This is intended as a resource for my violin students and includes my selection of clips of pieces appearing on their violin exam syllabus. I am currently posting a module of Irish tunes during a period of lockdown due to corona virus.
This lovely lullaby by Schubert turns up on the Grade 1 violin and cello syllabus. Some of you have played a duet version. Here are four different versions for you to listen to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxd2oeTynhc Violin Virtuoso version The player here is Yovanovitch Bratza, who I haven't come across before. He was born in Serbia and died in England in 1964. This is a very old recording .
Pablo Casals was born in Catalonia in Spain. (1876-1973) He lived for almost a century and made lots of recordings. He started on flute and violin and changed to cello when he was 11 or so. He made his debut in 1891 in Barcelona. His first job was in the opera house Le Liceu in Barcelona. He lived much of his life in the South of France. He was a very good tennis player. In his early career, his mother used to travel with him. He was fine when he got on stage there but needed a bit of a push from his mother to get there.
He was the first cellist to play the Bach cello suites in a concert and he sparked a lot of interest in them and every virtuoso cellist since aspires to play them. Listen to Pablo Casals perform The Song of the Birds (‘El cant dels ocells’), a traditional Catalan carol.
Casals made the song famous with his version for cello, which he would play as an encore. He performed it on 24 October 1971 at the General Assembly of the United Nations when he received the UN Peace Medal. He was 94. Before he began playing he said:
‘I have not played the cello in public for many years, but I feel that the time has come to play again. I am going to play a melody from Catalan folklore: El cant dels ocells - The Song of the Birds. Birds sing when they are in the sky, they sing: “Peace, Peace, Peace”, and it is a melody that Bach, Beethoven and all the greats would have admired and loved. What is more, it is born in the soul of my people, Catalonia.’
Jascha Heifetz Video Clip Click on the link to watch Jascha Heifetz play.
Jascha Heifetz was known as God's fiddler, so amazing was the perfection of his playing. He was born in Lithuania in 1901 which was then part of Russia. His father began to teach him when he was three years old. He was a child prodigy and was performing on stage when he was only six years old. He fled his home country in 1917 at the start of the Russian Revolution and spent the rest of his life in America. At 16 yeras old, he gave a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. "Pandemonium erupted after the recital, with ‘bravos shaking the walls of the auditorium’, according to one report. Among the headlines that followed were ‘Perfect Violin Playing at Last’, ‘Boy Violinist Wins Triumph’ and ‘Enter a Genius:Jascha Heifetz’.He traveled the world to give concerts and came to Ireland at least once during the 1920's. He hurt his shoulder and stopped playing in his late sixties and spent the rest of his life teaching and working for good causes.
He made lots of recordings during his long life. I have two of his recordings to the WAMA Strings spotify list Listen here WAMA Strings
He was said be like a statue on stage - very serious but the emotion and fire came through his playing. He died in 1987 in Los Angelos. Look at that bow hand!
Today, I am looking for Slovakian folk songs. I found a version of the number Tancuj Tancuj which I am told is a very popular song there.
Here is my video tutorial on playing Tancuj, Tancuj on violin speciully for students Anna and Sara. My version is in the key of G major. Remember to keep 1 and 2 close together on A string
Fritz Kreisler 1875-1962 No 2 in my canon of great violin players is the Austrian, Fritz Kreisler. A child prodigy, Kreisler graduated at age 10! from the Vienna Conservatory. One of the key aspects of his style was a very warm vibrato. He was the first violinist to make lots of recordings which helped to make him very popular and very famous. He was a 'secret' composer. For encores he sometimes played pieces that he had written himself but he passed them off as works by obscure unknown composers. It seems he was a bit shy about introducing pieces he had penned himself.
He joined the Austrian Army during WW 1 and was injured and discharged. I love Kreisler's pieces and whenever I hear them I imagine I am in a Viennese Coffee House eating delicious cake as there is a real feeling of lighthearted café music about many of his encores. Here is one I love to play myself; Liebesleid which is in waltz time. Listen to Kreisler himself playing Liebesleid here http://www.viewpure.com/AqQ2_2qd-5Y?start=0&end=0 and a more recent video version by the German violinist David Garrett.
The first great violinist on my list was born before recording and photography began so we have only the reports of his legendary skill and of course the pieces he wrote. Paganini is still recognized as the most remarkable violinist of all time and one of the world's first international superstars.
Niccolò Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy in 1782. Paganini's first instrument was the mandolin. When he was seven, he switched to the violin. He came up with new, dazzling effects on the violin that people had never heard before. His rock star personality onstage had a great influence on Franz Liszt, who decided he wanted to be the Paganini of the piano. Paganini's best-known composition is a set of 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, especially the Caprice #24, which has inspired pieces by dozens of other composers.
Stories of Paganini's performances are legendary, with audiences said to have been moved to tears and hysteria. His astonishing technical ability led many to believe that his mother had sold his soul to the devil in return for a career as the greatest virtuoso in the world. Paganini made a lot of money but he was known for his excessive gambling that at one point forced him to pawn his own violin. By the mid-1830s Paganini's health and ability began to fail and he died in May 1840 from internal hemorrhaging before a priest could be summoned. This added to suspicions that he had entered a pact with the devil.
Paganini came to perform in Dublin. The concert didn't start out too well for him. Here is an newspaper article recalling the performance 'Many years ago I heard an old music lover boast proudly that he had heard Paganini play in Dublin. I am reminded that in 1831 a musical festival was held in Dublin, under the conductorship of Sir George Smart, and the promoters decided to engage the services of the world-famous violinist at a very high fee.
Paganini was not only a marvellous violinist, but he was also an accomplished actor. When he came on the stage of the Theatre Royal before his packed audience, he stood for a few moments, as if thinking what he should play. Read the full article published in 1931 here https://www.irishtimes.com/news/paganini-in-dublin-1.271643
Caprice: A capriccio or caprice, is a piece of music, usually fairly free in form and of a lively character. The typical capriccio is one that is fast, intense, and often virtuosic in nature.
Check out Paganini's best known piece in the videos below and in the tracks on the Spotify playlist.
A version of this appeared on a Grade 3 ABRSM syllabus recently. It is a great piece to have in your repertoire.
Quiz
1: Where was Paganini born (Which country) ?
2: What century was he performing in ?
3: Why don't we have any recordings of him.?
4: What was his nickname?
5: Who recorded a rock fusion version of his 24th Caprice?
Check out this classical rock fusion version played by Juliajn Lloyd Weber
