Stephen Fine

The fingerboard on my baroque viola has the scoop. I hypothesized in another thread that the notch was for a strap, for playing da spalla.

Tag is funny. I wonder what era Roth that is. Usually the tags are fancier.

One of the greats. Good long life. Very influential. Listen to how freely she plays! And the strength and determination. Such character. She made Sibelius proud he wrote it.

Intensity depends on context. But, generally, more intense vibrato is faster and wider. (Perhaps also while utilizing a contact point closer to the bridge with faster bow speed as well.) But, again, it's depends more on context and you might do better to try to be more intense rather than trying to reduce "intense" to its composite parts. What does intense mean to you? When you listen to your favorite players, what do their vibratos sound like in climactic moments? While I think clear, technical explanations are useful, I've had teachers and colleagues who got excellent results in rehearsals by asking for more metaphorical or descriptive ideas. It annoys the heck out of some people, but especially when playing Romantic repertoire or even just when trying to play more musically, asking for colors or textures or images or moods can help.

I love how unified this ensemble is in their interpretation.

Yeah. I misread Wilhelm for William. Probably not the same guy. NYC even in that era was a large city. Lots of Friedrichs, no doubt.

And the winner is: I'm relieved that I didn't miss something so fundamental when trying out the instrument. But I also feel like a dummy that my first instinct wasn't to change out the false E-string. Intonation is back to being normal with a new E-string.

I'm not sure about anachronism... If you play a lot, I recommend using something to protect the wood. I recommend trying unwound and wound gut strings. If you tell a gut string maker your string length and the A-415 you want to tune to, they can recommend the proper gut string for you to purchase. Donald Byrd. What a career! He played with everyone. I'm a sucker for fusion.

I don't think so. I think they started so much younger than you did that it's much more internalized. I doubt Hahn or Heifetz spend much time "thinking" at all. I described watching HH's practice in another thread. It's quite physical, the mental seems hardly separated... the focus in her mind is so directly connected to her hands.

Not sure what you're asking... Spohr "invented" the chinrest around 1820. Performance practice (posture, L.H. technique) was different before the chinrest. Gut strings respond and sound differently from modern strings. But, unless you're in a period ensemble with strict rules, you can play baroque and other Early music however you want with whatever equipment you have. Gut strings are good teachers though. The extra resonance when compared to modern strings is illuminating. And my modern technique improved a TON the summer I worked on playing without a chinrest. Until you spend some time on the instrument without the tight clamp of jaw/collarbone, it can be difficult to feel how tight the clamp is. The balance between holding the instrument up with the head and holding it up with the left hand is a valuable balance to get a handle on. PS- are you a Byrd? My mothers' people are Byrds.

I don't think so (or else we'd have more evidence of these duos). I think William Friedrich is more likely the brother of the violin maker John Friedrich. He was in NYC at the right time.

So, the Gainesville Orchestra had a concert this past weekend. Outdoors (hot and humid this time of year in the swamp), masked, with some plastic barriers between the brass and the winds. Infections are climbing pretty rapidly in the county, so if none of us in the orchestra come down with CoVID I'll be pleased and optimistic about the idea of outdoor concerts moving forward. I had no trouble breathing (although as the temperature climbed it was uncomfortable and sweaty), but I found a bit of difficulty reading the music. I can't explain it since the mask doesn't obscure my vision... very weird.

W. Friedrich was the editor. I would like to figure out who he was. Was he William Friedrich? Was he the editor or the "editor"?

Hey, Rue, if your edition is older than 75 years, would you mind scanning a few pages in for us? I was able to see the first page by google image searching, and, on first glance it looks to be JC Bach. It's got that pre-Classical stiltedness... looks like 9 year old Mozart having a rough day. My first thought was the same as Philip's, that maybe they're transcriptions, but I looked through a few scores (a few of the ones ctanzio suggests) and couldn't find it. My second thought was that it was a "found" work, but then after it actually looks like pre-Classical music... this is a decent mystery. My new hypothesis is that it's a JC Bach keyboard solo keyboard piece.

My teacher in college had me purchase a wrist/thumb brace to achieve this. And then, later, when I was working on the fast movement of Hindemith 11/5, she had me grip the bow with a fist instead of a bowhold and called it caveman bowhold. It forces you to internalize patterns into the arm. Different issue since you don't need to go to the tip, but using physical tricks (like removing collé when practicing your détaché) are often very helpful. You think very methodically about your form and technique. I hope you are spending as much time thinking about how to improve your ear and style. ------ As usual, you bring up an interesting question. I agree with PhilipKT.