Whenever there is talk of violins, the name Stradivarius always comes to mind. Questions have been asked over the centuries as to how the violins have their unique sound. Is it the varnish? Is it the water? Is it the shape? Or is it perhaps the provenance? Scientists have studied the violins and musicians have studied and debated the sound quality and the superiority of the instruments for centuries.
Stradivarius violins are commonly hailed worldwide as the best violins in the world. The sound quality of Stradivarius violins is of unprecedented superiority when compared to other violins, and it is commonly believed that no one has been able to match it in the past three centuries since their maker, Antonio Stradivari, died in 1737. Antonio Stradivari was born in 1644 in Italy, where he operated out of Cremona as a luthier, the term for someone who makes string instruments. His violins became known as Antonius Stradivarius violins, because he inscribed his labels in Latin, rather than Italian. His violins have become legendary and he is known as history’s greatest violin maker, living to be 93 years old. Over his career, he crafted over eleven hundred instruments, not only violins, but other string instruments as well. Only about six hundred have survived through the centuries to the present day. There are many violins, and other instruments, not of his making with his name ascribed to them such as knockoffs and designs inspired by Stradivari, which proved difficult in the finding, authenticating, and cataloguing of his genuine creations. There are about 243 known violins.
Stradivarius violins in their time were unique compared to other violins with Stradivari presenting his originality in their construction, through more exact mea...
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Walter, Patrick. "No 'Secret' Ingredient In Strad Varnish." Chemistry & Industry 24 (2009): 10. Business Source Complete. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Weinreich, Gabriel. "Cremona Violins." Physics Today 63.10 (2010): 54. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 19 Apr. 2014
In the first part of this recital the vivaldi, contained a string Quartet. After the first intermission, I looked down at the podium and noticed that the precussions were added which included the timpani, bass drum, tylophone, and cymbals. In this recital Nancy Menk was the conductor, Judith Von Houser was the soprano which played a high note, and Mary Nessinger was the Mezzo-soprano which played a slight softer note. This part of the concert was divided into four pieces. First there was the Magnificant by M. Haydn (the orchestra accompaniment was edited from the composer's manuscript by Mark Nabholz). This piece consisted of strings without violas, two french horns, and an organ.
Sadie, Stanley. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Essays on his Life and his Music. United States: Oxford University Press. 1996, Print.
To this day, many of Stradivarius violins remain in the human world, but only one can resound with the beauty of Stradivari's soul; this one Hermes keeps for himself. But to honor Stradivari's life and to share his gift with the world, Hermes joins with Apollo every night and plays the symphonies of nature; these can be heard in the winds, in the oceans, indeed, in the fabric of everyday life.
Giuseppe Torelli, was an Italian violinist, teacher and composer, is considered one of the early developers of the Baroque concerto and concerto grosso. Torelli also composed a significant number of works for the trumpet during the Baroque period (1600-1750). Around 1690, one can begin to see the first works for the trumpet. He was familiar with the virtuoso trumpeter, Giovanni Pellegrino Brandi. Brandi would sometimes play with the San Petronio orchestra, of which Torelli was violin player. This acquaintance could explain Torelli’s awareness of the trumpet’s timbre, dynamic range, and expressive capabilities.
It was not only until the spring of that year that he for first time left Hamburg professionally. He undertook a tour with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remenyi for the purpose of introducing himself and his works. At Gottingen they gave a concert in which the young pianist made a deep impression upon the musicians present. He and Remenyi were to play Beethoven?s Kreutzer sonata, but at the last moment it was discovered that the piano was half a tone too low.
A luthier is defined as a creator and maker of stringed instruments. Stradivari’s main focus was perfecting violins, but would often branch into violas and cellos which are much more rare to find today. Through his life ...
Harman, Alec, and Anthony Milner. Late Renaissance and Baroque Music. London: Barrie Books LTD., 1959. ML193.H37
Since Beethoven was seen as such an influential composer, many sought to compose music similar to that of Beethoven and the other masters who had set the stage for classical music. Yet they could not be too similar to Beethoven and had to have uniqueness in their compositions. As Burkholder explains, composers that followed the musical canon, “...distinguished from their lesser contemporaries by their level of craftsmanship, by the strength of their musical personality, and by an ineffable quality of ‘inspiration,’ ‘beauty,’ or ‘truth’.(Burkholder 120). The craftsmanship can be interpreted as the way they created their compositions in a great way such as the main inspirers of these young composers did. The craftsmanship had to of course to make it an impact, like pieces in any museum, they have to show skill and express the quality of their design. Their strength in musical personality had to show their uniqueness and style they imposed when composing music, to the point where they could be distinguished through their compositions. This strength in personality had to pop out while still following and showing their inspiration, which was the most important quality, to that of the masters of classical music. The inspiration was a key factor that lead to the rise of the musical
"Clara Rockmore (1911-1998)." Computer Music Journal 22.4 (1998): 14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 May 2012.
In terms on contributions to Classical-Era music, Stamitz is credited with many innovations. As the concertmaster of the Mannheim orchestra, he lead it to a standard unparalleled in it's day. Another extremely influential contribution...
Pogue, David and Scott Speck. “Classical Music for Dummies.” Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1997. Print.
It is clear that Beethoven’s stands as being significant in development of the string quartet to a massive extent in creativity and innovation. His early quartets show great influence of those from the Classical period and with his own, has influenced his contemporaries and later composers. The quartets published later in his life show even greater imagination and use of expression. It is also through similar uses of texture, harmony, rhythm and counterpoint that composers of the Romantic period and the 20th century wrote their own string quartets. Beethoven’s however prove a huge advancement in how string quartets are written and the intensity of emotions that they portray.
Historical. This brilliant composition is considered as one of the two most important violin concertos of the German Romantic period, with Mendelssohn’s vi...
Antonio Vivaldi is a famous Italian baroque composer, known by most Suzuki violin students who study his concertos or by audiences everywhere who have heard and love his composition of the Four Seasons. Having grown up as students of the Suzuki Violin Method, we recognize this composer and have experience performing his pieces. In addition to his many concertos written for solo violin, Vivaldi composed many concertos intended to be performed by two solo violins, accompanied by a small orchestra. Because we are both violinists, we chose to analyze the second movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A minor, RV 522, included in his L’Estro Armonico works.
This famous devilishly-fast violin piece composed by the enfant terrible of violin, Nicolo Paganini, has been partially adapted to be played on the Erhu as an etude due to its difficulty, characterized by the perpetual motion of 16th notes including huge leaps in register. It has thus become the benchmark test of advanced technical proficiency for Erhu and is now being used by the Central Conservatory of Music in China as in Etude in its Performance Diploma graded examinations. In this excerpt, only the opening reprise in the home key of C major will be played.