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EXPLORE PREMIUM THIS WEEK

Trade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part two

2024-07-23T08:31:00+01:00

How to shape the new tip after having replaced the ebony and ivory

Postcard from Norway: Bergen International Festival

2024-07-22T08:32:00+01:00

At the Bergen International Festival in Norway, Tim Homfray enjoyed some first-rate chamber performances as well as Hardanger fiddle music – and an unlikely heatwave

Premiere of the Month: Gabriela Lena Frank’s new Concerto Grosso

2024-07-19T08:32:00+01:00

Indigenous Peruvian music inspires a new Concerto Grosso for the Takács Quartet

Analysis August 2024: String quartets and the ‘Bridgerton effect’

2024-07-19T08:31:00+01:00

String quartets have seen a surge in business from weddings and events – all thanks to the success of one particular Netflix series. What can we learn from the so-called ‘Bridgerton effect’?

Violinist Rachel Podger: Music from every angle

2024-07-18T07:05:00+01:00

The celebrated British violinist and Baroque and Classical specialist Rachel Podger chats with Tom Stewart about her new guest director role, her approach to teaching Baroque playing and striving to create an exciting musical experience for her audiences

Inside August's Magazine

Violinist Rachel Podger

A Stradivarian bow

The centenary of cellist Christopher Bunting

The Irish Four Seasons

A new generation of bass players

Positioning the f-holes

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Trade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part two

2024-07-23T08:31:00+01:00

How to shape the new tip after having replaced the ebony and ivory

Postcard from Norway: Bergen International Festival

2024-07-22T08:32:00+01:00

At the Bergen International Festival in Norway, Tim Homfray enjoyed some first-rate chamber performances as well as Hardanger fiddle music – and an unlikely heatwave

Featured People

Sentimental Work: Simone Lamsma on Britten’s Violin Concerto
The Dutch violinist feels a rapport with the sound world of Britten’s Violin Concerto, a piece that’s accompanied her since her success in the eponymous competition
‘It’s incredibly important in one’s career to do it your own way’ - violinist Tasmin Little’s life lessons
The British violinist considers how to differentiate yourself as a musician and person
Violinist Daniel Rowland reflects on his career
Dutch–British violinist Daniel Rowland has had multiple strands to his career – among them soloist, concertmaster, festival director and quartet leader. He speaks with David Kettle about trusting himself to make meaningful connections and go with the flow

Sentimental Work: Simone Lamsma on Britten’s Violin Concerto

The Dutch violinist feels a rapport with the sound world of Britten’s Violin Concerto, a piece that’s accompanied her since her success in the eponymous competition

‘It’s incredibly important in one’s career to do it your own way’ - violinist Tasmin Little’s life lessons

The British violinist considers how to differentiate yourself as a musician and person

Violinist Daniel Rowland reflects on his career

Dutch–British violinist Daniel Rowland has had multiple strands to his career – among them soloist, concertmaster, festival director and quartet leader. He speaks with David Kettle about trusting himself to make meaningful connections and go with the flow

Learn From The Experts

‘Savour every moment’ - violinist Sarah Chang’s life lessons

The US violinist reflects on the lessons learnt from her unique upbringing

Long Reads

Remembering Ida Haendel: Grande dame of the violin

Following Ida Haendel’s death at the age of 96 in July 2020, Tully Potter surveys the career of an exceptional performer and a remarkable woman. From September 2020

Pierre Rode: The Rode less travelled

He is best remembered for his didactic 24 Caprices, but there’s much more to Pierre Rode. For the French virtuoso’s 250th anniversary, Charlotte Gardner reveals a colourful life story and hears from the German violinist Friedemann Eichhorn, who has revived and recorded all of Rode’s 13 violin concertos

All-female string quartets after the First World War

In the second and final part of his survey, Tully Potter reveals the extent of the explosion of all-female quartets that occurred after the First World War in the UK, Europe, the US and the Soviet Union, as well as notable mixed ones

German bow makers in America: Across the Atlantic

Many, if not most, of the earliest bow makers working in America originally hailed from Germany. Raphael Gold discovers how they helped lay the foundations for the industry

Sphinx Organization: Change for good

For the past quarter-century the Sphinx Organization has worked tirelessly to bring much-needed diversity to the US classical music scene. Bruce Hodges examines its achievements, and hears from its founder and its president about the future

Lutherie

Remembering Ida Haendel: Grande dame of the violin

Following Ida Haendel’s death at the age of 96 in July 2020, Tully Potter surveys the career of an exceptional performer and a remarkable woman. From September 2020

‘Savour every moment’ - violinist Sarah Chang’s life lessons

The US violinist reflects on the lessons learnt from her unique upbringing

Masterclass: Ida Haendel on Bach’s Chaconne in D minor

To mark the 120th anniversary of The Strad, the great virtuoso Ida Haendel draws on a lifetime of playing to explore what is for many the pinnacle of the solo violin repertoire. From the May 2010 issue.

Technique: Violist Clifton Harrison on bowing arm movement

Clifton Harrison examines continuity and intention in the right arm

Masterclass: Schubert Fantasy for violin and piano – part one

Violinist Alena Baeva stresses the importance of slow and attentive practice when embarking on the opening sections of this monumental work, in the first of a two-part article

Masterclass: violist Tabea Zimmermann on Hindemith Sonata for solo viola op.25 no.1

Zimmermann shares a lyrical approach to a characterful, multifaceted work, in this article from April 2015

Long Reads

Remembering Ida Haendel: Grande dame of the violin

Following Ida Haendel’s death at the age of 96 in July 2020, Tully Potter surveys the career of an exceptional performer and a remarkable woman. From September 2020

Pierre Rode: The Rode less travelled

All-female string quartets after the First World War

German bow makers in America: Across the Atlantic

Many, if not most, of the earliest bow makers working in America originally hailed from Germany. Raphael Gold discovers how they helped lay the foundations for the industry

Sphinx Organization: Change for good

'When someone is healthy inside, it sounds that way' - Mental health services in conservatoires

Rita Fernandes hears from administrators, counsellors and teachers from music schools about what defines a successful conservatoire mental health support system

Lutherie

Violin maker Otto Schünemann: A Romantic visionary
Although Otto Schünemann’s violins were praised by everyone from Vuillaume to Sarasate, his name is barely recognised today. Clifford Hall tells the story of this idealistic luthier who strove to bring the glories of the Cremonese masters to 19th-century Germany
In Focus: A c.1800 violin by Joseph Panormo
Andrew Fairfax on the UK-based Italian maker’s turn-of-the-century instrument
The Strad Calendar 2024: The Fulton collection
The Strad Calendar 2024 pays tribute to one of the 20th century’s finest stringed instrument collections, put together in just a couple of decades by American violin collector David L. Fulton. Christian Lloyd examines the treasures

Zosimo Bergonzi: Family fortunes

Zosimo Bergonzi, son of Carlo, was for a time the only luthier active in Cremona . Michel Samson tracks his career through his known works

Great Instruments

The Fulton collection: Magnificent obsession

For decades, top soloists would visit the home of David Fulton to sample the treasures of his legendary collection. Now dispersed, the instruments have been brought together again in book form. The collector shares some of the highlights with Christian Lloyd

The Strad Calendar 2024: The Fulton collection
The Strad Calendar 2024 pays tribute to one of the 20th century’s finest stringed instrument collections, put together in just a couple of decades by American violin collector David L. Fulton. Christian Lloyd examines the treasures
From the archive: a 1618 Henry Jaye viol
The work of British violin maker Henry Jaye is testament to the unsung tradition of viol making in 17th-century London. John Dilworth examines a strikingly varnished Jaye instrument from 1618
In Focus: a seven-string bass viol by Michel Colichon
Shem Mackey explores this quirky instrument by the French maker