The Violin

A Research and Information Guide

Mark Katz

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2006
• ISBN:
  9781135576950
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medien & darstellende Kunst
• Subtopic: Musik

The violin was first mentioned in a book in the sixteenth century. An abundant and diverse literature on the instrument has grown since then, and a complete general guide to these materials has not been produced in the modern era. The last, Edward Heron-Allen's De Fidiculis Bibliographia, was published in1894. This book fills that void, organizing and annotating information on the violin from a variety of fields and sources. It provides a comprehensive, though selective, guide to all facets of the instrument. The book is divided into 4 main parts: Reference and General Studies; Acoustics and Construction; Violin Playing, Performance Practice, and Music; and Violinists, Composers, and Violin Teachers. It will serve as a ready reference for students and scholars, and is a welcome addition to the esteemed Routledge Music Bibliography series.

IV

Violin Music

REFERENCE: LISTS AND GUIDES

See also {38}, {45}, {149}, {675}, {704}, {714}, {676}, {1252}.

639. Tottmann, Albert. Führer durch den Violinunterricht. Leipzig: Schuberth, 1873. xi, 312pp. 4th ed., ed. Wilhelm Altmann. Leipzig: Schuberth, 1935. xv, 472pp.

A guide to the violin literature. Provides selectively annotated lists of etudes and caprices, solo violin music, violin music with piano and orchestra accompaniment, and violin ensemble music. Entries provide publication information and date, and for some, short descriptions of the works.

640. Baudet-Maget, A. Guide du violoniste. Lausanne: Foetisch, [19–]. xvi, 295pp.

A graded list of methods, etudes, and works for violin alone and in combination with other instruments.

641. Grünberg, Max. Führer durch die Literatur der Streichinstrumente. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1913. xii, 218pp. R. Wiesbaden: Sändig, 1971. xii, 218pp.

A lightly annotated, classified list of violin, viola, and cello literature. Organized by pedagogical works, solo works, and chamber music.

642. Letz, Hans. Music for the Violin and Viola. New York: Rinehart, 1948. viii, 107pp.

Lists violin and viola music. Organized into four sections: violin music (solo and with piano accompaniment), a graded course of teaching material for the violin, viola music (solo and with piano accompaniment), and technical material for the viola. Entries in the first and third sections provide title, key, opus number, level of difficulty, and brief remarks by the author. The book provides a rather narrow selection of works, and many well-known composers are not listed.

643. Sartori, Claudio. Bibliografia della Musica Strumentale Italiana stampata in Itlaia fino al 1700. 2 vols. Florence: Olschki, 1952, 1968. xxiv, 652pp.; xii, 261pp.

A chronological list of instrumental music published in Italy between 1517 and 1700, including many works for violin. Entries provide instrumentation and publication information, dedications and other frontipiece text, and note libraries (mostly European) that own copies of the music. The second volume provides additional entries, lists corrections, and supplies a new index.

644. Farish, Margaret K. String Music in Print. New York: Bowker, 1965. xii, 420pp. 2d ed., 1973. xv, 464pp. R. Philadelphia: Musicdata, 1980. xv, 464pp.

Lists music for the violin, viola, cello, bass, viola d’amore, and viola da gamba, accompanied or unaccompanied and in various combinations. Also includes a brief section listing books on violin playing and provides a list of publishers. Although generally reliable, it reproduces the factual errors (concerning dates, opus numbers, names, etc.) in the publishers’ catalogs from which the author drew her information. The author’s Supplement to String Music in Print (New York: Bowker, 1968) includes a list of corrections to the first edition.

645. Basart, Ann P. “Finding String Music.” Cum notis variorum 57 (November 1981): 6–16.

A classified, annotated 47-item bibliography of guides to string music repertoire. Works cited include catalogs of particular collections, graded repertoire lists, discographies and bibliographies. Organized into eight categories: chamber music, music for bowed strings, violin music, viola music, violoncello music, double bass music, viol and viola d’amore, and music for plectral instruments. Includes an index.

646. Johnson, Rose-Marie. Violin Music by Women Composers. New York: Greenwood, 1989. 253pp.

An annotated list of violin music of all genres by women composers and violinist-composers from the Baroque to the late 20th century. Includes brief biographies of the composers, as well as a discography and bibliography.

647. Horne, Aaron. String Music of Black Composers. New York: Greenwood, 1991. xx, 327pp.

A guide to the string music of selected African, African-American, Afro-European, and Afro-Latino composers. Entries provide brief biographies of the composers and list the relevant works with date and publisher of each. Includes a discography and bibliography.

648. Baron, John H. Chamber Music: A Research and Information Guide. New York: Garland, 1987. xvii, 500pp. 2d ed. New York and London: Routledge, 2002. xx, 656pp.

An annotated bibliography of writings on chamber music. Categories include the history of chamber music, analytic studies, performers, and performance practice. Annotations provide concise summaries and often critical assessments of the items. A valuable source of information on chamber music, including chamber music for violin.

GENERAL SURVEYS

649. Hart, George. The Violin and Its Music. London: Dulau, 1881; New York: Diston, 1883; London: Dulau, 1885. xi, 484pp. R. (of 1881 ed.) Boston: Longwood, 1977. xi, 484pp.

A wide-ranging survey of violin music up to the late 19th century. In nine sections: the first five are devoted to the viol, the final four consider, in turn, violin music (and violinists) in France, Germany, and Italy. Pieces are discussed rather briefly and generally. Mus. exx., illus.

650. Auer, Leopold. Violin Master Works and Their Interpretation. New York: Fischer, 1925. xii, 166pp.

Offers advice on the execution and interpretation of dozens of concertos, sonatas, character pieces, and other works for the violin from the Baroque to the late 19th century. A final chapter addresses transcriptions and the matter of memorizing music. Includes 360 musical examples.

651. Reuter, Florizel von. Führer durch die Solo-Violinmusik. Berlin: Hesse, 1926. 272pp.

Surveys the violin literature from the 17th century to the early 20th century. (Note that Solo-Violinmusik in the title refers not to music for unaccompanied violin, but more broadly to music that features the violin.) The first of five main parts considers the emergence of violin music and includes chapters on the form and development of the duo sonata (violin and piano), the violin concerto, character pieces, and etudes. The subsequent three parts survey, in turn, the violin music of Italy (from Corelli to Paganini), Germany (from Bach to Brahms), and France and Belgium. The final section considers music from the Slavic countries, Scandanavia, Spain, Switzerland, and England, and considers “modern” violin music (i.e., from the late 19th and early 20th centuries) in Germany and France. The works of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Paganini are each given individual and relatively substantial chapters. Mus. exx.

STUDIES BY GENRE

CONCERTOS

See also {639–48}, {681}, {692}, {694}, {696}, {778}, {849}.

652. Schering, Arnold. Geschichte des instrumental-(violin)-Konzerts bis Ant. Vivialdi. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1903. 115pp.

Explores the early history of the violin concerto up to and including the work of Vivaldi. The first and smaller of two sections considers the development of the concerto and discusses concertante elements in 17th-century instrumental music. The second section devotes chapters to what Schering calls the concert-symphony (orchestral works that have solo elements), the concerto grosso, and the solo concerto. Mus. exx.

653. Emery, Frederic B. The Violin Concerto. 2 vols. Chicago: Violin Literature, 1928. 615, xl pp. R. Da Capo, 1969. 615, xl pp.

An encyclopedia of the violin concerto, listing approximately 3,300 concertos by about 1,000 composers. In general, its 23 chapters progress chronologically and by region (e.g., “Early Italy, from 1640 to 1750” and “France, after 1813”) with entries on individual composers and their works within each chapter. Also includes chapters on cadenza composers, and concerto dedicatees (e.g., Fritz Kreisler, Pablo de Sarasate). Ten appendices provide a wealth of additional information, including publication dates, dates of first performances, and teacher-pupil relationships. With illustrations and a bibliography. Although Toskey’s later Concertos for Violin and Viola: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia {661} lists many more works, it does not...