Violin concerto

“ Everybody is in evening dress; the ladies very gay, and the party very quiet—a still, drawing-room sort of air presides over the whole. Many of the ladies are young—quite girls; and a good many of the gentlemen are solemn old foggies, who appear strongly inclined to go to sleep, and, in fact, sometimes do. Meantime, the music goes on. A long, long sonata or concerto—piano and violin, or piano, violin, and violoncello—is listened to in profound silence, with a low murmur of applause at the end of each movement. ”

“ I was to play first violin. The concerto is confused, not natural, too abrupt in its modulations, and devoid of all genius. When it was over I praised it highly, for, indeed, he deserves this. The poor man must have had labor and study enough to write it. At last they brought a clavichord of Stein's out of the next room, a very good one, but inch-thick with dust. Herr Graf, who is director here, stood there looking like a man who had hitherto believed his own modulations to be something very clever, but all at once discovers that others may be still more so, and without grating on the ear. ”

“ Flute, oboe, and strings bring in other themes, and the waltz comes to a brilliant close.
CONCERTOS Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, in D major, Opus 35
Before occupying its permanent niche in the repertory, Tschaikowsky’s violin concerto had to run a fierce gantlet of fault-finding. Friend and foe alike took pokes at it. The wonder is that it survived at all. Even Mme. von Meck, Tschaikowsky’s patroness-saint, picked serious flaws in the work, and the lady was known for her unwavering faith in Tschaikowsky’s genius. ”

“ There is the merit of uniformity and increasing interest, which it were well all violinists would meditate upon. In general, without diverting attention from the solo by over-elaborated passages, the instrumentation possessed an interest which cannot be separated from the principal design. The entrées are neither cold nor symmetrical—the effects new and varied.
The first concerto is in E flat, set for the orchestra, but the Violin is written in D; the four strings of the instrument are consequently tuned a semitone higher. The tutti, admirably written, is bold and flowing, and very effective. ”

“ The work gains ponderance by reason of the long orchestral introduction in both the first and second movements. There is, likewise, as in the pianoforte concertos, too conscious a suppression of superficial brilliance. But what is this slight heaviness compared to the soaring power of its glorious themes? Truly the violin rises high above the orchestra as on wings of light.
The treatment of the violin relates the concerto to Joachim even more definitely than the dedication. It is full of the most exacting difficulties, some of which in the last movement gave even Joachim pause. ”

“ After the small choruses, the songs, the string quartet, op. 2, and the symphony in D minor, there appeared some interesting experiments in various fields of composition. The list includes a pianoforte sonata, op. 5; a sonata for violoncello and pianoforte, op. 6; the serenade, op. 7, for wind-instruments, patronized by von Bülow; a violin concerto, op. 8; "Stimmungsbilder" for pianoforte, op. 9; the French-horn concerto, op. 11, already referred to; a symphony in F minor, op.-109- 12; a pianoforte quartet, op. 13; and "Wanderers Sturmlied," for six-part mixed chorus and orchestra, op. 14. ”

“ Do you know what my idea is?—that most operatic recitatives should be treated in this way, and the recitative only occasionally sung WHEN THE WORDS CAN BE THOROUGHLY EXPRESSED BY THE MUSIC. An Academie des Amateurs is about to be established here, like the one in Paris, where Herr Franzl is violin leader, and I am at this moment writing a concerto for violin and piano. I found my dear friend Raaff still here, but he leaves this on the 8th. He has sounded my praises here, and shown sincere interest in me, and I hope he will do the same in Munich. ”

“ When he came [128] home he made this violin out of a piece of the old sounding-board, and gave it to me on my birthday. It's—oh, it's no end, you know! And he made another for himself, and we play together. Do you know the Mozart Concerto in F, for two violins? ”

“ The first movement of the concerto (Allegro non troppo, D major, 3-4) has a chief subject of idyllic nature, announced by violas, ’cellos, bassoons, and horns. The peak of the movement comes with the merging of the cadenza into the return of the first subject.
The second movement (Adagio, F major, 2-4) has been compared to a serenade or a romanza. The principal melody is sung first by an oboe, then in altered form by the solo violin,
play music
which also introduces an emotional and highly ornamented second theme. ”

“ A concerto is a sonata for a solo instrument with orchestral accompaniment, the form being usually somewhat modified so as to adapt it to a composition in which there must [Pg 73] necessarily be opportunity for a good deal of technical display. There are usually but three movements in the concerto.
The great majority of concertos are for piano and orchestra, but examples of concertos for violin, cello, flute, oboe, and other solo instruments (all with orchestral accompaniment) have also been written. ”

“ Henceforth it was not going to be so easy to obtain the great cleric’s leave to go wandering, whatever the reason. So for the immediate future the impatient young genius settled down to compose and to perform. A stream of works were put on paper in 1775 and 1776. Five violin concertos were written the first year. They 21 are the best known of Mozart’s concertos for that instrument and were conceived, in the main, for the violinist Brunetti of the court orchestra. With all their charm they still stand below the great clavier concertos in grandeur and epoch-making qualities. ”

“ In 1876 he appeared in Paris with success at the Pasdeloup concerts. His published compositions, besides arrangements, transcriptions, etc., comprise two concertos, for violin and violoncello respectively; 'Exercises de mécanisme pour le Violon seul,' and smaller pieces, such as 'Feuilles d'Album,' romances, nocturnes, etc., for violin or violoncello. Two other concertos, for violin and cello (the latter dedicated to Piatti) , an Allegro di Concerto, for violin and orchestra, and some vocal works, remain unpublished. ”

“ The little girl, who is in her twelfth year, will play the most difficult compositions of the greatest masters; the boy, who is not yet seven, will perform on the clavecin or harpsichord; he will also play a concerto for the violin, and will accompany symphonies on the clavier, the manual or keyboard being covered with a cloth, with as much facility as if he could see the keys ”

“ Moralt, Marshall, Loder, R. Ashley, Lindley, Dragonetti, Nicholson, Cooke, Willman, Mackintosh, Platt, Harper, &c. &c. The repieno performers will be principally selected from the Philharmonic Concert; and to make the arrangements as perfect as possible, M. de Beriot is engaged as concerto player, who, we believe, is allowed, by all good judges, to be the most finished performer on the violin in Europe.
From this brief outline, it appears to no that the conductor (Mr. Clarke) has left nothing undone that is likely to contribute to the success of the meeting ”

“ The eighth was written on the way to a concert tour in Italy, and was intended especially to please the Italians, and written in a confessedly dramatic style, in modo d’una scena cantante. None of the concertos is, strictly speaking, virtuoso music. Naturally all reveal an intimate knowledge of the peculiarities of the violin; but these hardly over-rule the claim of the music itself. He calls for a sort of solid playing, for a particularly broad, deep tone in the cantilena passages, for a heavy, rather than a light and piquant, bow. ”

“ Slow and tender melodies are never better rendered than by a mass of violins. Nothing can equal the touching sweetness of a score of first strings made to sing by twenty well-skilled bows. The violin is, in fact, the true female voice of the Orchestra,—a voice at once passionate and chaste, heart-rending yet soft, which can weep, sigh and lament, chant, pray and muse, or burst forth into joyous accents as none other can do. ”

“ In turning to the nineteenth century we shall find little or no more of this sort of pure music. Apart from a few brilliant concert or salon pieces which have little beyond brilliance or charm to recommend them, the considerable literature for the violin consists of sonatas and concertos in which the accompaniment is like the traditional half, almost greater than the whole. In other words we have no longer to do with music for which the violin is the supreme justification, but with music which represents a combination of the violin with other instruments. ”

“ There must be melody and harmony of distinct and vivid character. These the concertos of the violin-composers oftenest lack; and therefore from the point of view of pure music, one finds in them a lack not only of originality but of strength.
Their short pieces stand a better chance of a longer life, because in them a slender idea is not stretched to fill a broad form, and because for a short time sheer beauty of sound, such as the violin is capable of, and dexterity of fingers are a sufficient delight to the ear. ”

“ There were, perhaps, a dozen men and women, who belonged to the tourist party, sitting apart from most of the other persons in the audience, and they gave the young girl another round of handclapping, accompanied by the rattling of glasses on the table.
The orchestra, consisting of two violins, a cornet, and piano, half hidden in foliage disposed in front of the stage, seemed to be uncertain what to play. The leader, his violin in his left hand, reached over the footlights and took a few sheets of music from the girl. ”

“ Indeed, very few of the greatest singers could ever produce such velvety, sweet, poignant, vibrant and insinuating notes as we hear from a luscious Stradivari, a sweet Amati, or a rich Maggini under the bow of a master-violinist.
Everything about a violin appeals to us. There is something so mysterious and ingratiating about the little instrument, neat and trig and curved at the waist, with lines as clean as those of a high-bred race-horse and nerves as tense with excitement, ready to be set quivering at the touch of the bow. ”

“ There is a wild, almost a savage vitality in the whole work. But there is hardly a trace of genuine quartet style in any movement. In the statement of the first theme the viola, it is true, imitates the violin; but the second violin and the cello carry on a wholly orchestral accompaniment. The climax in this statement, and the measures before the second theme almost cry aloud for the pounding force of the piano, or the blare of trumpets and the shriek of piccolos. In fact almost through the entire movement the style is solid, without transparency and without flexibility of movement. ”

“ They are the heart of the whole orchestra, the most essential part of music, next to the human voice. It is a graceful, manly, healthy exercise, to play the violin. If it be very difficult to play it like an artist, so much the worthier of a manly aspiration. If it is often only vulgar fiddling, it is, on the other hand, with those truly schooled, the most gentlemanly of instruments. ”

“ The normal tone of a body of violins playing together is clear, penetrating, and rich. As Berlioz has noted in his book on orchestration, a mass of violins playing in the middle and upper registers produces the most brilliant color of the modern orchestra. The opening measures of Mendelssohn’s Italian symphony, the finale of Weber’s “Oberon” overture, the closing measures of the garden scene in Gounod’s “Faust,” or the whole of the prelude to Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” may be instanced as illustrations of pure violin color and power. ”

“ For certain special effects the player is directed to pluck the string (pizzicato) , this method of playing giving rise to a dry, detached tone instead of the smooth, flowing one that is so characteristic of the violin as commonly played.
Violins in the orchestra are divided into firsts and seconds, the first violins being always seated at the left of the audience and the seconds at the right. ”

“ A solo for the violoncello is introduced here; the few bars of which, if entrusted to an able player, are calculated to express the bitterest anguish and the deepest despair. The sweet melody which follows is highly favourable for the display of the singers’ talent. Fortunatus expresses the grief of separation, but Hope whispers that he will be liberated by a superior power. The Sombre F minor gives way to the tranquil A major, and the melancholy sounds of the violoncello are succeeded by the cheering tones of the violin, which now steps in with a solo. ”

“ The solo violin chants a gentle theme against which the strings and clarinet weave in equally gentle background. There is a spirited change of mood as the melody is followed by rhythmic passage-work sustained over a marked bass. The first theme returns as the movement draws to a close, more deliberate now. The flute takes it up as the violin embroiders richly around it. ”

“ In this respect the concertone composed in 1773 (190 K.) is more artistic in design and in workmanship. Here the orchestra is in contrast with two solo violins, to which the oboe is added as a solo instrument; the violoncello, though not so freely treated as the others, is also often solo. The usual concerto form is given to the three movements, the middle movement being romance-like, but more elaborate than usual, to give employment to the solo instruments. The violoncello, though it does not take a leading part in this movement, has an independent passage as accompaniment throughout. ”