All Premium ❘ Feature articles – Page 4
-
Premium ❘ FeatureMasterclass: Eldbjørg Hemsing on Grieg Violin Sonata no.2 in G Major
To bring out all the joy, innocence and darkness in this first movement, it is essential to understand its combined roots in classical composition and Norwegian folk music, explains Eldbjørg Hemsing
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Using Baker-style mechanics on a double bass
How to fit these brass pegs, gears and tuners, as used by English bass makers in times gone by
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Luigi Cavallini: A maker in the rough
Tuscany in the 19th century was home to numerous luthiers, some of whom were carpenters who turned their hands to instrument making. Florian Leonhard examines the career of Luigi Cavallini, a lesser-known self-taught maker whose work, while unusual in parts, displays a surprisingly high level of craftsmanship
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Game, set and match: quartets of instruments
Four instruments from the same tree, varnished from the same pot, played by a single quartet. Is this the way to perfect harmony? Katherine Millett investigates in this article from August 2008
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Masterclass: violist Emilie Hörnlund on Beethoven String Quartet op.59 no.1
Swedish violist Emilie Hörnlund, of the Chiaroscuro Quartet, discusses how to achieve optimal articulation, balance and flow in the first movement of the first ‘Rasumovsky’ Quartet
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Quartet identity: Alchemy of the souls
Is a string quartet’s sound greater than the sum of its parts? Tully Potter considers what goes into making a quartet distinctive
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Two Shapiros: musical doubles
Though unrelated by birth, US violinists Eudice Shapiro and Frances Shapiro (later Magnes) forged parallel careers which provide a fascinating insight into the lives of female musicians during the mid-20th century, writes Tully Potter
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Early lutherie experience: The journeyman years
The time spent between finishing at violin making school and striking out on your own can be critical to a luthier’s learning experience. Peter Somerford finds out what makers should expect from their first jobs in a workshop – and how they can make the most of their time
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Leonidas Kavakos: Deep thinker
For Leonidas Kavakos, recording Bach’s Solo Sonatas and Partitas has been the culmination of a 30‑year artistic journey and, as the violinist tells Charlotte Smith, the works have a pertinent message for our troubled times
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Coleridge-Taylor violin and chamber music: From fame to footnote
Despite his prolific output, the works of British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor have been performed relatively infrequently in the century following his death. Tatjana Goldberg explores his chamber and violin music, particularly the Violin Concerto, and his fruitful artistic partnership with pioneering US violinist Maud Powell
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Session Report: Landscape of shadows
Cellist Laura van der Heijden talks to Tom Stewart about the subtle, often other-worldly atmosphere inhabited by Czech and Hungarian music in her new recording with pianist Jâms Coleman
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Technique: Developing a controlled vibrato
Exercises and ideas to build finger strength, improved tone and a continuous arm or wrist action, from violinist Lihay Bendayan
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Conductorless orchestras: The leading edge
For those ensembles willing to take the plunge, performing without a conductor can lead to a greater sense of collaboration, fulfilment and, ultimately, responsibility. Jacqueline Vanasse hears from some of the string players involved in such groups
-
Premium ❘ Feature
From the Archive: March 1892
Carl Fuchs pays tribute to his friend and fellow cellist Carl Davidoff (1838–89), including a reminiscence of how he acquired his famed Stradivari cello
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Making a Parisian-eye ring
A step-by-step guide to this intricate part of bow repair
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Théotime Langlois de Swarte: Dramatic flair
French Baroque violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte has released four albums in a little over a year. He shares with Charlotte Gardner the origins of his dream of uncovering the works of long-forgotten composers – and how that project has come to fruition
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Arco project: Evolution of a partnership
Six years ago, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire head of strings Louise Lansdown established a partnership with a music centre in Soweto to launch the Arco project, providing in-person and online lessons for South African string students. Here she reflects on the importance of the scheme and on how it has developed
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: A tool to measure string tension
How luthiers can create a device to find the optimum tension of a string – and a few good reasons to use it
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Making Matters: The price is right
Could a skilled violinist born around 1700 have afforded a new Stradivari violin? Wenjie Cai and Hwan-Ching Tai examine the economics of Baroque music making, and find that the answer is yes
-
Premium ❘ Feature
My Space: Florent Boyer
The Parisian luthier has been based in his workshop for the past 17 years
