The History of Violin Playing from its Origins to 1761

and its Relationship to the Violin and Violin Music

By: David D. Boyden

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Paperback | 22 February 1990

At a Glance

Paperback
640 Pages

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23.39 x 15.6 x 3.28

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David Boyden''s classic book, first published in 1965, was the first to deal comprehensively with the history of violin playing against the vast panorama of the violin''s evolution and the music written for it. Its principal theme is the manner in which the violin was actually played in past centuries, dealing with such practical questions as bowing disciplines in their national and historical evolution, the performance of staccato, the use of vibrato, the meaning of numerous and esoteric performing directions, the notation and performance of double stops, the rules of scordatura playing, and the sound of the violin in early times. Remaining an invaluable source of reference for the performance of early music, this book is now available for the first time in paperback.

Industry Reviews

`Way back in 1965 Boyden's 'History' was a good buy at eight guineas and at today's values it is an outstanding bargain' Robert Lewin, Strad `IThis book is the authoritative work on the history of violin playing up to the middle of the 18th century. ... essential reading for classical violinists and violin teachers ... it is a tribute to the scholarship of David Boyden that, 25 ... it remains a respected and valuable addition to one's library.' ISM Music Journal

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Non-Fiction Arts & Entertainment Music Musical Instruments & Instrumental Ensembles String Instruments History

Preface	p. v
Acknowledgements	p. xi
List of Plates	p. xxi
List of Figures	p. xxiv
The Formative Period, 1520-1600
General introduction	p. 2
The Origin and Development of the Early Violin, 1520-50	p. 6
The early violin. Dates and places of origin. Gaudenzio Ferrari's paintings	p. 7
Ancestors: rebec, Renaissance fiddle, lira da braccio. The role of the viols. Terms	p. 8
Did the viola precede the violin?	p. 15
The 'inventor' of the violin	p. 17
Chronological review of the evidence. Treatises. Historical, political, and linguistic questions. Terms	p. 21
The Advent of the True Violin and Its Development to 1600	p. 31
The true violin described by Jambe de Fer. Detailed description	p. 31
The emergence of Cremona and Brescia as centres of violin making. Andrea Amati, Gasparo da Salo, and G. P. Maggini. Violins shown in painting	p. 34
Export of Italian violins to other countries	p. 38
Violin making outside Italy: France. Germany. Poland. Spain. England	p. 39
Treatises. Terminology	p. 42
The violin bow in the sixteenth century	p. 45
Violin Music in the Sixteenth Century	p. 49
The musical functions of the violin	p. 50
The dearth of written violin music	p. 51
The role of the violin in dancing and accompanying voices	p. 52
Instrumental forms. The canzona	p. 53
Use of the violin in France. Le ballet comique de la reine (1581)	p. 54
In England: records of the court, towns, and private households	p. 57
In Italy: accounts of the Duke of Savoy	p. 59
In Germany: an account of a ducal wedding	p. 61
How the Violin Sounded and How It Was Played in the Sixteenth Century	p. 65
Different methods of playing. The corresponding sound	p. 65
How the violin was played in the sixteenth century	p. 71
Holding the violin and bow	p. 73
Tone, The bow stroke. Ganassi's information. Down-bow and up-bow	p. 77
Pizzicato	p. 84
Fingering. Positions. Shifting	p. 84
Improvisation	p. 89
Multiple stops	p. 90
Expression, including vibrato and dynamics	p. 91
The Development of an Idiomatic Technique, 1600-1650
Introduction. Social, political, and artistic conditions. Their impact on the violin	p. 98
The Development of the Violin and Bow in the Early Seventeenth Century	p. 107
The progress of the violin. Maggini. The Amatis. Details of the violin and its fittings	p. 107
The bow	p. 111
The violin family as a whole. Terminology	p. 115
Increasing usage of the violin. Its effect on rebec and viol	p. 119
The New Violin Idiom. Violin Music and Its uses in Different Countries, 1600-50	p. 121
The implications of the term 'idiom'	p. 121
The development of a new violin idiom	p. 125
Violin music and its uses, 1600-50. The sonata and other forms	p. 126
Contributions of various countries: Italy. Marini	p. 134
Germany	p. 136
France	p. 136
England	p. 138
Other countries	p. 143
The Technique and Sound of the Violin in the Early Seventeenth Century	p. 145
The relation between technique, music, and instrument making	p. 145
The dance style and the sonata style of playing. National styles	p. 147
Holding the violin and bow. The French and Italian bow grips	p. 152
The technique of the left hand: fingering, positions, and shifting	p. 153
The technique of the right hand: bowing and bow strokes	p. 156
The formation of a bowing discipline in Italy and elsewhere. The Rule of Down-Bow. Zannetti	p. 157
Individual bow strokes. Slurring. Francesco Rognoni	p. 163
Borrowing of technique. Multiple stops	p. 166
Special indications: Tremolo. Affetti	p. 170
Col legno. pizzicato	p. 171
The sound of the violin in the early seventeenth century	p. 172
General Matters Affecting the Violin to 1650	p. 175
Ornaments	p. 175
The vibrato	p. 177
Dynamics and expression	p. 178
Rhythm and tempo	p. 180
Pitch. Intonation systems	p. 185
The National Schools of the Late Seventeenth Century. The Rise of Virtuosity
Introduction	p. 192
The Development of the Violin and Bow, 1650-1700	p. 194
The influence of Nicola Amati and Stainer	p. 194
Antonio Stradivari (early works). The 'long' model	p. 197
Other makers	p. 198
Details of the seventeenth-century violin. The Talbot manuscript	p. 199
Material and thickness of string. Pitch. Tension. Volume of sound	p. 203
The bow. The 'Stradivari' bow	p. 206
The Violin Music of the Late Seventeenth-century	p. 212
Introduction: types of music and ideas of expression	p. 212
Contributions of different countries: Italy	p. 216
Areas of activity. Composers	p. 216
The Bologna School. G. B. Vitali	p. 218
Corelli. Works and influence	p. 220
Germany	p. 223
Biber. Walther	p. 223
Their music and technique	p. 224
The scordatura	p. 226
France	p. 227
Lully's use of the violin in dances and the opera	p. 229
French violinists and the guild system	p. 229
England	p. 229
The French influence of the Restoration of Charles II. Influx of German and Italian violinists, including Baltzar and Matteis	p. 229
The fancy. John Jenkins	p. 233
Dances. The variation. The Division-Violin	p. 234
Baltzar as a player	p. 235
Matteis as a player and composer	p. 236
Purcell's trio sonatas	p. 237
Other countries	p. 239
The Technique of the Violin, 1650-1700 (I): National Styles of Playing. The Treatises. The Left Hand	p. 241
Introduction. National styles of playing	p. 241
The violin treatises. The rise of the amateur violinist and its consequences	p. 244
The technique of the violin. Tuning the violin	p. 247
Holding the violin	p. 247
Holding the bow	p. 248
The left hand: fingering, positions, and shifting. Rules for the scordatura	p. 249
Terms for shifting. Extensions	p. 251
The Technique of the Violin, 1650-1700 (II): the Right Hand and Related Questions. the Sound of the Violin	p. 253
Bowing. The bow stroke	p. 253
Nuanced and sustained bow strokes. Bremner quoted on Corelli's practice	p. 254
The discipline of bowing. The Rule of Down-Bow	p. 256
Muffat and French dances. Terms	p. 257
Types of bowing and their execution: syncopated bowings, ondeggiando, bariolage, the slurred tremolo	p. 262
Multiple stops, their notation and performance	p. 271
The pizzicato. Special effects	p. 277
Instrumentation and the ensemble. 'Conducting'	p. 278
The sound of the violin about 1700	p. 281
General Matters Affecting the Violin, 1650-1700	p. 285
Ornaments	p. 285
The vibrato	p. 287
Improvisation	p. 288
Dynamics	p. 290
Rhythm and tempo	p. 292
Alterations of rhythm:	p. 294
Lengthening of dotted figures	p. 295
Alteration of dotted and other figures in the context of triplets	p. 296
Notes inegales	p. 303
The Culmination of the Early History of Violin Playing, 1700-1761
Introduction: the 'evolution of progress' theory. A summary view of the violin	p. 312
The Violin and Bow of the Early Eighteenth Century	p. 317
Antonio Stradivari (maturity and old age)	p. 317
The Guarneri family	p. 318
Other makers	p. 318
Details of the violin and its fittings	p. 319
Other members of the violin family. Terminology	p. 323
The bow. Its evolution. Francois Tourte and the modern bow	p. 324
The Violin Music of the Early Eighteenth Century	p. 331
The development of the violin concerto. The concerto grosso and solo concerto	p. 331
The sonata. The variation. Program music	p. 336
The development of the violin idiom	p. 338
Contributions of individual countries	p. 341
Italy: Vivaldi. Veracini. Tartini	p. 341
France: Leclair. Mondonville. Guillemain	p. 344
Germany: J. S. Bach	p. 348
England: Geminiani. Handel. Ariosti	p. 350
Other countries: Sweden. Holland (Locatelli). Switzerland. Poland. Spain	p. 352
Publication, performance, and patronage	p. 354
The Technique of the Violin, 1700-61 (I): The Treatises. Holding the Violin and Bow. The Left Hand	p. 356
Violin treatises, 1700-61	p. 357
The treatises as prototypes: Geminiani, Leopold Mozart, and L'Abbe le fils	p. 364
How the violin was played	p. 366
Conventions of notation	p. 366
Holding the violin. Tuning the violin. Intonation systems	p. 367
Holding the bow	p. 371
The left hand. Fingering	p. 374
Positions, shifting, and the fingerings involved	p. 376
Terminology	p. 378
Shifting	p. 379
Extensions and contractions	p. 381
Harmonics. Combination tones	p. 384
The vibrato	p. 386
Terminology of the vibrato	p. 389
The Technique of the Violin, 1700-61 (II): The Right Hand. The Bow Stroke and Bow Change. The Rule of Down-Bow	p. 391
The bow stroke. The beginning and ending	p. 392
Sol Babitz's theory of the messa di voce stroke	p. 393
Leopold Mozart's 'Divisions'	p. 394
How the bow stroke was made. The bow change. Power and tone	p. 397
Bow strokes in general. The Rule of Down-Bow	p. 400
Terminology and signs	p. 403
The Technique of the Violin, 1700-61 (III): Bow Strokes and Their Execution	p. 404
Introduction. Relation of bowing to the character of the music	p. 404
The individual bow stroke	p. 405
Slurred bowings	p. 407
The violin staccato in the early eighteenth century	p. 408
Terms	p. 408
Signs: dots, strokes, wedges	p. 410
The performance of the individual (unslurred) staccato note	p. 411
Slurred staccato, including 'lifted' bow	p. 416
Slurred tremolo, legato and staccato	p. 422
Mixed bowings	p. 424
Vivaldi's bowings and terms	p. 424
The Technique of the Violin, 1700-61 (IV): Multiple Stops. The 'Bach' Bow. Special Effects. Instrumentation and Conducting. The Sound of the Violin	p. 427
Double stops	p. 428
Triple and quadruple stops. Their notation	p. 429
The 'Bach' bow, a modern invention. Schering and Schweitzer	p. 431
Multiple stops in actual practice	p. 435
Arpeggios	p. 438
Slurring	p. 441
Special effects, including the pizzicato	p. 443
Instrumentation and conducting	p. 445
The sound of the violin in the early eighteenth century	p. 447
Specific and Improvised Ornaments. The Cadenza	p. 449
The trill	p. 450
The mordent	p. 453
The appoggiatura	p. 455
Improvised ornaments	p. 457
The cadenza	p. 461
Terms. The cadenza in Tartini and Locatelli	p. 464
Tempo. Alterations of Rhythm. Dynamics. Expression	p. 467
Time signatures. Tempo terms. The 'inherent' tempo	p. 467
Tempo rubato	p. 470
Alterations of rhythm	p. 472
Notes inegales. Quantz quoted	p. 472
Double (or triple) dotting	p. 478
Alterations of dotted and other figures in the context of triplets	p. 482
Dynamics: loud, soft, and the shades between	p. 484
Aesthetics of expression. The Affetto	p. 490
Practical Hints to Modern Violinists	p. 495
Introduction: the approach to the performance of old music. The intuitive approach. Following the composer's intentions	p. 495
The old violin and the old bow	p. 496
The kind of sound to be produced	p. 497
The bow and bowing	p. 497
Position and fingering	p. 500
Altering the modern violin. Reducing tension	p. 500
Holding the violin	p. 502
Other factors, technical and musical, including expression	p. 502
Stradivari's birthday	p. 505
Bibliography	p. 509
Glossary	p. 525
Index	p. 531
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

The History of Violin Playing from its Origins to 1761

and its Relationship to the Violin and Violin Music

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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