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TSR Bowed Strings Society

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Yes!! I played Spring Sonata about 6 months ago, I am considering re-learning it (1st mvt especially). If you want a copy of the Menuhin/Menuhin recording, just say and I'll do a CD, I love it (and I dislike Menuhin usually). Oh, don't get the Peter's edition is you can help it. It's really weird, they assume your hands are about 3x the size of a normal person's, and the fingerings are practical, not musical, in a lot of places.

Are you doing Mendy with your teacher, or just for fun? 2nd mvt is very playable, I'm having a lot of fun with the 3rd! I'm not putting much into the 1st, because musically I find it quite tricky, not to mention that friggin cadenza (can you do the bowing for the arpeggios?).

Reply 181

Jonathan

Ooh, thanks, I think I'll take you up on that! I need to order the part soon - is there an edition you do recommend?

(although my teacher is determined for me to finger the piece completely anyway before he puts his in, as an exercise because he won't be around to do it when I'm at university...)

I'm doing the Mendelssohn first movement with him but I'm not going to prepare it properly - I'm getting my fingers round it, really, and it seems to be working. The second movement he warned me off - the tune isn't difficult of course but the middle section double stops are virtually impossible, apparently, and the first, while generally much harder, isn't as hard as the middle of the slow movement.

I can now bash my way right through the cadenza - plenty of speed but little accuracy! The bowing when it goes saltando isn't that hard when you're shown how to - if you flick the bow downwards as you land on the G string, it'll bounce (down) G D A E (up) A D G on its own, if you let it.

The great thing is, it sounds hard :biggrin:

I just found a goldmine!
Youtube videos of Heifetz playing

Have a watch of Hora Staccato - not only can he do a proper on-the-string up bow staccato at speed, he can do it on a DOWN BOW! Hate hate hate!

Reply 182

bohemian

Jonathan

Ooh, thanks, I think I'll take you up on that! I need to order the part soon - is there an edition you do recommend?
I've got Peters :frown:

That's how I discovered the problem of it. Urtext is always good though, if Tema can't get it (they don't have all Urtext editions, some take ages) then try Chappells in London, they always send my music within 3 days (have given up on Tema completely).

Luckily I've got all the fingerings already written in as my edition of Mendy was my grandfather's, and he wrote in every single position change :biggrin:

Hehe, saved me a lot of time. I don't have that many problem with the double stops in the 2nd section but that might be because I've been playing a lot of stuff which requires exactly the same bowing and fingering skills as it, recently.
Speed and no accuracy is a speciality of mine :p:

I can get the downbow stroke fine, but completely lose all the bounce for the upbow, possibly because I'm doing it too near the heel...will have to have another bash after lunch. Maybe I'll pop round to my teacher's house and ask for a demo.

Znaider is doing Mendy at the RAH in August with the BBC SO, and Jenson is doing it in Bedford (don't know when) with the Phil :smile:

I'm hoping to see both. There are some reeeeeally good Bedford concerts coming up: Mahler 1 and Shosti violin concerto played by Khachatryan very soon :smile:

And the new season stuff has just been released too.

Heifetz's bowing is disgustingly good. Thanks for the link - more excellent distraction from revision :biggrin:

Don't suppose anyone can reccomend an atonal/minimalist/weird piece (pref with piano accomp, or orchestral reduction) which might be suitable for Dip?

Reply 183

siwi

There are violin concertos by Philip Glass and John Adams, and a piece called Fratres by Arvo Part, all of which sound suitably modern.

Reply 184

bohemian

I love the Glass concerto but it's a bit hard. I'll certainly look into the other two, thanks :smile:

I played a piece by Part before, Speigel in Speigel, enjoyed it very much.

Reply 185

tritogeneia1

siwi

I've just bought a £10,000 cello - but it was from a dealer. It's English, from about 1810, sounds amazing. :biggrin:

How old is yours?

Currently doing:
Boccherini Bb Concerto
Kodaly Sonata Op.4
Franck A minor Sonata

Hello Bowed Stringers! (hmm, that sounds odd...never mind!)

Mine's about 50 years old, I think...well, nearer 60 now, I bought it about 8 years ago! (scary thought). I love its sound, mmm, though I'm such a cello slut, I'll try anything once if it's there and I can play!

Those pieces are nice - well, I like the Boccherini and Franck, don't really know the Kodaly that well. Are you just working on them generally, or planning a concert/exam?

Reply 186

siwi

I'm just 'doing stuff' - don't want to do the next diploma this year because of exams. Kodaly wrote an Op.8 solo sonata which ranks among the most difficult pieces ever written, but Op.4 isn't too bad - it's on the LRSM list, I think. I did the A2 recital a while back, so I guess that counts as this year's performance. Come to think of it, at the moment I'm writing as much music as I'm playing...

Just noticed I'm still a Junior Member, the post count for Full must be 75 or 100...

Reply 187

bohemian

Today I stumbled across the music for Zigeunerweisen and the Paganini Capricii. I am in love with the Sarasate. Shame, as I intended to do some proper work on my "proper" pieces this week, and now I'll be playing around with that instead.

Reply 188

Jonathan

Know the feeling... thanks for the CD bohemian! I've taken a copy myself so you can have it back on Friday. I haven't had a chance for a proper listen but it's very, very different from Heifetz's... maybe not as warm-sounding, but no-one is where Heifetz is concerned.

I've ordered the Spring Sonata *and* the Mendelssohn in Schirmer editions... let's see what they're like.

Reply 189

bohemian

That's ok

Yesterday was really fun! (I have strange definitions of fun.)

I haven't heard anyone else's recording of it, but to me Menuhin always sounds rather detached from the music - although somehow he still manages to communicate just as well as someone like Heifetz or Perlman, but in a different way. I wonder if Perlman and Barenboim did the Beethoven Sonatas, that would be worth a listen, they did all the Mozart Sonatas and as a duo they sound fantastic.

Checked my Mendy - it was printed in 1915 :redface:

No wonder it's so yellow, and when you rub things out it rubs out the notes underneath, too.
Lovely shiny new edition of Bloch's stuff for piano and violin came today, now I can practice with an accomp. and everything.
How's the Mendy coming along for you? Enjoying the cadenza? :p:

Going to Benslow tomorrow :biggrin:

Reply 190

bohemian

And the result from Benslow:

They have GIVEN me an late 17th century Tononi 7/8 violin, insured for £18,000, to keep for the next 6 years, possibly 7. Oh my days. I don't even know what to think...that's like...scary...it sounds amazing...Tononi...and it's a perfect size too, it must be how normal sized people feel on a normal sized violin...

Seriously, I'm scared of practicing it in case something happens to it.

:biggrin:

*dances around singing*

Reply 191

Jonathan

Congratulations! Champagne all round :biggrin:

(can I play a note or two on it on Friday please? :p:

)

Reply 192

bohemian

Of course! You might need to shrink a bit first :p:

Just spent 4 hours straight on it. I am in love...
Back to practice :biggrin:

Reply 193

Charl

*stalks Jonny and his thread*

:ninja:

Reply 194

Well, seeing as I just bowed my string, I thought I'd better pop in! Wow, a rhyme, would ya look at that! :eek:

Yes, anyhoo, I did indeed just bow my string instrument, only a wee bit, a few scales but I still bowed! :biggrin:

Reply 195

bohemian

What variety of bowed string instrument do you play K@?

Anyone doing anything musically stimulating? End of term concerts and the like?

Reply 196

bohemian

What variety of bowed string instrument do you play K@?

Anyone doing anything musically stimulating? End of term concerts and the like?

Double bass! :biggrin:

I just had school concerts.... yay!

Something much more EXCITING though is Dorset Youth Orch day course next Sunday and our residential is only 2 days away! WHOOP! :party:

Reply 197

siwi

bohemian

Anyone doing anything musically stimulating? End of term concerts and the like?

Well, I'm in Festival for Youth TWICE! and we're going on tour to Poland. We're doing William Tell so as principal cello I have a huge solo, which is good fun... :biggrin:

Reply 198

screenager

I'm thinking of taking up the double bass, I have always wanted to play the Cello or Double bass and I think I will give Double Bass a go. So I am going to get down to the music shop ASAP and hire a double bass and go hunting for a teacher, that way I can start learning straight away so that I can start playing in school quicker but how long do you guys think it would take for a beginner to get good enough to be in a school orchestra? I don't want to start playing for the school until I am at a reasonable level but I would love to play in the orchestra as it looks amazing.

Reply 199

rewmck

Do it, do it NOW!

Pah to cello! :p:

Double bass is the way forward.

You don't have to be ace to play in school orch, the faster you get playing in the orch the better, that's how I learnt.

For Lordy's sake though, get a good teacher, I'm falling apart now through various problems caused by posture and lifting of the damn thing. I had 6 teachers in my first two years of playing, that was CRAP.

Good luck, keep us posted! :biggrin: