Description
Yehudi Menuhin shares with the reader his unique store of understanding about the violin, about how to exercise and practise, about the techniques of performance. His reflections on the nature and scope of his instrument are profoundly illuminating and his theories on interpretation particularly valuable. A section on the violinist as teacher/student contains a fascinating transcript of a lesson with Yehudi Menuhin, who also writes separately about the violinist as orchestral player, leader, chamber music player, recitalist and soloist.
William Primrose writes the distinguished monograph on the viola and describes the instrument as ‘a violin with a college education’. He was an acknowledged technical master of the viola who, along with Lionel Tertis, was one of the finest exponents of this beautiful instrument of the 20th century.
Denis Stevens, the British musicologist and specialist in early music, provides and interesting chapter on the history of the violin and looks in detail at the monumental challenge that is Bach’s Six Solos for Violin without Bass Accompaniment better known as the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin.
About the Author
Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) had a solo career that spanned many decades and became one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. He first picked up the violin at the age of four, gave his first solo appearance at seven and by ten, would give concerts featuring all the major violin concertos. In 1962, he established The Yehudi Menuhin School in Cobham whose alumni include Nigel Kennedy and Nicola Benedetti.
Born in 1904, William Primrose started out as a violinist also at the age of 4. Graduating from the Guildhall School of Music winning a gold medal, its highest honour, he did not switch to the viola until he was 26 when he joined the London String Quartet. Known for his tremendous technique, after enjoying a prolific solo career as a violist both in the concert hall and the studio, he travelled the world teaching.
Denis Stevens was a British musicologist and a specialist in early music. He was a conductor, a professor of music and a BBC radio producer. He founded the Ambrosian Singers.
Contents
Preface by Yehudi Menuhin
The Instrument by Etienne Vatelot
Part One – The Violin by Yehudi Menuhin
1. The Violin and the Violinist
2. The Preparation of the Violinist
3. First Facts
4. Technique
5. Practising
6. The Violinist in Action
7. Repertoire and Interpretation
8. The Making, Repair and Care of the Violin and Bow
9. Teaching
10. Lessons at the Yehudi Menuhin School
Part Two – The Viola by William Primrose
11. The Viola
Part Three – A Short History by Denis Stevens
12. Early History
13. Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Violin
Glossary
Some Selected Further Reading
Discography
Index
Reviews
Yehudi Menuhin was the reason I became a violinist… He was an inveterate learner as well as an inveterate teacher – constantly searching for answers to life and music. I encountered this side of him first-hand after I’d started studying with Zakhar Bron. Menuhin wanted to know all about Bron’s teaching, and we talked for several hours, during which he asked me to play for hours – he’d jump in with fascinating insights, suggestions and comparisons.
Daniel Hope, Memories of Menuhin, The Strad
