle sound.

8. Portamento

Portamento involves sliding a finger on the string from one note to another. In The Art of

Violin Playing, Flesch describes over 30 types of portamento combinations, emphasizing the importance of determining the quality of the portamento through listening and asking for others’ opinions.88 The Franco-Belgian school considers portamento a useful technique for enhancing freedom of playing, but follows regulations to prevent overuse of portamento. The largest limitation is in terms of genre: portamento can be used for suitably expressive music, but never in sacred works. Additionally, portamento should be used more frequently in ascending lines than descending lines. Some examples from Bériot’s Méthode de violon are shown below; the portamento here is mostly in the ascending leaps (Example 15).

Example 15. Bériot, Méthode de violon, Op.102; introduction of portamento.89

The German violin school approaches portamento similarly; Joachim also finds that skill in making portamento of various speeds is important to successfully expressing musical

88 Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing, 30.

89 Bériot, 215.

49 character.90 The approach of the Russian violin school differs: although agreeing that portamento is an essential technique for singing phrases, Auer warns against using it too often, lest it lose its special character; he thus argues for using portamento infrequently, only at the most significant moments.91 Furthermore, Russian school portamento usually appears between descending notes, contrary to the Franco-Belgian school preference for using it in ascending motions.

The portamento sound creates a melancholy feeling in the music. It usually appears in slow passages to add special effect, but sometimes occurs as a byproduct of the process of shifting. The Franco-Belgian and German schools appreciated this special effect, while the

Russian school warned that overuse would diminish the clarity of sound and character.

90 Robert Philip, Early Recordings and Musical Style: Changing Tastes in Instrumental Performance, 1900-1950, (Cambridge: Cambridge University. Press, 1992), 154.

91 Auer, Violin Playing as I Teach It, 63.

50

IV

Comparing the Pedagogy of the Franco-Belgian with Other Violin Schools in Recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major

Recordings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are rare, especially those with good sound quality. For my analyses, I have sought out later recordings by performers clearly affiliated with the Franco-Belgian, German, and Russian violin schools. Here, I first compare video-recorded performances of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, to show differences between the schools regarding bow grip, bow tightening, and portamento.

These performances feature Henryk Szeryng (issued 2007), who studied with Flesch and

Thibaud at the Paris Conservatory;92 Georg Kulenkampff (recorded 1939), a student of

Joachim;93 and Nathan Milstein (recorded 1963), a pupil of Auer who studied at the St.

Petersburg Conservatory.94 Then, to examine different approaches to vibrato, I consider performances of the same work by Fritz Kreisler (Franco-Belgian school, recorded 1924), Jascha

Heifetz (Russian school, recorded 1920), and Mischa Elman (Russian school, recorded 1928).95

92 Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, The Huberman Festival, DVD, conducted by Zubin Mehta, (Long Branch, NJ: Kultur, 2007).

93 “Georg Kulenkampff plays Tschaikovsky, 1.1,” YouTube video, posted by “petrof4056,” November 26, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxWz1-UX_N0

94 “Nathan Milstein Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Walter Hendl, 6 01 1963,” YouTube video, posted by “Andy Granko,” August 13, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH- BXlUtbUs

95 “Rate Heifetz, Elman & Kreisler playing Tchaikovsky Canzonetta,” YouTube video, posted by “2ndviolinist,” February 4, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IeuOS5BS4g.

51 i. Bow grip

The first noticeable difference between the performers is bow grip. Szeryng places the bow between the first and second joint of his forefinger, and leaves space between his other fingers (Figure 8).96 Milstein holds the bow deeper, placed under the second joint of his forefinger, with no space between his fingers (Figure 9). Szeryng controls the bow with his wrist and finger movement, while Milstein controls the bow with the larger muscles of his arm.97

Figure 8. Henryk Szeryng, using the Franco-Belgian violin school bow grip.98

96 See also Ida Haendel, who studied with Flesch and George Enescu. “J Sibelius Violin Concerto (complete) Ida Haendel,” YouTube video, posted by “IdaHaendelSite,” February 24, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYBQyOOED8k

97 The images accompanying Kulenkampff’s recording do not show his grip.

98 Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

52

Figure 9. Nathan Milstein, using the Russian violin school bow grip.99

ii. Bow tightening

This bow grip affects bow tightening as well as bow tilt. Generally, bow tightening changes according to the character of the music; if the piece calls for many different techniques with a large sound, the bow hair is tightened to get more tension. The Franco-Belgian violin school tend to use tighter bow hair than the Russian violin school, as their relaxed bow grip reduces the frictional force between string and bow hair. They make a full and intense sound using the weight of the bow, and produce light springing bow with tightened bow hair. By contrast, the Russian bow grip pushes the bow into the string, and overly tightening the bow hair could cause it to slip due to too much tension.

Szeryng’s bow hair is tighter than Milstein’s. At mm. 65-70 in the first movement, there is intense sound on the G string (Example 16). Szeryng’s bow stick rarely touches the bow hair, but Milstein’s stick clings to the hair, sometimes even digging into it (Figure 10). This difference

99 Nathan Milstein, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

53 shows how they make full and bold sound: Franco-Belgian violinists use bow weight, while

Russian violinists use their body weight.

Example 16. Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, first movement, mm. 65-70.100

Figure 10. Szeryng (left) and Milstein (right), force on the bow.

iii. Portamento

There are considerable differences in the portamento style, even when portamento is used by different performers for the same passage of music. In slow sections, such as the beginning of the first movement, mm. 23-24, Szeryng uses portamento for the ascending note.

He slides upward in the first two measures of the violin entrance as well as the first note of

100 Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35. Hamburg: D. Rahter, 1880. All following examples use this score.

54 moderato assai section (m. 28); these are the most common measures performers use portamento for in the movement (Example 17). Milstein however seems to avoid ascending portamento, and instead uses it in the descending line at the beginning (m. 24) and end (m. 27) of the allegro moderato section, and some moments in the moderato assai (m. 34) – none of which are popular spots for portamento among modern violinists (Example 18). Interestingly, Kulenkampff takes both ascending and descending portamento in the same section (Example 19).

Example 17. Szeryng’s portamento, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, first movement, mm. 1-35.

55

Example 18. Milstein’s portamento, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, first movement, mm. 1-35.

Example 19. Kulenkampff’s portamento, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, first movement, mm. 1-35.

56 iv. Vibrato

Differences in vibrato among the violin schools are evident in a very interesting compilation of recordings of the concerto’s second movement (Canzonetta) made around; this collection includes recordings by Kreisler (recorded 1924), Heifetz (recorded 1920), and Elman

(recorded 1928).101 Although not of good quality, the recording is valuable for offering a comparison of contemporaneous playing styles.

Despite Auer’s instructions to only use vibrato at special moments, Heifetz and Elman both use vibrato frequently. In the recording, Elman’s vibrato is wide and continuous. Heifetz uses small and narrow vibrato for a few eighth notes, such as in m. 37, and broader vibrato on long notes, for example on the continuous D in m. 14 (Example 20). He also uses vibrato for the climax of the melody in m. 28.

Example 20. Heifetz’s notable vibrato notes, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, second movement, mm. 1-37.

Kreisler applies continuous vibrato for almost every note, using it so extensively that it is much easier to show which notes he does not play with vibrato (Example 21). From the first note

101 Rate Heifetz, Elman & Kreisler, Tchaikovsky Canzonetta.

57 of the violin solo, the vibrato is bold and expressive. The only notes not vibrated are D harmonics in mm. 14, 18, and so on, and an open string in m. 20.

Example 21. Kreisler’s non-vibrato notes, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35, second movement, mm. 1-37.

Interestingly, in the recordings analyzed above, not every performer follows the pedagogy laid out by their schools. While these performers reflect the character of each school through their basic posture, most transform musical elements such as vibrato, portamento, and so on. This shows how great performers achieve musical depth: regardless of their pedagogical training, they eventually develop a personal preference for certain musical skills and techniques which best suit their individual styles and artistic principles.

58 Chapter V

Conclusion

In this global era, a performance style directly traceable to a single national school of violin playing is impossible. Millions of violin students take lessons from millions of violin teachers from all over the world, who themselves studied with teachers exposed to a wide variety of pedagogical methods and performance techniques. Furthermore, any given student can potentially access information on styles and teaching through the internet and study books.

Students ultimately choose a posture, bow grip, left hand posture, shoulder rest, and bow tightness that suits them and their tastes best.

With this amount of mobility and resources, it may seem unnecessary to look closely at specific violin schools and their characteristics. However, the distinctive ‘style of sound’ of each school is still audible, both in recordings from the past and features popularly heard today. If someone listens to recordings of great violinists from the Franco-Belgian school, such as

Szeryng and Ysaÿe, they can imitate the relaxed and floating sound of the Franco-Belgian style despite not being a student of that school. Furthermore, even though the barriers between national violin schools are weakened, some musicians are interested in maintaining, or even reviving, a traditional style and sound. For example, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra sustains a Viennese style by hiring within that particular musical community – whether family members, students of orchestra members, or people who have studied in similar styles. This approach looks very conservative; nonetheless, our musical world is enriched by preservation efforts.

Most importantly, learning the character of the various styles and their techniques, as well as their origins, allows performers interested in the violin repertoire a greater understanding

59 of the schools’ pedagogical principles. Learning the pedagogical methods of the various schools aids violinists in determining the most appropriate techniques and tone for each repertory, and to best suit their own taste. This document provides a new resource for students can develop their own pedagogy by understanding precedent methods.

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Audio and Video Recordings

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“Georg Kulenkampff plays Tschaikovsky, 1.1.” YouTube video, posted by “petrof4056.” November 26, 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxWz1-UX_N0

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“Rate Heifetz, Elman & Kreisler playing Tchaikovsky Canzonetta,” YouTube video, posted by “2ndviolinist,” February 4, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IeuOS5BS4g.

64