All Focus articles – Page 36
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FocusFrom the Archive: advice for budding orchestral players
Chas J Rockwell compiled a list of handy rules for less experienced orchestral players in The Strad's July 1893 issue
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Premium ❘ FeatureAsk the Experts: how to keep your violin, viola or cello clean
Three instrument makers and restorers respond to a reader's query about how to keep her instrument clean of rosin
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Premium ❘ FeatureHow to reduce tension when playing the violin or viola
Mary McGovern provides some advice on holding your instrument without unnecessary spine and shoulder discomfort
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Premium ❘ FeatureWhat does the future hold for English fiddling?
Jon Boden explains the difficulties of finding an authentic playing style for traditional English tunes
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom the Archive: advice for second violinists
Intelligent, modest, self-controlled, sympathetic: a description of all good second violinists from The Strad's May 1914 issue
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FocusHow well did Shakespeare know the violin?
The word ‘violin' never appears in Shakespeare's plays, but he left tantalising clues that he knew the instrument well. To mark the Bard's 450th anniversary this month, we republish an article by John Dilworth from 2009
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Premium ❘ FeatureWill orchestras be paperless in the future?
Could a symphony orchestra ditch its entire sheet music library in favour of digital scores and tablet computers? The Brussels Philharmonic is setting out to do just that, as David Kettle reports
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FocusViolist Lesley Robertson on taking the plunge with laser eye surgery
In this Health Matters article from The Strad, June 2009, the St Lawrence Quartet player describes the process of having her eyes lasered
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FocusTackling the difficult topic of student-teacher relationships
Learning a stringed instrument requires an emotional and mental bond between student and teacher, but what happens when the boundaries blur? Hazel Davis investigates
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FocusIs the golden age of violin making just an illusion?
Robert Lewin, The Strad's long-serving writer on the violin market, considers the ‘old versus modern' question in this article from 1964
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrom the archive: who was the first female violinist?
The Strad marked International Women’s Day 2014 with this gem from the archives, in which our writer of 1894 ponders the name of the first violinist ‘of the fair sex’
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Premium ❘ FeatureYour desk or mine? The pleasures and pitfalls of having an orchestral desk-partner
Classical music agony aunt Alice McVeigh offers some tips for a harmonious relationship
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Premium ❘ FeatureViolinist Heime Müller on his search to cure his focal dystonia
In this Health Matters interview from 2009, the German violinist tells how a loss of full finger motion was the first sign of the movement disorder, musician's dystonia
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FocusHow to make a five-string viola
The five-stringed viola represents a creative and technical challenge for both players and luthiers. Ariane Todes talks to some of the people who are exploring its exciting possibilities
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FocusViolinist Elizabeth Wallfisch on how she overcame chronic RSI
In the second of our Health Matters interviews from 2009, the Australian violinist explains how sessions at the gym helped her overcome pain
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FocusBringing singing to violin technique: Charles-Auguste de Bériot
The Belgian pedagogue, who was born on this day in 1802, combined elements of the human voice with the virtuosity of Paganini in his violin treatise. Robin Stowell considers his Méthode de violon alongside the Violinschule by Joseph Joachim and Andreas Moser The violin playing ...
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FocusA potted history of Dragonetti – the ‘Paganini of the double bass'
He was Europe's first – and the world's finest – virtuoso double bassist, who was admired by Beethoven and granted favour by Napoleon. But the story of Domenico Dragonetti is shrouded in intrigue: who was the man they called ‘Il Drago'?
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FocusBringing true ensemble playing to your string quartet
In the following excerpt from an article on string quartet playing, published in The Strad, April 1908, our writer offers advice on achieving cohesion – and interest – in your group playing
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FocusWhen Stradivarius violins go AWOL
In this article from The Strad, February 2011, Peter Somerford looks into the murky world of international Stradivarius violin theft, and the efforts being made towards recovery and prevention
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FocusAlma Rosé: the violinist who brought music to Auschwitz
She was the niece of Mahler who rose above the terror of Birkenau to bring music to her fellow prisoners. To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, The Strad revisits Richard Newman's article on the violinist Alma Rosé, who died 70 years ago
