Violin Fingering in the 18th Century

Author(s): Peter Walls

Source: Early Music, Vol. 12, No. 3, String Issue (Aug., 1984), pp. 300-315
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3137767
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Peter Walls
Violin fingering in the 18th
1 'The GrandTurk giving a concert to his mistress': painting by Charles Andre Van Loo (1705-1765) (London, Wallace Collection)
The work which I give to the public will at first appear
difficult to many people. Whatoften discourages most of my
followers is shifting positions, which they do not perfectly
understand.
Thus Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville begins
the preface to Les sons harmoniques op.4. Changing
positions is surely the most difficult area in the
modern revival of Baroque violin technique, so it is
reassuring to learn that in 1738 shifting seemed to be a
major problem. Mondonville's own solution, outlined
in his volume, is totally fanciful: instead of shifting
into high positions for really high notes, the player can
use harmonics. Mondonville provides a diagram show-
ing where these substitute harmonics can be found on
300 EARLYMUSIC AUGUST 1984
century
the fingerboard. That he did not believe in his own
ingenious suggestion is clear from the fact that the
numerous printed fingerings in this set of sonatas all
deal with the problems of playing in higher positions.
Such fingerings do not throw any direct light on how to
shift, but they do indicate what kinds of shift a
virtuoso 18th- century violinist would have made. It is
possible, too, that by retracing the steps of an 18th-
century violinist where they are as clear as this,
modern violinists might improve their understanding
of Baroque mechanisms of shifting. It is such a hope
that has prompted this survey of collections of 18th-
century violin sonatas which, like Mondonville's op.4,
specify fingerings.
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 There are some important preliminary issues that
must be confronted before details of fingering can be
properly examined. The question of how to change
position is inextricably bound up with that of how to
hold the violin in the first place. The difficulties of
shifting undoubtedly account for the high proportion
of people now playing the Baroque violin who use
their chin to stabilize the instrument, more or less as
they would when playing a modern violin. The prob-
lems of moving up and (more particularly)down the
fingerboard without using the chin seem at first
formidable; but a player determined to develop this
sort of technique soon reaches a point where it is the
notion of clutching the violin between chin and
shoulder that becomes an image of terrifying in-
security. Performerssuch as SigiswaldKuijkendemon-
strate not only that a fluent 'chin-off technique is
2 The aria 'Si caro, si' from Handel's Admeto: detail from the painting by Van Loo (illus.l)
possible, but that it can bring musical and physical
benefits that amplyjustifythe endeavour.' The physical
freedom of this approach accords well with the 18th-
century insistence on maintaining a relaxed and
naturalbearing.2The violinist who adopts this method
can play with the confidence that he is not using any
props his 18th-century counterpart would not have
used, so there can be no question of having to restrict
an expressive vocabulary to gestures known not to be
anachronistic.Instead,performerscan strive(as violin-
ists have always done) to extend their technical and
expressive resources to the limits of the instrument.
Thus many issues, like Geminiani's contentious in-
struction to use as much vibrato as possible, become
self-regulating.3
Historical evidence broadly supports a chin-off
technique, but it would be misleading to suggest that
EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984 301
3 'The concert': painting (1741) by Pietro Longhi (1702-1785) (Venice, Accademia)
18th-century sources unequivocally endorse this (or
any other single method) as the 'right way'. There is
much to suggest that different methods were used in
the same period. Johann Prinner insisted in the 1670s
that the violin should be held'so firmly with your chin
that there is no reason to hold it with the left hand', but
he admitted that he had known famous virtuosos who
held the instrument against their chests.4 Charles
Andre Van Loo's painting 'The Grand Turk giving a
concert to his mistress' (illus. 1) shows two violinists,
each holding his instrument in a different way: one has
it beneath his collar-bone and the other at his neck
(though clearly without chin grip). The detail is so fine
here that this, unlike many paintings, can surely be
trusted as a true record of what the artist saw. It is even
possible to see from the cover of the violinists' music
that they are playing an'aria del Sig handel', while the
clearly legible score on the harpsichord reveals the
piece as 'Si caro, si' from Admeto, with the viola part,
appropriately, omitted (illus.2). Incidentally, the uni-
son violin line in this aria never leaves first position, so
the man with the violin at his chest faces no particular 4 F. Veracini, Sonate accademiche (London and Florence, [17441),
difficulties. Pietro Longhi's painting 'The concert' frontispiece (London, British Library)
(dated 1741 by the artist) is less finely drafted than Van
Loo's picture, but it shows three violinists and each, Prinner saw holding the instrument against the chest.
once again, has a decidedly different way of holding the The celebrated frontispiece to Francesco Veracini's
instrument (illus.3). Of the two who have their violins Sonate accademiche shows the composer with the violin
at their necks, one looks as if he has his chin on the at his neck, but with his chin proudly off the instrument
tailpiece. The treatises by Leopold Mozart and Joseph (illus.4).
Herrando both appeared in 1756, and between them Francesco Geminiani's Artof Playing on the Violinwas
they describe at least two and probably three different not published until 1751 and his instructions to rest
ways of holding the violin. Although Mozart points out the instrument just below the collar-bone seem so old-
the difficulties of holding the instrument against the fashioned that they have provoked much incredulity.
chest, he does not rule out this method, which he It is possible, of course, that this section of the treatise
thought had a'pleasant and relaxed appearance'.5 was written some years before publication.7 But Gemi-
Clearly there was no universally accepted way of niani's op. 1 violin sonatas, which were first published
holding the violin in the first half of the 18th century. in 1716, and the works of his teachers, Corelli and
But then as now there were good and bad ways of doing (especially) Lonati, demand a very agile left hand.
things, so perhaps we should be asking not'how was Hence, even if the statement in the treatise had been
the violin held?' but'how did the best players hold the written 50 years or more before publication it would
violin?' I know of no convincing evidence for an still stand as evidence that virtuoso violin music
accomplished virtuoso's using his chin on the instru- requiring a fluent shifting technique was played
ment before the mid-18th century. Roger North states without any kind of chin grip. David Boyden thought
that Nicola Matteis held his violin 'against his short that Geminiani's instructions were implicitly contra-
ribbs'; but since Matteis is said to have played only his dicted by the frontispiece to the (as he believed) 1752
own compositions (which never go beyond c"' on the E French edition of the treatise, which shows a violinist,
string) he may have avoided shifting.6 Heinrich von supposedly Geminiani, holding the instrument beneath
Biber, however, certainly did explore the upper reaches his chin (illus.5). Since Geminiani was living in Paris
of the fingerboard, and it is generally thought that he when the first French edition appeared and presumably
must have been one of the famous virtuosos that oversaw its publication, such a disparity between text

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984 303


5 F. Geminiani, L'artde jouer le violon (Paris:De la Chevardiere&
Freres le Goux, [c1770)), frontispiece (London, British Library)
and illustration would be very puzzling. But the
engraving is not to be found in the first edition, nor
even in the second, published by MmeVend6meabout
ten years later; it comes only in the third edition
published by De la Chevardiere & Freres le Goux
(whose names appearin an imprintat the bottom of the
picture).Thisedition cannot be datedwith anycertainty,
but De la Chevardieredid not go into business until
about 1760 and it is altogether unlikely that the
volume appeared during Geminiani's lifetime.8 In
other words, the engraving has nothing to do with
Geminiani'spractice.
It is in fact a copy of the frontispiece to Herrando's
Arte. y puntual explicacion del modo de tocar el violin,
which was published in Parisin 1756 (illus.6).9On the
basis of this engraving, Ralph Kirkpatrickwas able to
identify a violinist in a Spanish court painting by
Jacopo Amigoni (1685-1752) as Herrando.10There is
certainly a striking resemblance between the two
pictures and both follow quite closely Herrando's
advice on holding the violin: 'The tailpiece should
come beneath the chin, which can be used to secure it;
the face should be turned a little to the right.
Herrando'streatise can be considered a turningpoint.
As first violin of the CapillaRealin Madridand a pupil
of Corelli,he seems to be the first really accomplished
304 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984
player unequivocally to recommend using the chin.
Before that, this may have been the recourse of less
proficient violinists. Michel Corrette" and Johann
Berlin,12both of whom advocate the use of the chin in
shifting, were- like Prinner- known as keyboardplay-
ers and composers, not as violinists. More advanced
players appearnot to have wanted to use the chin and
it even seems that many may have continued to hold
the violin below the collar-bone (which would entirely
preclude the possibility of allowing the chin to gripthe
instrument when shifting).
Methods of holding the violin remained quite
various until well into the 19th century. In 1761 L'abbe
lefils proposed that the chin should be on the G-string
side of the instrument,but this practicewas apparently
still not completely accepted by the end of the 18th
century.13 Atleast, in 1796 FrancescoGaleazziattacked
the idea of playing with the chin on the E-stringside,
and his vehemently defensive tone makes it clear that
this must still have been an issue; he claims that it
looks ridiculous, necessitates unwieldy movements
with the bow and numbs the left ear because of the
proximity of the instrument.'4 By Galeazzi's time,
though, chin pressure on one side or the other must
have been standard;but this meant something quite
different from modern practice. BartolomeoCampag-
noli's treatise of 1824 stresses that the pressure
exerted by the chin on the tailpiece must be light and
that the head should be held as upright as possible. 5
The inventor of the chin rest, Louis Spohr,lists among
its advantages the fact that it makes it easier to hold
the head upright.16 An upright head is not really what
6 J. Herrando, Arte, y puntual explicacion del modo de tocar el
violin (Paris, 1756), frontispiece (London. British Library)
modern moulded chin (and shoulder)rests encourage,
and it is certainlynot the way most'chin-on' players of A It isel-pio I .
the Baroque violin seem to play. 4
W
The advent of using the chin in the 18th century did -0W

1' X( 4 - -
not seem to produce an instant solution to shifting 43 t .
4'-
14
o 4
2
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problems. The consistency of rules about shifting and 4;* _( .

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.- o ._ .....s.

of shift markings in studies and sonatas throughout i 3-

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the period under discussion suggests that it was a long .. ', ,

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time before the chin came to be used as anything more ....^ ; f...... ".i ' w 4

than a supplementary aid. The principles assumed by

Veraciniand Geminianiwould, I suspect, have formed ': : .}I)
the basis for the shifting techniques of players who
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nevertheless admitted the use of the chin. Herrando

stresses that all movements which are not absolutely 4.-: CA- _;f .. . . .. 3 . . ............
......
s 040-, .,,' 4s ,--i- 3 3 ,4 '4 4 1 i4 040a

necessary should be avoided. Galeazzi's rules for ^. 1 ,-

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3 0
4 34 a
deciding when to shift are completely consistent with
Leopold Mozart's,and his in turn reflect the practice , ._ - .... . 90
"_ -
.....
._ _:.4 .
of some of the most advanced players earlier in the ^^..'-" 1I Ii-" c_4
11't
century. 17
Guidelines for deciding when to shift are not .. -.-
, l-

uncommon, but no 18th-century treatise gives a

description of the mechanics of shifting. Tartini
avoids the question altogether, saying only that 4 --:... jo ...'2 . 4 4 _ _ .. .' 1

As regardschangingposition,it is impossibleto give any

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hard and fast rules. The student should adopt whatever / .1-
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methodhe finds more comfortablein each case, and he "I-- "
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shouldthereforepractisethe hand shifts in everypossible

way so that he is preparedfor every situationthat may 7 Geminiani The Art of Playing on the Violin (London, 1751), ex.I
arise.18 (London, British Library)
In the entire literature there are only two sentences position of the Hand consists in passing from one
that help significantly, and both are to be found (not Orderto another'. In fact, it does more than that. It
unexpectedly) in Geminiani's Art of Playing on the suggests that, for Geminiani,the concept of an 'order'
Violin: or position was not much more than a useful way of
Afterhavingbeenpractisedin the firstOrder,you mustpass describing the geography of the fingerboard. It does
on to the second,andthento the third;inwhichCareis to be not imply a fixed hand-position. If that example is
takenthatthe Thumbalwaysremainfartherbackthanthe used as a practical exercise, it allows the player to
Fore-finger; and the moreyou advancein the otherOrders begin to discover the implications of the sentence
theThumbmustbe ata greaterdistancetill itremainsalmost quoted above about the independence of the thumb
hid underthe Neck of the Violin.(p.2) from the fingers: the easiest way to substitute one
It mustbe observed,thatin drawingbackthe Handfromthe finger for another on the same note is to leave the
5th,4th and3rdOrderto go to the first,the Thumbcannot, thumb uninvolved. The scales which follow in Gemi-
forWantof Time,be replacedin its naturalPosition;butit is niani's example IEdemonstratethis even more
clearly.
necessaryit should be replacedat the second Note. (p.3) The first scale and the others fingered like it are most
In other words, thumb and fingers must move inde- easily executed if the thumb is left in one position
pendently rather than together. The hand cannot throughout. The C majorscales fingered 3 0 4 1 3 (etc)
maintain a stable'frame'.Geminiani'smusic examples and 3 4 1 4 1 4 (etc) ignore the question of position and
convey more than his verbal instructions about the instead encourage an extreme elasticity of the fingers,
mechanics of shifting. His example ID (illus.7) osten- which arethus enabled to reach forwardand backward
sibly 'shews the different Ways of stopping the same for any notes they want without the whole hand being
Note, and discovers at the same Time, that Trans- involved. The more extended studies later in the

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984 305

volume (particularly examples X-XII) take the player
through every conceivable kind of shift and explore
the fingerboard up to seventh position. By adhering to
fingering instructions like these, players of the Baroque
violin have some chance of retrieving old shifting
techniques.
Leopold Mozart's very orderly exposition of the
principles involved in playing in upper positions (in
chapter 8 of the Violinschule) is, as we shall see, a
codification of the practice of the best violinists for a
generation or so before the treatise was published. His
rules match perfectly the fingering markings of players
like the Leclairs; but his examples are merely short
illustrations of his points and have very limited value
as practice material. A number of other violin tutors
contain studies for shifting and playing in upper
positions. Herrando gives eight pages of scales and
exercises for playing in higher positions (including
second position, which he regards as of crucial
importance). The English edition of Carlo Tessarini's
violin method (cl 765) contains a few basic 'lessons for
the whole shift etc.19 L'abbe le fils advertises on his
title-page that he is concerned with the question of
fingering: Principes du violon pour apprendrele doigte de
cet instrument. He includes a number of useful studies
in which fingerings are marked and shifts are specified
by the letter D (for demancher). Corrette's first treatise,
L'ecole d'Orphee, contains just two short fantasias for
practising in upper positions, but his later volume,
L'art de se perfectionner dans le violon (Paris, c1780),
basically consists of an anthology of difficult passages
from well-known works with fingerings added (there
are, for example, four pages of excerpts from Vivaldi's
Four Seasons). Corrette stresses in his preface the
importance of being able to play in upper positions
and shift fluently:
The perfection of violin playing consists of being in
command of all the different bow strokes, drawing a
beautiful sound from the instrument,being conversant with
all the positions on four strings, having facility in shifting,
and playing cleanly and distinctly.20
This kind of material could be usefully supple-
mented by some of the collections of 18th-century
violin sonatas that actually specify fingerings, and
these have the advantage of being real music (in
conception at least). Very little attention seems to have
been paid in the literature to sonatas with fingerings.
In his three-volume study of the French violin school,
Lionel de La Laurencie wrote that'the development of
left-hand technique led violinists to multiply fingering
306 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984
indications, which are rather rare in the time of
Leclair'.21 But he is inconsistent about noting exactly
who did include fingering indications; before the
original-instrument revival this may not have seemed
very important. Boyden has only this to say:
The violin music of the time shows that the art of fingering
and shifting had advanced ... Fingeringsof this type may be
deduced from certain passages in the music and from a few
specific fingeringsfurnished by the composers themselves.22
Apart from citing a couple of examples from the
revised edition of Geminiani's op. 1 (1739) and mention-
ing Louis Francoeur's use of the thumb, he gives no
more details.23
Collections of violin sonatas with fingerings speci-
fied by the composer were not quite as rare as has
generally been assumed. The list that forms the
appendix to this article is probably far from compre-
hensive, but it is large enough to increase significantly
our knowledge of the way in which good 18th-century
violinists might have tackled fingering problems.
These sonatas are potentially a useful resource for
players of the Baroque violin.
What do the fingerings printed in these works tell
us? The most common issue focused on in early
examples of printed fingerings is the avoidance of
what Hawkins described as 'the disgusting clangor of
an open string'.24Ex. 1, from Francois Duval's last set of
Ex.1 F. Duval, Les idees musiciennes (Paris, 1720), Allemande
L'intrepide,bar 3
(Gay) 4 4
P. L II --V#
violin sonatas, specifies fourth fingers where no
player today would think of using anything else. Yet
where this very Allemande goes up to c'" sharp on the E
string, Duval gives no fingering. Nor does he give
fingerings for the double stops earlier in the volume. It
is clear that the use of fourth fingers in preference to
open strings was an important new refinement. Roger
North commented on it just a few years after the
publication of Duval's Les idees musiciennes:
There are certein late manners of touch introduc't-the
result of the nicest skill and abillity-of which some are of
admirableefficacy and improvement,and others commonly
over done; and there are those also, which are better spared
than used.
Of the first sort the cheif is the sounding all the notes
underthe touch and none with the stringsopen; for those are
an harder sound than when stopt, and not always in tune,
which the stop (assisted by the ear) effects with utmost
niceness. 25
Time and time again, a fourth finger will be insisted
upon in preference to an open string by a composer
who leaves what are from our point of view much more
serious problems unsolved. In the first movement of
the Sonate accademiche (1744), Veracini innocently asks
for fourth fingers in a very straightforward passage
(ex.2); this in almost comic contrast to the lack of help
over the upper-position and double-stopping com-
plexities in the rest of the volume.
Ex.2 F. Veracini, Sonate accademiche (London and Florence,
[1744]),no.l, first mvt, bar 39
(Toccata)
4 44
Ifc(1 .S#fC
In the early 18th century, the indication of fourth
fingers seems often to have been the only fingering
choice that composers felt any need to make them-
selves. Their reasons for doing so were musical: here,
obviously, they were not suggesting solutions to
difficult technical problems, but simply ensuring that
the right sound would be produced. A scordatura piece
by Pietro Castrucci (ex.3a) appears to show that at the
Ex.3 P. Castrucci
(a) XII Solos op.l (London,[c17251),no.12, second mvt, bars 33-4
(Allegro)
scordatura 4
(actual chords and bass note)
t .
4 ment is not fingered, and this is typical of later
4j~iii~j
tS t v v v I
(b) Sonate op.2 (London, [17341),no.3, fourth mvt, bars 1-7
Gavotte
ffi C 5 1 I5 fU3
i
4$}r5 I I
time he published his op. 1 he thought of the figure 4 as
indicating not necessarily a fourth finger but a stopped
note rather than an open string. The fourth finger
marked above the g' sharp in the second bar of ex.3a
appears not just in the original London edition, but in
the newly engraved edition published by Roger in
Amsterdam a few years later. It makes no sense as a
fourth finger (and Jean-Baptiste Cartier, who included
this piece in his L'artdu violon, omitted the number).26
In his op.2 sonatas Castrucci provides another
reminder that there were no standard conventions for
marking fingerings at this time. There, among numer-
ous marked distinctions between fourth fingers and
open strings, we find one much more interesting
fingering (ex.3b). He indicates that a passage should be
played entirely in fifth position with one fourth-finger
extension for the highest note; but he uses a figure 5 to
indicate the extension.27 Later, composers showed
extensions by fingering both the note of the extension
itself and the note immediately following (to re-
establish the basic position). In his treatise, L'abbe le
fils uses the symbol to indicate an extension. He also
places a dot in front of the figure 3 to distinguish it
from a triplet marking. As late as 1767, matters were
not entirely standardized: Leblanc, in marking a
fingering for a note with a trill, gives the number for
the trilling finger rather than for the finger stopping
the main note.28
The two earliest examples of printed fingerings deal
with problems that are less mundane than the choice
between open strings and fourth fingers. Giovanni
Antonio Piani's Sonate a violino solo e violoncello col
cimbalo op.l (Paris, 1712) contains one fourth-finger
marking, not as a substitute for an open string but to
indicate that a scale passage is to be played in second
I
position. A third-position passage in the next move-
developments; third position (or the'whole position'
as Leopold Mozart, Herrando and others called it) was
obviously felt to be less remarkable than second
position and did not need to be specified. (Jean-
Baptiste Miroglio's sonatas opp. 1 and 2 have fingering
only for passages involving second position. Julien-
Amable Mathieu introduces the second and fourth
sonatas of his op.4 with a rubric saying that they can
be played in second position.)29 What makes Piani's
volume particularly interesting is that he is one of
relatively few composers who felt the need to supply
I the performer with more than just the notes and tempo
directions; apart from his one fingering indication, he
EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984 307
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8 G. A Piani, Sonate op.l (Paris, 1742), avertissement (London, (d) Troisieme livre (Paris, 1734), no.6, first mvt, bar 15
British Library)
(Grave) i
marks in bowings, articulations and inflections. He is
the first to use the signs adopted by Jean-Baptiste
Cupis, Geminiani, Veracini and others for swelling and
diminishing the sound and he has a preface explaining book is the most virtuoso of Leclair's four sets of violin
these signs and spelling out in more detail the sonatas, and the composer was himself aware that the
implications of his fingering (illus.8). sonatas were far from straightforward. In his preface
Three years later, Louis Francoeur's Premierlivre de he explains that he has 'taken care in certain positions
sonates appeared. These are remarkable for specifying or where the performer might find particular difficulty
that the thumb should be used in fingering an e'-a'-f' to mark in the figures for the fingers that should be
sharp chord. This rather bizarre device may have been used'. His fingerings are always useful and it is striking
taken over from contemporary lute technique.30 It was how often they serve as a warning that a shift to a
adopted by Jean-Marie Leclair l'aine and was one of particular position is needed to cope not with an
the features of his playing commented on in the immediate difficulty but with one that is coming up a
Mercure de France in 1738: bar or so later. Several of his fingerings are of the kind
He is the first Frenchmanwho, imitatingthe Italians, played that encourage the performer to think beyond the
double stops, that is to say, played chords of two, three and concept of positions (or to use what Leopold Mozart
even-by means of the thumb-up to four notes; and he has calls the 'mixed position'); in ex.4b and c arpeggiated
taken this kind of playing so far that the Italians themselves chords are fingered with one finger lying outside the
acknowledge that he is one of the first in the field.31 basic position.
Leclair marks a passage for the thumb in Sonata no. 12 None of the fingerings in Leclair's later volumes are
of his Premierlivre, published in 1723 (ex.4a). The first as informative. He may have come to feel that the op. 1

308 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984

 Ex.6 J. Aubert Sonates... livre III, no.2, second mvt, bars 9-10
sonatas were too virtuoso for his own good, as he is at
pains to stress in the preface to his next volume that he (a) original version (Paris, 1723)
has included some more accessible pieces:
(Corrente)
So that I might deserve the happiness of pleasing the public
more generally, I have taken care to compose some sonatas
with performersin mind who are perhaps not quite so able;
(b) revised version (Paris,[c17351)
consequently, most of these can be played on the German
flute.
There are no fingerings in this volume. The few in his
Troisieme livre (1734) are all concerned with showing
that a particular effect is to be achieved through string with similar fingering. In one place, Aubert not only
crossing. In Sonata no.6 he has several chords notated provides alternative lines for violin and flute but adds
in a way which shows that they should be broken a fingering to the violin part to show that it should be
downwards, and one of these has a fingering added to played in second position (ex.7).
remove any possible ambiguity about the effect in- Ex.7 L Aubert,Sonates op.l (Paris,[cl 750]),no.3, third mvt, bars30-
tended (ex.4d). The one fingering included in his op.7 33 +

concertos (in the Adagio of Concerto no.4) is of this

type. It is generally true to say that fingerings to
indicate that a passage has been conceived with string
crossing in mind are almost as common as fingerings
for upper positions and shifts. (Cupis has a particularly
interesting example in the second sonata of his op. 1, Where only a few fingerings are specified in a
in which he marks a third- finger extension (ex. 5) where volume they are usually intended not to sort out
technical problems but to specify a particular tone
Ex.5 J.-B. Cupis, Sonates op.l (Paris, 1738), no.2, third mvt, bar 16 colour. Guillaume Kennis
(c1740) specifies some
(Vivace [tempo gavotte])
colourful effects that approach Klangfarbenmelodie

SSt$(t)I IIv (ex.8). Carlo Francesco Chiabrano too shows a strong

Ex.8 G. Kennis, VI sonate op.l (Liege, [c1740])
an open string would disrupt the bowing pattern and
(a) no.4, second mvt, bars 45-6
where a fourth finger would disturb the 'frame' the left (Allegro) * v v
hand has adopted for the figure.)
The option of performance on transverse flute [33 [3]
which Leclair offers32 is a common one. For obvious (b) no.6, second mvt, bar 1
reasons, it is unusual to find fingerings included in Allegro
such works, but there are curious exceptions. One of
the earliest and most naive indications of a change of do
position comes in the revised version of Jacques
Aubert's Sonates a violon... livre III. These are simple interest in specifying timbre: most obviously, like
but attractive sonatas which Aubert says can all be Mondonville 30 years earlier, he includes in his op. 1
played on the flute. The original version, published in (c1761) an explanation of harmonics which he then
1723, goes up to d"' once, with no fingering given. exploits in the second and fifth sonatas. Only the first
However, in the revised version (cl 735), Aubert makes sonata and La caccia at the end of the volume have any
two more very straightforward excursions into third actual fingerings and in every case they are a specifi-
position and in each case the upward shift is indicated cation for a particular sound quality, as is clear from a
by a figure 1 (ex.6). Aubert's son Louis also offers the passage in the first sonata (ex.9).
option of flute performance for some of the sonatas in Ex.9 C.F.Chiabrano,Six sonates op.1 (Paris,[c1761]),no. 1, first mvt,
his op. 1 (cl 750). This volume is sprinkled with finger- bar I
(Allegro)
ings, many of them sequential or, in other words, 4

following the rule spelt out by Leopold Mozart in his

treatise (p. 138) that similar passages should be played #(w FFPPPF
EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984 309
 Althoughmost of the sonata collections listed in the Ex.10 J.-M. Leclair le cadet Premierlivre (Paris, 1739)
appendixcontain only a sprinklingof fingerings,there
(a) no.l, second mvt, bars 17-21
are eight or nine volumes in which the fingerings are
(Allemanda: allegro ma non tropo)
so numerous that they can fairly be described as
f
comprehensive, that is, in which most of the fingering
decisions for difficult passages have been suggested (i) I; ;tfI r :f
by the composer. Leclairl'atn' s Premierlivre(discussed
above) falls into this category, as does Cupis'sop.2. In
1739 several such collections were published, inclu-
ding the Premierlivre (in fact, the only one) by the
younger Leclair. This volume is full of virtuoso (b) no.3, second mvt, bars 13-16
(Allemanda: allegro ma non tropo)
passages, for many of which the composer offers
fingerings. By and large these focus on real problems
and often show a way down from a high position where
the ascent has not been fingered. Leclairis particularly
fond of sequential fingerings and it often happens that
this gives an easy descent in small stages from a high
position (ex.lOa and b). There is a striking economy
about the younger Leclair'sfingering indications. He
will insert fingerings to show that a passage which
looks at first as if it requires shifting can be played in
one position (ex.lOc). Often a fingering shows the (c) no.4, third mvt, bars 47-55
smallest possible shift: in ex. 1Odthe performercan get (Allegro)

through to a rest--a natural place to make a large

descent-simply by moving the second finger back a
3 3
semitone. Similarlyin ex. 10e an extension is specified 2

for the one note that lies outside fifth position and an
open string is used for the descent to first position.
Here we see that an open-string trill is acceptable. 3 3 3

Elsewherea change of position is markedfor the sake

of a trill on e", but this is to accommodate a turn at the
end of the ornament (ex.10). A number of Leclair's
fingerings ensure a particulartone colour: in Sonata (d) no.4, first mvt, bars 43-4
no.8 a move to fourth position a little earlier than (Allegro ma non tropo)

strictly necessary corresponds to a change from a

section marked 'fierement' to one marked 'gracioso'
(ex.10g). His double stops are interesting:he is one of
the earliest to finger 3rds with adjacent fingers, one of (e) no.8, second mvt, bars 97-100
(Corrente: allegro ma non tropo)
them extended (ex.lOh). (Etienne Mangeau uses the 4
43 4-
same fingering in several sonatas of his op.3 and f3
Leopold Mozart acknowledges the possibility of this
fingering in one of his examples.)33One of Leclair's
passages in 3rds has an extraordinary fingering that
seems designed to ensure that there will be an audible
slide between some of the slurred pairs (ex.10i). He is
#

L r 6 If I
I
one of the first composers to use half-position freely.A
passage in Sonata no.8 anticipates one in Pierre (f) no.l, second mvt, bars 72-3
(Allemanda: allegro ma non tropo)
Gavinies' op.l by more than 20 years (ex.10j).
Often the same impulse that led a composer to rI(i) . Itzrr r I ; rrr rmI
suggest fingerings would prompthim to include other
310 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984
(g) no.8, third mvt, bars 20-24
(Aria: andante)
1#(-q) Ilrr _
(fierement)
I
r r
4 ##
/'r;fr('L-r rir 3i I-I f Ti.
# 10
(h) no.3, fifth mvt, bars 17-19
(Menuetto)
2 ( 1tM ,I
(i) no.8, third mvt, bars 68-9
(Aria: andante)
2 1
4 :3
la - -4
j; LLLt Lj
(j) no.8, first mvt, bars 40-43
(Andante)
2 :3
t$j (,^ t-
indications for performance. We have already seen
this in Piani's sonatas. Cupis's op.2 contains not only
copious fingeringsbut also crescendo and diminuendo
markingsand numerous specified inflections. Cupis's
sonatas are much less difficult than those of the
Leclairs, but his fingerings deal with passages that
mightbe problematical.In the firstsonata, for example,
he indicates a downward shift where the ascent that
precedes it is too obvious to mark(ex.l 1). There is a
Ex.11 Cupis, Sonates op.2 (Paris,[c17401),no.l, second mvt, bar 16
(Allegro)
sensible orthodoxy about all his fingerings;sequential
patterns are fingered the same way, open strings are
used for descents, and position changes are generally
planned so that they involve the least possible move-
ment.
In the same year (1739) that the younger Leclair
published his set of sonatas, Geminiani brought out
the revised edition of his op. 1 together with a compa-
nion set of 12 more sonatas op.4. These (particularly
op.l) are very fully fingered and have inflections,
bowings and dynamic nuances markedas well. A few
years later, Geminiani's pupil Michael Festing pub-
I
- i-r-r
- P,-. lished his op.7 (1747) and op.8 (c1750), both of which
I
U graciosoI
t I I are full of performanceindications. It must have been
i the influence of his teacher that led Festing to present
his new sonatas in this way, since they are quite
+: ^4 different in this respect from the two collections he
had published before 1739.
Festing is a very shrewd composer for the violin. He
+
is a masterof the virtuoso gesture that lies easily under
the hand, so that a sonata such as his op.8 no.3 (illus.9)
I
-I sounds more difficult than it really is. Op.8, though,
has fewer fingerings than op.7 and its contents tend to
have a moregalantcast. Op.7is a very useful collection,
musically attractive and fingered in detail on almost
2
3A r" I I I every page. The opening of Sonata no.2 (illus.10) is
lI L;4J & IL typical in being a model of orthodox fingering. It
makes good use of second position even when this
means (as in bar 1) changing string for a single note.34
At the beginning of the third system Festing goes into
fourth position and stays there until the first barof the
next system, when he uses an open string for the
1 descent. In this passage, one note (f") lies outside the
position, and a fourth-finger extension is specified.
Two systems further down, similar figures-in this
case simply a pair of rising 3rds with a turn-are
treated with similar fingerings. All this is, of course,
exactly what Leopold Mozartdirected his readersto do
in the next decade. Twice in this movement Festing
indicates a shift for the sake of a trill.Thefirst time (bar
1 of the fifth system)the shift also preparesfor the next
phrase, which begins in third position. The second
time (in the last three bars) is a perfect example of
Quantz'sone fingeringsuggestion:that second position
is useful 'especially in cadencing'.35A few moves are
not spelt out (first position is clearly needed at the
1 2 beginning of bar 8, for example), but nothing of
significance is left unexplained.
Geminiani's sonatas confront the performer with
many more problems. In the first place, they are
virtuoso works, not really directed at the gentle
amateurs who make up the list of subscribers to
Festing's op.7.36The fingerings in the revised op. 1 are
plentiful, but they are not enough to solve all the
problems in the horrendously difficult fugal move-
ments. Just as in his treatise, every conceivable type of
shift is represented. In the closing bars of the first
sonata (illus.11) he moves up to a second finger on d'"
(thereby avoiding a fourth-finger trill) and then de-
scends in three stages where two would be possible.
The last part of this move back implies the use of an
EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984 311

~~4< T-f"
( (~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4
*~
,
_Jr**
u : ~ ~ ~ ~ir ~ ~~~~?-
__~ _~:~::::--:
41 ~-
9 M. Festing, Six Solos for a Violin op.8 (London.[cl 750]),no.3, first
mvt (London,British Library)
open E string immediately before the first finger
markedonf' sharp.Atthe beginning of the last system
he uses another open string for a shift back to first
position. This excerpt is from one of the more straight-
forward sections in the volume; the intricacies of
fingeringin manypassagesdefy this kindof description.
Geminiani saw the primary function of the printed
fingeringsin the revised op. 1 as being to give guidance
on shifts: his (Italian)title-page states that, for greater
convenience, he has added 'graces for the Adagios,
and numbers for the shifts of the hand'.
The op.4 sonatas have fewer fingerings, but they are
of a similar character.Geminianipublished one more
set of violin sonatas after 1739: the cello sonatas op.5
'transposed for the violin with such changes as are
appropriateand necessary for that instrument. These
sonatas are quite different from the earlier sets; most
obviously, they are very much less virtuoso, and they
are moreFrenchin style (even than op.4).Thenecessary
312 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984
2 ;tl fr>v-~.
~~J' 1#C.
4<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r
4<
Et~tI~~r(tz1.
^
(< I 0~B j 0
06*
?_
J~~~~~i
-X} -
;
, +-9
10 Festing, Six Solos for a Violin op.7 (London, [17471),no.2, first
mvt (London,British Library)
and appropriatechanges mentioned on the title-page
of the English edition (1747) are thoroughgoing. The
sonatas have all been transposed for the violin to a
pitch that results in a top note of between a" and d"'-
in other words, no sonata requires the performerto go
higher than third position-and in all but two cases
this has involved a change of key. More importantly,
the translation to the violin is musically intelligent:
Geminiani never asks the violin to mimic the cello's
special qualities. There are only two fingerings given
in this volume, both of them designed to show that a
particularfigure is possible through stringcrossing. In
the opening of Sonata no.2 (ex.12), the idiomatic
richness of the cello's chords is replaced by an equally
eloquent but more agile figuration.
Fromall these sets of sonatas one could construct a
kind of Gradusad Parnassum that would begin with the
most basic fingeringproblems and ascend to the limits
of Baroqueviolin technique. The works involved span
Ex.12 F. Geminiani, Sonates op.5 (The Hague, 1746),no.2, first mvt, the same period as the most useful 18th-century violin
bars 1-2 treatises and would form an invaluable companion to
(a) violin version 3
them. Cupis's op.2 might be an appropriate place to
-
, Andante
A %~
S -1\ - 1-
2.
start, followed by Festing's op.7, thence to the collect-
ions of the Leclairs, and finally to Mondonville and
Geminiani. Having mastered all of these, the violinist
might feel prompted to echo the sentiments of the
4 78
doggerel epigraph to Corrette's L'artde se perfectionner
8
dans le violon:
J'exerce dans ma solitude,
Differens traits de Concerto;
Qu'on est charme de son etude,
($ , r L ,
>J i Quand le public nous dit Bravo
Par une illusion nouvelle,
9 8 7 9 8 6 Non, comme Icare audacieux,
Sur la Brillante chanterelle,
Je v6le jusque dans les cieux.37

Peter Walls is senior lecturer in music at the Victoria

University of Wellington. New Zealand He plays the
Baroque violin and is directorof the Baroque Players, New
Zealand's only original-instrument orchestra

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11 Geminiani, Le prime sonate (London, 1739), no.l, fourth mvt (London, British Library)

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984 313

Appendicx violin sonatas with printed fingerings 1700-1770
Date Publication (name of publisher is given where
known)
1712 Piani, Giovanni Antonio: Sonate a violino solo e
violoncello col cimbalo op.l (Paris)
1715 Francoeur, Louis: Premierlivre de sonates a violon seul
et la basse (Paris: l'auteur etc)
1720 Duval, Francois: Les idees musiciennes: sonates a violon
seul avec la basse (Paris: l'auteur)
1723 Leclair l'amne,Jean-Marie: Premier livre de sonates a
violon seul avec la basse continue (Paris: Boivin)
[c1725] Castrucci, Pietro: XIISolos for a Violinwith a Thorough-
bass for the Harpsichordor Bass Violinop. 1 (London:
Walsh & Hare)
[1734] --: Sonate a violino e violone o cimbalo op. 2 (London:
Walsh)
[1734] Leclair l'ane, Jean-Marie: Troisiemelivre de sonates a
violon seul avec la basse continue op.5 (Paris:
l'auteur etc)
[cl735] Aubert, Jacques: Sonates a violon seul et basse
continue . . . livre III nouvelle edition corigee et
augmentee (Paris: 'auteur etc)
1738 Cupis, Jean-Baptiste: Sonates a violon seul avec la
basse continue op. 1 (Paris: l'auteur etc)
[1738] Mondonville, Jean-Joseph Cassanea de: Les sons
harmoniques: sonates a violon seul avec la basse
continue op.4 (Paris and Lille: l'auteur)
1739 Geminiani, Francesco: Le prime sonate a violino e
basso... con diligenza corrette,aggiuntovi ancora per
maggior facilitd le grazie agli adagi ed i numeri per la
transposizione della mano (London)
1739 --: Sonate a violino e basso op.4 (London)
1739 Leclair le cadet, Jean-Marie: Premierlivre de sonates a
violon seul avec la basse continue (Paris and Lyon:
Leclair l'ane etc)
[c1740] Cupis, Jean-Baptiste: Sonates pour le violon op.2
(Paris: 1'auteur)
[c1740] Kennis, Guillaume: VI sonate a violino e violoncello o
cimbalo op.l (Liege)
1744 Mangeau, Etienne: Sonate c deux violons egaux sans
basse op.3 (Paris: l'auteur etc)
[1744] Veracini, Francesco: Sonate accademiche a violino solo
e basso op.2 (London and Florence: author)
1746 Geminiani, Francesco: Sonates pour le violon avec un
violoncelle ou clavecin op.5 (The Hague: author)
[1747] Festing, Michael: Six Solos for a Violin and Thorough
Bass op.7 (London: William Smith)
[1748] Branche, Charles-Antoine: Premier livre de sonates a
violon seul et basse (Paris: l'auteur etc)
[cl748] Miroglio, Jean-Baptiste: Six sonates d violon seul et
basse op.1 (Paris: Boivin)
[1748] L'abbe lefils [Joseph-Barnabe Saint-Sevin]: Sonates a
violon seul op. l (Paris: l'auteur etc)
314 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984
[c1750] Aubert, Louis: Sonates a violon seul avec la basse-
continue op.1 (Paris: l'auteur)
[cl750] Festing, Michael: Six Solos for a Violin with a Thorough
Bass for the Harpsichord op.8 (London: John John-
son)
[1750] Miroglio, Jean-Baptiste: Six sonates a violon seul et
basse op.2 (Paris: Boivin)
1756 Mathieu, Julien-Amable: Six sonates c violon seul et la
basse continue op. 1 (Paris)
[cl 760] Gavinies, Pierre: Six sonates a violon seul et basse op. 1
(Paris: l'auteur)
[cl761] Chiabrano, Carlo Francesco: Six sonates a violon seul
et basse continue op.l (Paris: Huberty, Freres le
Goux)
[cl 762] Stamitz, Johann: Sei sonate da camera a violino solo col
basso (Paris: De la Chevardiere)
[1764] Gavinies, Pierre: Six sonates a violon seul et basse op.3
(Paris: Le Duc)
[cl 765] Mathieu, Julien-Amable: Six sonates a violon seul et la
basse continue op.4 (Paris: Le Menu etc)
[cl 767] Leblanc [first name unknown]: Sonates a violon seul et
basse continue (Paris: l'auteur)
[cl768] Capron, Nicolas: Premier livre de sonates a violon seul
et basse op. 1 (Paris: l'auteur etc)
'I am grateful for having had the opportunity to discuss some of
these issues with Sigiswald Kuijken. The attitudes and ideas
expressed in the first partof this article have been influenced by his
teaching and practice.
2JosephHerrando,for example,begins his Artey puntualexplicacion
del modode tocarel violin(Paris, 1756) 'In all arts and sciences, and
especially in this, one seeks naturalness and convenience'. I should
like to thank R S. J. Corran and R G. Poole for assistance in
translating relevant sections of Herrando's treatise. (All other
translations are mine unless otherwise stated.)
3See'Ofthe Close Shake'in TheArtof Playingon the Violin(London,
1751), p.8; facs. ed. D. D. Boyden (London, 1952). See also R.
Hickman, 'The censored publications of TheArt of Playingon the
Violin,or Geminiani unshaken', EM, xi (January 1983), pp.73-6.
4See Charles Medlam's letter 'On holding the violin', EM, vii
(October 1979), pp.561-3; Prinner's treatise is Washington, DC,
Libraryof Congress, ML95/.P97.
5Versucheinergrnindlichen Violinschule(Augsburg,1756/RSalzburg,
1922); Eng. trans. E. Knocker as A Treatiseon the Fundamental
Principlesof ViolinPlaying(London, 2/1951), p.54
6See J. Wilson, ed., RogerNorthon Music(London, 1959), pp.309
and 355. Matteis'scompositions were published as Ayrsforthe Violin
(London, 1676-85).
7Boydenraises this possibility in the introductionto the facsimile
of Geminiani'streatise (op cit, p.xii).
8Boydenassumed that the edition published by De la Chevardiere
& Freresle Goux was the 1752 edition that he knew of from Eitner,
Quellen-Lexikon (Leipzig, 1900-04) and La Laurencie,L'ecolefrancaise
deviolondeLullya Viotti,3 vols. (Paris,1922-4/R 1971);see Geminiani
ed. Boyden, op cit, p.x and n. 1. The edition of De la Chevardiere&
Freresle Goux is dated 1763 in the RISMEcritsconcerant la musique
(Munich and Duisburg, 1971), i, p.355, and c1775 in the British
LibraryCatalogueofMusicbefore1800.The first and second editions of
the treatise are not listed in the main RISMEinzeldruckevor1800, 9
vols. (Kassel, 1971-81 ), iii, pp.208-15. I should like to thank C. Mews
for checking the copies of Geminiani'streatise in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris.
9Boyden noticed the connection between these two engravings
but, through confusion about the date of Geminiani's volume, he
remained puzzled about their precise relationship; see his The
Historyof ViolinPlayingfromits Originsto 1761 (London, 1965), p.362.
'?See DomenicoScarlatti(Princeton, 1953), p.112 and fig.38.
"L'ecoled'Orphee(Paris, 1738/R Geneva, 1972), p.7
'2See Mogens Brendstrup'sletter 'Danish violin testimony', EM,
viii (July 1980), pp.429-30.
'3Principes du violon (Paris, 1761), p.l; facs. ed. A. Wirsta (Paris,
1961)
'4Elementiteorico-praticidi musica, 2 vols. (Rome, 1791-6), ii,
pp.84-5
"Nouvelle methode de la mecaniqueprogressivedu jeu de violon
(Leipzig, 1824);Eng. trans. J. Bishop as A New andProgressive Method
on theMechanismof ViolinPlaying(London, 1856),p.1. The passage is
worth quoting:'It is necessary to avoid drawingthe chin too near the
collar bone, and thereby holding the violin constrainedly; but it
should be so directed, that the head of the performermay remain as
nearly upright as possible'.
'6Violin-Schule (Vienna, 1832), pp.8-9; Eng. trans. C. Rudolphusas
LouisSpohr'sGrandViolinSchool(London,1833):'Themodem style of
playing which so frequently obliges the left hand to change its
position, makes it absolutely necessary to hold the Violin with the
chin. To do this unfettered and without bending down the head is
difficult; no matterwhether the chin rest on the left or on the right
side, or even on the tail piece itself. It may also, in the quick sliding
down from the upper positions, easily draw the Violin from under
the chin, or at least, by moving the instrument, disturb the
tranquillity of the bowing. These evils the fiddleholder perfectly
removes and in addition to a firm and free position of the Violin, the
advantage is gained of not hindering the full vibration of the
instrument,and thereby injuringthe sound and force of the tone, by
the pressure of the chin on the belly or the tail piece' (p.4). All that
Spohr says about the tonal advantages of the chin rest (or
'fiddleholder')applies equally to chin-off Baroque playing.
"'Herrando,op cit, p.24; Galeazzi, op cit, pp.l31ff; Mozart,op cit,
pp.132ff
'8G.Tartini,Traitedes agrementsde la musique(Paris,1771);ed. E. R.
Jacobi and Eng. trans. C. Girdlestone (Celle and New York, 1961),
p.56
'9AnAccurateMethodto Attainthe Artof Playingye Violin(London,
[c17651),pp.9ff. This is a much extended version of the original,
Grammatica per i principiantidi violino(Rome, 1741).
20L'artdeseperfectionnerdans le violon(Paris,1782/RGeneva, 1972),
p.1
2'La Laurencie, op cit, iii, pp.104-5
220p cit, p.399. His examples from Louis Francoeur'ssonatas are
wrongly attributedto Francois Francoeur;see pp.376, 421 and 453.
23Therelevant section of the New Grovearticle on fingering is brief
and inaccurate: in 'Fingering, ? II, 2: Bowed strings, violin family to
1800', Peter le Hurayhas been confused by La Laurencie,who does
not make a clear distinction between specified fingerings and ones
that can be deduced from context. Hence, Duval's sonatas are said
to be 'importantfor their written-in fingerings' and Jacques Aubert
(who is given a musical example which did not originallyinclude the
fingerings shown here) is said to have'marked unusual extension
fingerings'.Onthe other hand, 'Leclairmarkedvirtuallyno fingerings
in his music'. All these statements are wrong and arise from a
misinterpretationof what La Laurencie says. The article also claims
that L'abbele fils says that the violin should be 'firmlygrasped with
the chin' and that Leopold Mozartadvises players'to press the chin
down on the violin in orderto facilitate changes of position'; neither
L'abb's 'le Menton se trouve du c6te de la quatriemeCorde'(op cit,
p. ) nor Mozart'sstatement that the E-string side 'unter das Kinn
kommt (op cit (Augsburg, 1756), p.53) necessarily imply this. As it
stands, Mozar s statement could describe Veracini'sway of holding
the violin (illus.4).
24AGeneralHistoryof Music(London, 1776/R New York, 1963), ii,
p.903n.
25Wilson,ed., op cit, p.234
26Twelveof the (many)18th-centurysonatas or sonata movements
in this volume are printedwith their originalfingerings;some others
have fingerings added by Cartier.The first edition appearedin 1798.
Accordingto RISMthere are several copies of this in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris, and one in the Bodleian Library,Oxford;all these
are, in fact, second editions (1799). The third edition (Paris, 1803/R
New York, 1973) is considerably expanded.
27Accordingto Le Huray(opcit GasparoZanetti uses a figure 5 to
indicate fourth-finger extensions to c"' in II scolaro(Milan, 1645).
28Sonatano.1 in E flat major, second movement (Allegro),bar 35
29Infact, the marking'A la seconde Position' before Sonata no.2
can only apply to the first movement. Sonata no.4 is marked'Toute
la Sonate a la Seconde Position'.
30Thiswas suggested to me by Michael Lowe.
3 (June 1738), p. 1115. This comes in part of an article on French
violinists (including Duval Senaille, Guignon and Sommis). In
August,a correction was printed acknowledgingthat Leclairhad not
been the first to use chords on the violin; see M. Pincherle, Jean-
MarieLeclairl'ain (Paris, 1952), p.62. M. Lemoine, 'La technique
violonistique de Jean-MarieLeclair',Revuemusicale,no.226 (1955),
pp. 17-43, discusses some of Leclair's fingerings.
32Even the first volume has on its title-page 'Some of these
sonatas can be played on the transverseflute', and inside the flautist
is directedto the second and fourth sonatas. In the last movement of
Sonata no.2 alternatives for flute and violin are provided in a few
bars. The C majorConcerto op.7 no.3 is markedas suitable for flute.
33Mangeau,Sonata no.l in F major, second movement (Largo
affectuoso), bar 17; Mozart,op cit (Eng. trans.), p.157
34Onceagain, Leopold Mozart does the same thing; op cit (Eng.
trans.), p.152
35J.J. Quantz, VersucheinerAnweisungdieFlotetraversiere zu spielen
(Berlin, 1752/R 1952); Eng. trans. E. R. Reilly as OnPlayingthe Flute
(London, 1966), p.235
36Thereare approaching240 names on the list and it would not be
accurate to describe them all as amateurs:they include the Apollo
Academy, William Boyce, Johh Freake, Prince Lobkowitz and the
Philharmonic Society.
37Aparaphrase:'I practise various concerto strokes in solitude;
how gratifying these studies become when the public calls out
"Bravo!".Unlike the foolhardy Icarus, who was deceived by an
illusion [?],I fly on the brilliant E string right up to the heavens'.
EARLY MUSIC
November 1984
The early piano 1
February 1985
The early piano. 2
May 1985
J S. Bach tercentenary
EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 1984 315