[Music]
Many teachers claim that this étude should be practiced at or near
the point of the bow. A somewhat broader and freer forearm stroke is
more useful. As in other examples previously analyzed, the staccato is
not wholly desirable. The trill should be accented, and there should
be no variation in the equality of notes because of the trill. Hardly
more than two trills are possible. The student should read a whole
measure at a glance, and place the fingers at once in position. Perfect
freedom of the elbow joint is desirable. A free stroke of the wrist is
necessary in short string-transfers.
After the whole étude has been played in this broad, free style, play
it entirely through with short staccato bowing, about two inches from
the point. In the fifth line, the arpeggios are not played in the
half-position. As to position changes, remain in one position until
it is necessary to move from that position. The sixth line contains
the third position followed by the sixth. The fingers should fall at
once into the sixth position, the entire hand moving back to the fifth
when necessary, the thumb acting in unison with the fingers. Pupils
must be perfectly familiar with position work. When the fifth and
sixth positions are to be used, the thumb lies flat under the neck of
the violin and the fingers are curved over the strings. Never move
the hand or depress the fingers until the work in a certain position
is finished. We now come to a passage in which we take high E in the
fourth position.
Those students who have not been trained, like the followers of Halir,
to play three octave scales and arpeggios, beginning on the highest
note, are likely to make errors at this point. To the student of
Fiorillo, however, one position should be as familiar as another.
Again, we take F♯ in the fifth position, but this is not so difficult,
as we have just played G. The prevailing difficulty with players is
that they continually get ready for a new position before it is time
to do so, giving the hand a restless motion, and changing the position
of the fingers so that they play falsely. The thumb is invariably too
slow in slipping under the violin. The thumb at the middle joint must
be depressed, and there must be as little pressure as possible there;
the chin, resting firmly, makes freedom possible for the thumb. It is
very noticeable that Kubelik has marvelous facility in taking the high
positions, his fingers falling into place with surprising dexterity.
He has a perfectly trained hand. As before, the player glides with the
entire hand back to the fifth position, then to fourth, and lastly
to the third; again, we take the fifth, then fourth, then third,
second, and first positions. The thumb must be absolutely free, with
no pressure at the middle joint, and always in advance of the first
finger, the hand moving as freely as possible.
The transfers across four strings should be made with ease, the arm
moving out to the side from the plane of the shoulder, the wrist being
free. In changing positions, the finger last used moves into the new
position. The secret of playing this work well lies in the _absolute
freedom of the thumb_. Students may observe that in the last line the
transition must be made from the sixth to the first position, the hand
reaching far over on the G string, the thumb resting on its tip, yet
never quite released from the neck of the violin.
[Music]
This étude is most valuable as a study of positions, while it offers no
varied bowings. It is purely a technical exercise, radically opposed in
style to the beautiful examples of cantabile playing offered by numbers
one, seven, and eight.
No. 12.
Few of the Fiorillo _Études_ are played by the student strictly
according to metronome time. Not so with Rode. His _Caprices_ are
often studied abroad for three years; and, by the time the student
has completed them, he plays them like finished pieces, at metronome
time. Often, too, the Rode _Caprices_ are memorized, but the Fiorillo
_Études_ rarely are. The Berlin school neglects Fiorillo to a certain
extent, but Halir, one of its best exponents, spends considerable
time in the study of them, giving to them the grace, vivacity, and
lightness of the French school when the text so demands, and also
striving for the breadth of the German school in pure cantabile work,
as found in slow movements. For intricate bowings Kreutzer, with the
supplementary Massart[7] bowings, is adequate. Fiorillo’s _Études_, as
previously stated, cannot be studied in their order. Individual needs
govern the teacher. Perhaps one student may be studying Fiorillo,
while, also studying the more difficult trill and double-stop _Études_
of Kreutzer. Some of the Kreutzer _Études_ have never been given to
me by teachers. It is equally true of Fiorillo. If I seemed to have
a weak point in technic, or if my bowings were stiff and angular, I
returned to Kreutzer. I was taught Kreutzer and Rode, over and over, in
Berlin. Many of the Berlin teachers say: “Get technic from the standard
Concertos. Do not spend too much time on technic pure and simple.” The
question in the mind of the Joachim School is “How is it possible for
the Sevcik followers to have a repertoire, when they are made to study
technical works of such length and seriousness as those of Sevcik?”
[Music]
The twelfth étude of Fiorillo is not one in which technic is prominent.
Its object is mainly the freedom of the bow-arm. The fingers of the
left hand should be placed lightly over the strings, in readiness for
their movement. They should anticipate a change of position. If the
left hand is ready, bow technic is more easily secured. Note in the
Hermann edition that the étude is marked _forte_. It should be played
lightly, the upper third of the bow being used. There should be no
marked contrasts of the legato and staccato; in fact, the staccato
mark is not to be interpreted as necessary in such études as this,
because the stroke is so free. It would be impossible to play this
étude _forte_ in the upper part of the bow, and give it lightness and
grace. The short staccato also gives less breadth to the stroke. In
similar passages the length of bow used should be about uniform. Note
the inclination to cut the second note of a group of two tied notes in
anticipation of a single staccato note. This should be avoided. All
violin jerking of the bow on single first notes of a group should be
avoided. The student should be careful to slide the thumb well under
the neck of the violin in the fifth position passages. Do not move the
hand while in one position, in anticipation of the next position. Do
not depress the fingers in the fifth and sixth positions before passing
to the third.
In this passage avoid forced attenuation:
[Music]
Continuous syncopation should be uniformly smooth and even. Nothing is
of such value to a violinist as a perfect command of the transition
from the third to the fifth position, and vice versa. Many faults of
technic arise from too much pressure of the thumb upon the neck of
the instrument, thus giving the player no freedom, and inducing a bad
habit of bending the thumb instead of strengthening it for the fifth
position. If extensions are to be made, slide the thumb a little
farther under the neck of the violin, and curve the fingers well.
[Music]
Note in the sixth line the fifth position passage on the A string. Many
players have to move the whole hand at this point, so that the fingers
may lie easy on the string. The hand should assume a position which
will enable the pupil to play with ease. The newer chin-rests, which
are wider than the former ones used, do not seem to enable one to hold
the violin with ease. The chin should rest on the edge of the chin-rest
rather than far in or on the tail-piece. The muscles at the back of the
head become cramped by gripping too hard. A little piece of chamois
leather placed between the left jaw and the chin-rest will prevent a
bruise of the flesh, the bane of professionals.
In the ninth line we have the form of bowing known as two cut and two
slurred notes. The notes that are cut are not to be played sharply
at the point of the bow. They are swung lightly along the strings,
using about one-third of the bow, the tempo being moderate. Again,
the student must be cautioned against cutting the value of the second
slurred note in anticipation of a single staccato note:
[Music]
Note the _forte_ passage in the lower half of the bow:
[Music]
This should be played in a somewhat disconnected style in the first
half of the measure, with a strong accent on the first note of groups
of two. The latter half of the measure falls about in the middle of the
bow. A free stroke, not too short a staccato, is preferred.
The tenth line opens with an arpeggio played _forte_ with staccato and
legato strokes. The next similar passage is played pianissimo, in close
imitation as to style. All passages of this nature are smoother in
the upper part of the bow. Avoid forced accents or any movement which
interferes with free bowing:
[Music]
In the twelfth line a short legato passage is played in the upper half
of the bow rather than with the whole bow. When one passage closes
with down-bow, there should be no break in passing to the up-bow. Two
notes slurred lie in the upper half with as long a bow as the tempo
will allow. In passing from a long legato passage to a short one, it is
well to estimate so well that the part of the bow desired may come at
once under control. All passages requiring quick transitions on four
strings should be played as broadly and with as free a bow-arm as the
tempo will admit; in other words, too little bow gives no value to the
passage, while a light stroke with a longer bow is made more valuable.
Naturally, if the tempo is increased to allegro, we must remain near
the point of the bow. When four strings are required, the bow-arm
must be higher, and the distinction between a forearm stroke and a
pure wrist stroke must be well defined. In rapid legato passages all
pressure upon the bow-stick must be avoided.
Keep the legato work that follows in the upper half of the bow,
avoiding pauses between bows, or unnecessary accentuation. Short
groups of slurred notes must be played near the point of the bow.
Short string-transfers are made with the wrist, and three or four
string-transfers with wrist and arm, the bow never being tilted on its
inner edge. Play on the outer edge of the hair as much as possible,
resting the bow on two strings, or as nearly so as possible. Do not
release the fourth finger from the bow-stick. Rest it at least against
the stick if not on it; all work, especially in the lower half of the
bow, demands this security of the hand. For string-transfers of this
kind, see Sevcik’s _School of 4,000 Bowings_, Parts III, IV, and V;
Casorti’s _School of Bowing_;[8] the work of Hans Sitt, Op. 92;[9] and
the Kross _Art of Bowing_.[10]