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168-543: 1st violin : 2nd violin: Viola : Cello : The Budapest String Quartet was formed in 1917 by four friends, all members of opera orchestras that had ceased playing after World War I broke out. The members were all protégés of Jenő Hubay (violin), a Hungarian pupil of Joseph Joachim and David Popper (cello), a Bohemian . Hubay and Popper had helped to make Budapest a major center for musical education, attracting famous students such as Joseph Szigeti . Hubay and Popper had supported Sándor Végh and Feri Roth in

336-466: A fiddle , is a wooden chordophone , and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano ) in regular use in the violin family . Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino piccolo and the pochette , but these are virtually unused. Most violins have a hollow wooden body, and commonly have four strings (sometimes five ), usually tuned in perfect fifths with notes G3, D4, A4, E5, and are most commonly played by drawing

504-584: A French violinist . During World War II he was active in the Soviet Union, premiering new concerti by Nikolai Miaskovsky and Aram Khachaturian as well as two sonatas by his friend Sergei Prokofiev . He was also awarded the Stalin Prize in 1942. The final years of the war saw the blossoming of a friendship with Shostakovich, which led to the two violin concertos and the sonata, all of which were to be premiered by and become firmly associated with Oistrakh in

672-727: A bow across the strings. The violin can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers ( pizzicato ) and, in specialized cases, by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow ( col legno ). Violins are important instruments in a wide variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in the Western classical tradition , both in ensembles (from chamber music to orchestras ) and as solo instruments. Violins are also important in many varieties of folk music , including country music , bluegrass music , and in jazz . Electric violins with solid bodies and piezoelectric pickups are used in some forms of rock music and jazz fusion , with

840-407: A chinrest , which may attach directly over, or to the left of, the tailpiece . A distinctive feature of a violin body is its hourglass-like shape and the arching of its top and back. The hourglass shape comprises two upper bouts, two lower bouts, and two concave C-bouts at the waist , providing clearance for the bow . The "voice" or sound of a violin depends on its shape, the wood it is made from,

1008-406: A shift, and effective shifting maintaining accurate intonation and a smooth legato (connected) sound is a key element of technique at all levels. Often a "guide finger" is used; the last finger to play a note in the old position continuously lightly touches the string during the course of the shift to end up on its correct place in the new position. In elementary shifting exercises the "guide finger"

1176-521: A string quartet or a string orchestra , the strings typically "sweeten" their tuning to suit the key they are playing in. When playing with an instrument tuned to equal temperament , such as a piano , skilled violinists adjust their tuning to match the equal temperament of the piano to avoid discordant notes. The fingers are conventionally numbered 1 (index) through 4 (little finger) in music notation , such as sheet music and etude books. Especially in instructional editions of violin music, numbers over

1344-467: A Guarneri. "The Messiah" or "Le Messie" (also known as the "Salabue") made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716 remains pristine. It is now located in the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford . The most famous violin makers ( luthiers ) between the 16th century and the 18th century include: Significant changes occurred in the construction of the violin in the 18th century, particularly a longer neck which

1512-498: A Stradivari violin is £ 9.8 million ( US$ 15.9 million at that time), when the instrument known as the Lady Blunt was sold by Tarisio Auctions in an online auction on June 20, 2011. A violin generally consists of a spruce top (the soundboard , also known as the top plate , table , or belly ), maple ribs and back, two endblocks, a neck , a bridge , a soundpost, four strings, and various fittings, optionally including

1680-478: A coal barge. It took frantic string-pulling by Friedberg – involving Mayor La Guardia – to get them out just in time for their first concert. They weren't in optimal condition for a concert and thought their performance wasn't too good, but nonetheless they got a rave review from The New York Times . This, finally, opened the door to real success in the U.S. Suddenly all the critics were praising them as never before, and audiences and bookings flooded in. Considering

1848-452: A colored silk wrapping at both ends, for identification of the string (e.g., G string, D string, A string or E string) and to provide friction against the pegs. The tapered pegs allow friction to be increased or decreased by the player applying appropriate pressure along the axis of the peg while turning it. Strings were first made of sheep gut (commonly known as catgut , which despite the name, did not come from cats), or simply gut, which

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2016-627: A definite breach of faith." They should have realized that they had no right to be the only negotiators in a deal. Over 35 years the quartet recorded 89 individual works, some of them several times. For many years it was Columbia's leading classical music seller, and so quite a loss to RCA. Early on, however, there were difficulties. First the American Federation of Musicians , protecting American jobs, demanded that someone should pay two members to be "standbys" during recordings. The quartet and Columbia argued about which of them should pay. After this

2184-522: A film orchestra. It was during this time that the quartet offer came. Joe was comfortable and secure in the orchestra, but his first love was chamber music. In the end, his wife Polo persuaded him to take the financial risk and sacrifice involved. Immediately he began to regret it. Hauser and Son were constantly in dispute and soliciting his vote. Moreover, Roisman had his own issues, in particular involving Hauser and Ipolyi's inability to play in spiccato (German Springbogen , or with "bouncing" bow), so that

2352-443: A fingered A on the D string against the open A string), giving a ringing sort of "fiddling" sound. Playing an open string simultaneously with an identical stopped note can also be called for when more volume is required, especially in orchestral playing. Some classical violin parts have notes for which the composer requests the violinist to play an open string, because of the specific sonority created by an open string. Double stopping

2520-456: A fixed-pitch instrument such as a piano or accordion, the violin tunes to the corresponding note on that instrument rather than to any other tuning reference. The oboe is generally the instrument used to tune orchestras where violins are present since its sound is penetrating and can be heard over the other woodwinds.) The other strings are then tuned against each other in intervals of perfect fifths by bowing them in pairs. A minutely higher tuning

2688-641: A furious pace. He had already become one of the principal cultural ambassadors for the Soviet Union to the West in live concerts and recordings. After conducting a cycle of Brahms with the Concertgebouw Orchestra , he died from another heart attack in Amsterdam in 1974. His remains were returned to Moscow, where he was interred in Novodevichy Cemetery . Oistrakh received many awards and distinctions. Within

2856-455: A gift of it." Oistrakh had remarked that this (Richaume) bow gave him great satisfaction, so much so that when in Paris he had to meet Richaume in person. Oistrakh was an avid chess player in the 1930s, when Stalin's government was actively encouraging its best minds to pursue chess as a hobby. His 1937 match against the composer Sergei Prokofiev was a widely observed event in the Soviet Union and

3024-414: A metal screw that moves a lever attached to the string end. They permit very small pitch adjustments much more easily than the pegs. Turning a fine tuner clockwise causes the pitch to become sharper (as the string is under more tension), and turning it counterclockwise, the pitch becomes flatter (as the string is under less tension). Fine tuners on all four of the strings are very helpful when using those with

3192-464: A number of reasons. Hide glue is capable of making a thinner joint than most other glues. It is reversible (brittle enough to crack with carefully applied force and removable with hot water) when disassembly is needed. Since fresh hide glue sticks to old hide glue, more original wood can be preserved when repairing a joint. (More modern glues must be cleaned off entirely for the new joint to be sound, which generally involves scraping off some wood along with

3360-438: A particular technical challenge, for two reasons. Firstly, the difference in location of different notes becomes much narrower in high positions, making the notes more challenging to locate and in some cases to distinguish by ear. Secondly, the much shorter sounding length of the string in very high positions is a challenge for the right arm and bow in sounding the instrument effectively. The finer (and more expensive) an instrument,

3528-670: A position teaching at the Moscow Conservatory , and was later made professor in 1939. Some of his colleagues while teaching at the conservatory included Yuri Yankelevich and Boris Goldstein . Oistrakh taught Oleg Kagan , Valery Klimov (who later succeeded Oistrakh's position at the Moscow Conservatory), Emmy Verhey , Oleh Krysa , Gidon Kremer , Yulia Brodskaya (Julia Verba), Eduard Dayan, Zoya Petrosyan , Jean Ter-Merguerian , Victor Danchenko , Victor Pikaizen, Cyrus Forough , Olga Parhomenko, and his son Igor Oistrakh. In

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3696-676: A quartet which toured Europe until 1933 when the Nazis sacked them all. He then quickly moved to Paris, where the Russian Conservatory there formed a quartet under his leadership which had some success in Europe. When war was threatened, he joined the French army but in April 1940 (just before the disastrous defeat by the invading Germans) was discharged due to illness, and he and his wife left Paris just ahead of

3864-542: A replacement player in time for the new season. In the ensuing row, Pogany resigned. He then emigrated to America, and this time decided to join the Cincinnati Symphony and teach at the local conservatory. In 1929, he moved on to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini as principal second violin, remaining there until his retirement in 1958. The man recommended to replace Pogany

4032-568: A rule that the second violin plays it and not the first. ... If you play only second violin, you get stale for other things." He said that, after he left the Budapest, it took him three years to get back to good playing condition. The newest super-virtuosic New York group, the Emerson String Quartet , takes a similar view, and solves it by the two violinists, Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, alternating between first and second. In later years,

4200-475: A screw adjuster tightens or loosens the hair. Just forward of the frog, a leather thumb cushion (called the grip) and a winding protect the stick and provide a secure hold for the player's hand. Traditional windings are of wire (often silver or plated silver), silk, or baleen ("whalebone", now substituted by alternating strips of tan and black plastic.) Some fiberglass student bows employ a plastic sleeve as both grip and winding. Bow hair traditionally comes from

4368-544: A second procedure. He never played again but he did teach extensively, including 25 summers at the Marlboro Music Festival, until his death on October 3, 1985 in Buffalo, New York. In 1977, Sasha abruptly left Marlboro. He never explained why, but he and Serkin remained fast friends. In 1969, Boris died of cancer. In 1974, Joe suffered a fatal heart attack. In 1993 Sasha succumbed to heart failure, having played almost to

4536-599: A semitone higher, and the Mystery Sonatas by Biber , in which each movement has different scordatura tuning. In Indian classical music and Indian light music, the violin is likely to be tuned to D ♯ –A ♯ –D ♯ –A ♯ in the South Indian style. As there is no concept of absolute pitch in Indian classical music, musicians can use any convenient tuning to maintain these relative pitch intervals between

4704-415: A sign of an inferior instrument. The back and ribs are typically made of maple , most often with a matching striped figure , referred to as flame , fiddleback , or tiger stripe . The neck is usually maple with a flamed figure compatible with that of the ribs and back. It carries the fingerboard , typically made of ebony, but often some other wood stained or painted black on cheaper instruments. Ebony

4872-417: A small frame may use a so-called 7 ⁄ 8 size violin instead of a full-size instrument. Sometimes called a lady's violin , these instruments are slightly shorter than a full size violin, but tend to be high-quality instruments capable of producing a sound comparable to that of fine full size violins. The sizes of 5-string violins may differ from the normal 4-string. The instrument which corresponds to

5040-757: A small hotel in Washington. The other players felt awful, and played benefit concerts for his family at the Settlement Music School. Later, Mischa left them most of his music and on his death Joe left them most of his money. Joe refused to accept another new second violinist, and fortunately they managed to persuade Sasha to return. Against their prior rule, they allowed him to spend some time working independently because they needed him and they did not want to take as many engagements as before. As soon as he returned, they all felt happier than they had for many years, their playing showed resultant rejuvenated strength and

5208-413: A specific sound especially in historically informed performance of Baroque music . Strings have a limited lifetime. Eventually, when oil, dirt, corrosion, and rosin accumulate, the mass of the string can become uneven along its length. Apart from obvious things, such as the winding of a string coming undone from wear, players generally change a string when it no longer plays "true" (with good intonation on

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5376-404: A sponge and an elastic band for younger players who struggle with shoulder rests). The jaw and the shoulder must hold the violin firmly enough to allow it to remain stable when the left hand goes from a high position (a high pitched note far up on the fingerboard) to a low one (nearer to the pegbox). In the Indian posture, the stability of the violin is guaranteed by its scroll resting on the side of

5544-464: A steel core, and some players use them with synthetic strings. Since modern E strings are steel, a fine tuner is nearly always fitted for that string. Fine tuners are not used with gut strings, which are more elastic than steel or synthetic-core strings and do not respond adequately to the very small movements of fine tuners. To tune a violin, the A string is first tuned to a standard pitch (usually A=440  Hz ). (When accompanying or playing with

5712-436: A stretched left-hand position with the fingers extended. The term "double stop" is often used to encompass sounding an open string alongside a fingered note as well, even though only one finger stops the string. David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh ( né  Eustrach ; 30 September [ O.S. 17 September] 1908 – 24 October 1974) was a Soviet Russian violinist , violist , and conductor . He

5880-441: A string is bowed or plucked without any finger stopping it, it is said to be an open string . This gives a different sound from a stopped string, since the string vibrates more freely at the nut than under a finger. Further, it is impossible to use vibrato fully on an open string (though a partial effect can be achieved by stopping a note an octave up on an adjacent string and vibrating that, which introduces an element of vibrato into

6048-502: A violin are usually made from different types of wood . Violins can be strung with gut , Perlon or other synthetic, or steel strings. A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier or violinmaker. One who makes or repairs bows is called an archetier or bowmaker . The word "violin" was first used in English in the 1570s. The word "violin" comes from "Italian violino , [a] diminutive of viola . The term "viola" comes from

6216-506: A while. He then relocated to Amsterdam until 1951, and thereafter returned to Paris. His date and place of death remain unknown. In 1921 or 1922, owing to political unrest in Budapest, the quartet moved to Berlin where the group developed a large repertoire but received only mixed reviews. In 1925 the quartet debuted in London and signed a recording contract with His Master's Voice , making recordings at His Master's Voice Studio B at Hayes and

6384-554: A wife and a child to support, and they were all in danger. The Budapest offer came at the ideal moment. He was such a natural player that he could get away without practicing very much. They took time to get used to one another, but eventually attained a very high technical standard. In November 1936, they reached New York and critics were impressed as never before, comparing them with Toscanini and Schnabel . Concerts were well attended. In spring 1937 they went on to Australia, New Zealand and Dutch East Indies with equally good results. When

6552-512: A year later and had one child, Igor Oistrakh , who was born in 1931. Igor Oistrakh later followed his father's path as a violinist, and eventually performed and recorded side by side with his father, including Bach's Double Concerto , which they first recorded in 1951, and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra . In at least one of the recordings of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, Igor Oistrakh played violin, while his father David played viola. From 1934 onwards, Oistrakh held

6720-460: Is Camille Saint-Saëns ' Danse Macabre , where the solo violin's E string is tuned down to E ♭ to impart an eerie dissonance to the composition. Other examples are the third movement of Contrasts , by Béla Bartók , where the E string is tuned down to E ♭ and the G tuned to a G ♯ , Niccolò Paganini 's First Violin Concerto , where all four strings are designated to be tuned

6888-495: Is 356 mm (14.0 in), smaller in some 17th-century models. A 3 ⁄ 4 violin's body length is 335 mm (13.2 in), and a 1 ⁄ 2 size is 310 mm (12.2 in). With the violin's closest family member, the viola, size is specified as body length in inches or centimeters rather than fractional sizes. A full-size viola averages 40 cm (16 in). However, each individual adult will determine which size of viola to use. Occasionally, an adult with

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7056-523: Is a biennial competition for young violinists held since 2006 in memory of David Oistrakh, organized by the non-profit David Oistrakh Charity Foundation. The competition, supported by Moscow government's Department of Culture, the Ministry for Culture of Russia and the Moscow Conservatory , is a member of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth . The competition aims to popularize and develop

7224-410: Is angled more toward the back of the instrument than in earlier examples, heavier strings, and a heavier bass bar. The majority of old instruments have undergone these modifications, and hence are in a significantly different state than when they left the hands of their makers, doubtless with differences in sound and response. But it is in their present (modified) condition that these instruments have set

7392-459: Is generally thought to be the maximum number of strings practical on a bowed string instrument; with more than seven strings, it would be impossible to play any particular inner string individually with the bow. Violins with seven strings are very rare. The extra strings on such violins typically are lower in pitch than the G-string; these strings are usually tuned (going from the highest added string to

7560-424: Is largely determined by the skill of the player, who may easily play more than two octaves on a single string, and four octaves on the instrument as a whole. Position names are mostly used for the lower positions and in method books and etudes; for this reason, it is uncommon to hear references to anything higher than seventh position. The highest position, practically speaking, is 13th position. Very high positions are

7728-448: Is less well defined: E 7 , the E two octaves above the open string (which is tuned to E 5 ) may be considered a practical limit for orchestral violin parts, but it is often possible to play higher, depending on the length of the fingerboard and the skill of the violinist. Yet higher notes (up to C 8 ) can be sounded by stopping the string, reaching the limit of the fingerboard, and/or by using artificial harmonics . The arched shape,

7896-601: Is likely to be tuned (E–A–E–A) in Dastgah-h Esfahan or in Dastgāh-e Šur is (E–A–D–E) and (E–A–E–E), in Dastgāh-e Māhur is (E–A–D–A). In Arabic classical music, the A and E strings are lowered by a whole step , i.e. G–D–G–D. This is to ease playing Arabic maqams , especially those containing quarter tones . While most violins have four strings, there are violins with additional strings, some with as many as seven. Seven

8064-425: Is often indicated in the music by the marking, for example, sul G or IV (a Roman numeral indicating to play on the fourth string; by convention, the strings are numbered from thinnest, highest pitch (I) to the lowest pitch (IV)). Even without an explicit instructions in the score, an advanced violinist will use her/his discretion and artistic sensibility to select which string to play specific notes or passages. If

8232-419: Is often voiced while gliding up or down the string, so the player can establish correct placement by ear. Outside of these exercises it should rarely be audible (unless the performer is consciously applying a portamento effect for expressive reasons). In the course of a shift in low positions, the thumb of the left hand moves up or down the neck of the instrument so as to remain in the same position relative to

8400-451: Is played with the fourth finger on the E-string, sounding a B5. Moving the hand up the neck, the first finger takes the place of the second finger, bringing the player into second position . Letting the first finger take the first-position place of the third finger brings the player to third position , and so on. A change of positions, with its associated movement of the hand, is referred to as

8568-400: Is related to Old Norse fiðla , Middle Dutch vedele , Dutch vedel , Old High German fidula , German Fiedel , ' a fiddle ' ; all of uncertain origin." As to the origin of the word "fiddle", the "...usual suggestion, based on resemblance in sound and sense, is that it is from Medieval Latin vitula ." The earliest stringed instruments were mostly plucked (for example,

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8736-430: Is seen as an important factor in the game's enduring popularity in ex-Soviet nations today. Oistrakh handily defeated Prokofiev in the ten-game match; Prokofiev resigned after seven games. Only one game transcript survives, and it records a draw between the two players. Awards Oistrakh made recordings for the state classical music label, Melodiya . These recordings were marketed in the west under EMI Records and in

8904-455: Is seen in classical music which is imitating the drone of an organ (J. S. Bach, in his Partita in E for solo violin, achieved this), fiddling (e.g., Hoedown ) or where taking steps to avoid the open string is musically inappropriate (for instance in Baroque music where shifting position was less common). In quick passages of scales or arpeggios an open E string may simply be used for convenience if

9072-448: Is sometimes employed for solo playing to give the instrument a brighter sound; conversely, Baroque music is sometimes played using lower tunings to make the violin's sound more gentle. After tuning, the instrument's bridge may be examined to ensure that it is standing straight and centered between the inner nicks of the f-holes ; a crooked bridge may significantly affect the sound of an otherwise well-made violin. After extensive playing,

9240-406: Is the preferred material because of its hardness, beauty, and superior resistance to wear. Fingerboards are dressed to a particular transverse curve, and have a small lengthwise "scoop," or concavity, slightly more pronounced on the lower strings, especially when meant for gut or synthetic strings. Some old violins (and some made to appear old) have a grafted scroll , evidenced by a glue joint between

9408-413: Is used sometimes in lieu of adequate ear-training, guiding the placement of fingers by eye and not by ear. Especially in the early stages of learning to play, the so-called "ringing tones" are useful. There are nine such notes in first position, where a stopped note sounds a unison or octave with another (open) string, causing it to resonate sympathetically . Students often use these ringing tones to check

9576-476: Is usually played seated. In the 2000s and 2010s, some orchestras performing Baroque music (such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra ) have had all of their violins and violas, solo and ensemble, perform standing up. The standard way of holding the violin is with the left side of the jaw resting on the chinrest of the violin, and supported by the left shoulder, often assisted by a shoulder rest (or

9744-531: Is when two separate strings are stopped by the fingers and bowed simultaneously, producing two continuous tones (typical intervals include 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, and octaves). Double-stops can be indicated in any position, though the widest interval that can be double-stopped naturally in one position is an octave (with the index finger on the lower string and the pinky finger on the higher string). Nonetheless, intervals of tenths or even more are sometimes required to be double-stopped in advanced repertoire, resulting in

9912-667: The Glazunov Violin Concerto in a performance conducted by the composer, which earned the violinist an invitation to play the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in Leningrad with the Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikolai Malko the following year. In 1927, Oistrakh relocated to Moscow , where he gave his first recital and met his future wife: the pianist Tamara Rotareva (1906–1976). They were married

10080-749: The Haydn quartets for the Haydn Society label, although the Society ran out of money before the project was finished. He persuaded Mrs Coolidge to sponsor free outdoor concerts in Greenwich Village , and played guest second violin with the Budapesters when Ortenberg or Gorodetzky was indisposed. As the 1960s approached, the quartet was quite happy. It was the most popular and world-famous quartet, with 55 record albums published by Columbia and two million copies sold, and

10248-664: The Hoch Conservatory . He found that he suffered from stage fright when playing solo, a problem that did not exist when playing in a quartet. He joined the Prisca Quartet , but resigned after a while due to a personality clash with two of the other members. The Prisca had often played in Cologne and there he got to know the Reifenbergs, whose daughter Eva had married Emanuel Feuermann . It was Frau Reifenberg who introduced Schneider to

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10416-681: The Hoch Conservatory . In 1927, Alexander became leader (concertmaster) of an orchestra in Saarbrücken ; and in 1929, leader of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk Orchestra in Hamburg until 1932, when he was fired as a consequence of the ongoing Nazi campaign against Jews. It was time for him to leave Germany, and the Budapest vacancy happened at just the right moment. After Sasha's arrival, the Quartet's level of performance improved immediately and

10584-457: The Juilliard School of Music . Hauser returned to Israel in 1960, where he died in 1978 at the age of 84. Having lost Hauser, the quartet needed a new leader. Introducing an unknown player as first violin is a risky step for a quartet. Owing to the established relationships and 'comfort level', a transition from second violin to first is safer. For this reason, Roisman was persuaded to make

10752-623: The Munich Agreement of 1938 when Chamberlain appeased Hitler and what soon happened in Europe, the break came just in time. On April 25, 1938, they recorded the Mozart Clarinet Quintet with Benny Goodman for the Victor label. It sold well, although Goodman regretted not having first performed it live. He and the quartet made only three concerts together: October and November 1938 and August 1941. Each time, reviewers justifiably felt

10920-597: The Netherlands . In 1920, Indig resigned in the hope of advancement; he was replaced by Imre Pogany , a native of Budapest who had studied under Hubay and Zoltán Kodály . After resigning, Indig became a soloist with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra ; and 1931 he became concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic . When the Nazis came to power, Indig fled to Paris where he led another quartet for

11088-448: The Queen's Small Hall . In May 1927, without telling the others, Pogany traveled to Cincinnati to see his friend conductor Fritz Reiner about a job in the symphony orchestra there. He was offered the post of principal second violin, but refused it at that time. The other members of the quartet were furious because if he had left, they would have found it very difficult to find and rehearse

11256-719: The Russian Revolution his father had been a bank manager, but afterwards the Ortenbergs were very short of money. In 1921 he won the gold medal at the Odessa Conservatory, and was immediately hired to teach there. In 1924 he moved to Berlin for greener pastures just as Joe, the Schneiders, and Boris had done, where he immediately got a scholarship at the Hochschule für Musik . He changed his name from Eleazer to Edgar, and started

11424-425: The 1950s, David Oistrakh invited Yulia Brodskaya to be his assistant in teaching solo and chamber music and Rosa Fine as his assistant for solo students. From 1940 to 1963, Oistrakh performed extensively in a trio that also included the cellist Sviatoslav Knushevitsky and the pianist Lev Oborin . It was sometimes called the "Oistrakh Trio". Oistrakh collaborated extensively with Oborin, as well as Jacques Thibaud ,

11592-630: The 20th century. Oistrakh was born to a Jewish family in Odessa , Kherson Governorate , Russian Empire (present day Ukraine ). His father was Fischl Eustrach, son of a second guild merchant, and his mother was Beyle Oistrakh. At the age of five, young Oistrakh began his studies of the violin and viola as a pupil of Pyotr Stolyarsky . In his studies with Stolyarsky he became very good friends with Iosif Brodsky , Nathan Milstein and other violinists with whom he collaborated numerous times after achieving fame since their beginnings as fellow students at

11760-409: The A string, and the fourth finger is in a downward extension from its regular position, e.g. D ♮ on the A string, with the other two fingers placed in between as required. As the position of the thumb is typically the same in "half position" as in first position, it is better thought of as a backwards extension of the whole hand than as a genuine position. The upper limit of the violin's range

11928-756: The Beethoven Saal in Berlin, then at the Abbey Road Studio in London and from 1938 on in Camden, New Jersey for RCA Victor , the U.S. subsidiary of His Master's Voice. The HMV contract was valid until June 1940. It was not paying well, RCA had a good stock of recordings not yet published and was not keen to make any more recordings in 1939. The quartet found it difficult to persuade RCA to give them as much work as they wanted, or to pay them as their new reputation might justify. Nor

12096-462: The Budapest Quartet. In January and February 1931, the quartet made its first United States tour. Reviews were fairly good, but financially the tour was unrewarding. Arguments about Spitzen vs. Springbogen bowing and other matters persisted, and relations became difficult. Then in 1932, Hauser wanted to play some concerts with Alice Ehlers . The quartet refused to allow this deviation from

12264-541: The Budapest played fewer concerts and saw each other only for concerts, but still to admiring capacity audiences, but no longer practiced very often either individually or together. Errors in detail were the inevitable result, but the general effect was still good. Sasha felt he wanted to share what he was still learning, but Joe wanted to stay as he was. In January 1965 the group spent twelve days recording Dvořák 's F major "American" Quartet and Smetana 's E minor Quartet "From My Life". Joe had major intonation problems during

12432-651: The French king Charles IX ordered Andrea Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560. One of these "noble" instruments, the Charles IX , is the oldest surviving violin. The finest Renaissance carved and decorated violin in the world is the Gasparo da Salò ( c. 1574) owned by Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria and later, from 1841, by the Norwegian virtuoso Ole Bull , who used it for forty years and thousands of concerts, for its very powerful and beautiful tone, similar to that of

12600-568: The Germans invaded the Netherlands , he and his wife Marianne were arrested in Amsterdam, and died in 1942 in the notorious Auschwitz-Monowitz concentration camp. The new cellist was originally named Mojzesz Sznejder, later Germanized as ' Mischa Schneider '. Born in 1904 in Vilna, Russia (though some place it in Poland at that time) (now Vilnius , Lithuania ), where celebrated violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz

12768-527: The Germans. They went to Portugal and caught the very last Spanish ship departing for the U.S. After struggling in New York for some time, he received that second offer from the Budapest Quartet in December 1943 and this time accepted it. Edgar was generally considered a fine replacement for Sasha except that some critics and all the players felt he should play more forcibly. On the other hand, he felt their playing

12936-569: The Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory of the Tchaikovsky concerto, one of his favourite works, under the baton of Gennady Rozhdestvensky . Oistrakh was now seen as one of the great violinists of his time, alongside fellow Russian Nathan Milstein , Romania's George Enescu and Lithuanian-born Jascha Heifetz . Oistrakh suffered a heart attack in 1964. He survived and continued to work at

13104-702: The Greek lyre ). Two-stringed, bowed instruments, played upright and strung and bowed with horsehair, may have originated in the nomadic equestrian cultures of Central Asia, in forms closely resembling the modern-day Mongolian Morin huur and the Kazakh Kobyz . Similar and variant types were probably disseminated along east–west trading routes from Asia into the Middle East, and the Byzantine Empire . Rebec , fiddle and lira da braccio are generally considered

13272-477: The Library of Congress in the aftermath of several problems of which Joe's intonation had been the worst. Critics, listeners and Mrs Coolidge herself had complained. They were replaced by the brilliant young Juilliard Quartet of New York. That autumn, in Europe, Joe suddenly suffered a slipped disc. He restarted playing in early 1963, however, and they returned to Australia after a 26-year absence. But Joe's energy level

13440-589: The Soviet Union, David Oistrakh was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1942, the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1953, and the Lenin Prize in 1960. He also won the 1935 Soviet Union Competition . Several reputable works from the standard violin repertoire are dedicated to Oistrakh, including a concerto by Khachaturian, two concerti by Shostakovich, and several other pieces. Oistrakh's fame and success were not limited to

13608-568: The Soviet Union. He initially selected the 1702 Conte di Fontana Stradivarius , which he played for 10 years before exchanging it for the 1705 Marsick Stradivarius in June 1966, which he played until his death (Interview included in "The Art of Violin" DVD, NVC Arts, 2000). Oistrakh used bows by Albert Nürnberger and André Richaume throughout his life. Up until 1957, he used a Nürnberger bow. "The André Richaume bow bought by his son Igor Oistrakh in 1957 had filled David with such enthusiasm that Igor made

13776-740: The Soviet Union: he was placed second at the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw , after the 16-year-old prodigy Ginette Neveu , and further improved upon that by winning the grand prize in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels . The asteroid 42516 Oistrach is named in honour of him and his son, the violinist Igor Oistrakh . Oistrakh is known to have played at least seven Stradivarius violins owned by

13944-732: The Stolyarsky School. In 1914, at the age of six, Oistrakh performed his debut concert. He entered the Odessa Conservatory in 1923, where he studied until his graduation in 1926. At the conservatory he also studied harmony with the composer Mykola Vilinsky . His 1926 graduation concert consisted of Bach's Chaconne , Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata , Rubinstein's Viola Sonata , and Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major . In 1927, Oistrakh appeared in Kiev as soloist with

14112-416: The U.S. concerts were negotiated by Annie Friedberg in New York. This continued throughout their time in the U.S., starting with very little money but eventually ending with excellent returns for them and her. They had made five U.S. tours with no difficulty, but this time they were refused entry. Their Nansen passports were not good enough, apparently. They were ignominiously carted off to Ellis Island in

14280-649: The U.S., they were told the wrist had been improperly set and had to be re=broken and reset. Concerts were switched to trios and piano quartets during Roisman's recovery. After months of hard work, he rejoined the quartet in Portland , Oregon on January 12, 1953. A second Japanese tour in 1954 was even more successful, but Jac was getting more uncomfortable. In February, he told the others he wanted to leave. They hoped to talk him out of it, but none of them realized how unwell he was. Finally, in November 1955, he committed suicide in

14448-713: The U.S.A. under Angel Records . He made a few guest recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy . These were issued by Columbia Records . In the 21st century, many of the Melodiya recordings have been reissued by Warner Classics , whose parent company acquired EMI's classical catalog. There is a yearly music festival, "The David Oistrakh Festival", from late August to October in Estonia . Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition

14616-515: The United States. By 1959, he was beginning to establish a second career as a conductor, and in 1960 he was awarded the coveted Lenin Prize. His Moscow conducting debut followed in 1962, and by 1967 he had established a partnership with the celebrated Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter . The year 1968 saw wide celebrations for the violinist's sixtieth birthday, which included a celebratory performance in

14784-620: The West. His first foreign engagement was to appear at the newly founded "Prague Spring" Festival where he was met with enormous success. In 1949 he gave his first concert in the West – in Helsinki. In 1951, he appeared at the "Maggio Musicale" Festival in Florence, in 1952 he was in East Germany for the Beethoven celebrations, France in 1953, Britain in 1954, and eventually, in 1955, he was allowed to tour

14952-580: The ancestors of the violin, Several sources suggest alternative possibilities for the violin's origins, such as northern or western Europe. The first makers of violins probably borrowed from various developments of the Byzantine lyra. These included the vielle (also known as the fidel or viuola ) and the lira da braccio . The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th-century northern Italy . The earliest pictures of violins, albeit with three strings, are seen in northern Italy around 1530, at around

15120-415: The better able it is to sustain good tone right to the top of the fingerboard, at the highest pitches on the E string. All notes (except those below the open D) can be played on more than one string. This is a standard design feature of stringed instruments; however, it differs from the piano, which has only one location for each of its 88 notes. For instance, the note of open A on the violin can be played as

15288-420: The body off balance and makes the shoulders rise. Another sign that comes from unhealthy tension is pain in the left hand, which indicates too much pressure when holding the violin. The left hand determines the sounding length of the string, and thus the pitch of the string, by "stopping" it (pressing it) against the fingerboard with the fingertips, producing different pitches. As the violin has no frets to stop

15456-400: The correct positions on full-sized instruments. While related in some sense to the dimensions of the instruments, the fractional sizes are not intended to be literal descriptions of relative proportions. For example, a 3 ⁄ 4 -sized instrument is not three-quarters the length of a full size instrument. The body length (not including the neck) of a full-size, or 4 ⁄ 4 , violin

15624-722: The critics were fulsome in their praise. In the ten years away from the quartet, Sasha had been very busy. He rejected offers to lead the Pro Arte and Paganini Quartets , but toured and recorded with harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick , played and recorded unaccompanied Bach, and played and recorded trios and piano quartets with prominent New York chamber players. He studied with Pablo Casals in Prades , whom he persuaded to start festivals in Prades, San Juan ( Puerto Rico ), Israel and Marlboro ( Vermont ). He started his own Schneider Quartet to record all

15792-569: The end. The Budapest String Quartet had a huge influence on chamber music in the United States and internationally. When they relocated to the U.S. in the late 1930s, it was hard to attract large audiences. The concerts in Washington and New York, the radio broadcasts and the many records gradually raised audience numbers, made them famous and wealthy, and set high performance standards for later quartet and other chamber groups to follow and even improve upon. Violin The violin , sometimes referred as

15960-429: The expression for "tenor violin" in 1797, from Italian and Old Provençal viola , [which came from] Medieval Latin vitula as a term which means ' stringed instrument ' , perhaps [coming] from Vitula , Roman goddess of joy..., or from related Latin verb vitulari , "to cry out in joy or exaltation." The related term Viola da gamba meaning ' bass viol ' (1724) is from Italian, literally "a viola for

16128-400: The fingers (though the movement of the thumb may occur slightly before, or slightly after, the movement of the fingers). In such positions, the thumb is often thought of as an 'anchor' whose location defines what position the player is in. In very high positions, the thumb is unable to move with the fingers as the body of the instrument gets in the way. Instead, the thumb works around the neck of

16296-447: The first finger back down to a C ♯ , or the fourth finger up to an A ♮ , forms an extension. Extensions are commonly used where one or two notes are slightly out of an otherwise solid position, and give the benefit of being less intrusive than a shift or string crossing. The lowest position on the violin is referred to as "half position". In this position the first finger is on a "low first position" note, e.g. B ♭ on

16464-553: The first quartet to tour there after the war. The whole season was sold out in two hours. Three thousand attended their first concert. There were staff to attend to their every need, and cars to take them everywhere. One night they felt the need to get some exercise in Okayama. They were walking on a narrow road, when Joe fell into a nine-foot ditch and broke his left wrist. They had it set at the U.S. military hospital in Tokyo . On their return to

16632-738: The following rules: No previous quartet had attempted to live entirely on the proceeds of its concerts. It was a brave decision for that time. Much later, in July 1930, the current members added another rule to resolve tied votes: One player, chosen by lot, would have a deciding vote. His initials would be written on the music, and he would always have the extra vote for that piece. If he was replaced, his successor would inherit his voting rights. The original members were Emil Hauser , aged 24, from Budapest; Alfred Indig , 25, from Hungary; István Ipolyi , 31, from Újvidék in Hungary; and Harry Son from Rotterdam , in

16800-415: The following years. Oistrakh's career was set from this point, although the Soviet Union was "protective" of its people and refused to let him perform abroad. He continued to teach in the Moscow Conservatory, but when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union , he went to the front lines, playing for soldiers and factory workers under intensely difficult conditions. Arguably one of the most heroic acts in his life

16968-410: The foot. While teachers point out the vital importance of good posture both for the sake of the quality of the playing and to reduce the chance of repetitive strain injury , advice as to what good posture is and how to achieve it differs in details. However, all insist on the importance of a natural relaxed position without tension or rigidity. Things which are almost universally recommended are keeping

17136-532: The formation of two other quartets bearing their respective names, and were themselves part of an earlier Budapest Quartet , the new quartet being named in its honor. The debut recital of the new Budapest String Quartet (in Hungarian: Budapesti Vonósnégyes), took place in December 1917 in Kolozsvár, then in Hungary, now called Cluj-Napoca in present-day Romania . The quartet was established with

17304-432: The graduation (the thickness profile) of both the top and back, the varnish that coats its outside surface and the skill of the luthier in doing all of these steps. The varnish and especially the wood continue to improve with age, making the fixed supply of old well-made violins built by famous luthiers much sought-after. The majority of glued joints in the instrument use animal hide glue rather than common white glue for

17472-573: The group began attracting larger audiences. Successful tours of the U.S., Dutch East Indies , Australia and New Zealand ensued; and in exchange for relocating to Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation guaranteed the quartet six months of work a year. Still, personal relations within the Quartet were poor. Sasha was often outvoted; he hated this, but Ipolyi was usually able to pacify him. Ipolyi himself had personal problems, Mischa had divorced his wife and remarried, and

17640-433: The group was still not profitable. By 1934, Jews had been expelled from all German orchestras but the Quartet, as 'Hungarian' visitors, had been spared until one night, when they received threats from a Nazi group. They switched headquarters from Berlin to Paris overnight, never to return to Germany. They toured Europe and the U.S., but always lived in inexpensive hotels and ate cheaply. Ipolyi became an isolated member of

17808-413: The harmonics), losing the desired tone, brilliance and intonation. String longevity depends on string quality and playing intensity. A violin is tuned in fifths, in the notes G 3 , D 4 , A 4 , E 5 . The lowest note of a violin, tuned normally, is G 3 , or G below middle C (C4) . (On rare occasions, the lowest string may be tuned down by as much as a fourth, to D 3 .) The highest note playable

17976-680: The instrument a more powerful sound and projection. In Europe, it served as the basis for the development of other stringed instruments used in Western classical music, such as the viola . Violinists and collectors particularly prize the fine historical instruments made by the Stradivari , Guarneri , Guadagnini and Amati families from the 16th to the 18th century in Brescia and Cremona (Italy) and by Jacob Stainer in Austria. According to their reputation,

18144-552: The instrument collection at the Washington Library of Congress . These instruments had been purchased and donated by longtime influential contributor Gertrude Clarke Whittall . The recital hall on the grounds of the Library had been built in 1925 with funding donated by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge , a major benefactress of chamber music and of several music festivals. At that time, the quartet felt it would keep them away from troublesome existing conditions in war-torn Europe. In

18312-446: The instrument to sit at the point at which the neck meets the right bout of the body, and remains there while the fingers move between the high positions. A note played outside of the normal compass of a position, without any shift, is referred to as an extension . For instance, in third position on the A string, the hand naturally sits with the first finger on D ♮ and the fourth on either G ♮ or G ♯ . Stretching

18480-401: The intonation of the stopped note by seeing if it is harmonious with the open string. For example, when playing the stopped pitch "A" on the G string, the violinist could play the open D string at the same time, to check the intonation of the stopped "A". If the "A" is in tune, the "A" and the open D string should produce a harmonious perfect fourth. Violins are tuned in perfect fifths, like all

18648-404: The left hand on the fingerboard is characterized by "positions". First position, where most beginners start (although some methods start in third position), is the most commonly used position in string music. Music composed for beginning youth orchestras is often mostly in first position. The lowest note available in this position in standard tuning is an open G3; the highest note in first position

18816-410: The left wrist straight (or very nearly so) to allow the fingers of the left hand to move freely and to reduce the chance of injury and keeping either shoulder in a natural relaxed position and avoiding raising either of them in an exaggerated manner. This, like any other unwarranted tension, would limit freedom of motion, and increase the risk of injury. Hunching can hamper good playing because it throws

18984-506: The leg" (i.e. to hold between the legs)." A violin is the "modern form of the smaller, medieval viola da braccio ." ("arm viola") The violin is often called a fiddle. "Fiddle" can be used as the instrument's customary name in folk music, or as an informal name for the instrument in other styles of music. The word "fiddle" was first used in English in the late 14th century. The word "fiddle" comes from "fedele, fydyll, fidel, earlier fithele, from Old English fiðele ' fiddle ' , which

19152-510: The lowest) to C, F, and B ♭ . If the instrument's playing length, or string length from nut to bridge, is equal to that of an ordinary full-scale violin; i.e., a bit less than 13 inches (33 cm), then it may be properly termed a violin. Some such instruments are somewhat longer and should be regarded as violas. Violins with five strings or more are typically used in jazz or folk music. Some custom-made instruments have extra strings which are not bowed, but which sound sympathetically, due to

19320-552: The money despite regular engagements in Europe and America. Roisman nearly hired Edgar Ortenberg , whom he had known when they were both children in Odessa and then again in Berlin in 1926, but Ortenberg's wife wanted him to stick to the violin. Roisman then tried to locate his teenage friend Boris Kroyt in Berlin. Until the Nazis became all-powerful Kroyt had lived well, but the Nazis stopped all Jews from working except in Jewish groups. He had

19488-428: The next fifteen summers. The first summer there, they learned that World War II had broken out in Europe, where their contracts had consequently been voided. The Library of Congress offer now sounded quite attractive, and they accepted it. Their concerts there continued for many years, and the Library was an extremely important venue for them. Since 1925 they had been making recordings for His Master's Voice , first at

19656-462: The next year the whole quartet came, followed by many other outstanding experienced musicians and many talented younger players, all reaching high standards. Some students found Sasha assertive to the point of aggressively demanding, and his manner was a bit hard on those who were nervous or not dedicated to strive for the highest standards, while Mischa and Boris were gentler. They were very willing to try new ideas from their students, and each generation

19824-413: The note does not have time to ring and develop a harsh timbre. In folk music, fiddling and other traditional music genres, open strings are commonly used for their resonant timbre. Playing an open string simultaneously with a stopped note on an adjacent string produces a bagpipe -like drone, often used by composers in imitation of folk music . Sometimes the two notes are identical (for instance, playing

19992-462: The notes may indicate which finger to use, with 0 or O indicating an open string. The chart to the right shows the arrangement of notes reachable in first position. Not shown on this chart is the way the spacing between note positions becomes closer as the fingers move up (in pitch) from the nut. The bars at the sides of the chart represent the usual possibilities for beginners' tape placements, at 1st, high 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers. The placement of

20160-408: The old glue.) Weaker, diluted glue is usually used to fasten the top to the ribs, and the nut to the fingerboard, since common repairs involve removing these parts. The purfling running around the edge of the spruce top provides some protection against cracks originating at the edge. It also allows the top to flex more independently of the rib structure. Painted-on faux purfling on the top is usually

20328-441: The onset of such wear while allowing the pegs to turn smoothly. The tuning G–D–A–E is used for most violin music, including Classical music, jazz, and folk music . Other tunings are occasionally employed; the G string, for example, can be tuned up to A. The use of nonstandard tunings in classical music is known as scordatura ; in some folk styles, it is called cross tuning . One famous example of scordatura in classical music

20496-434: The open A, or on the D string (in first to fourth positions) or even on the G string (very high up in sixth to ninth positions). Each string has a different tone quality , because of the different weights (thicknesses) of the strings and because of the resonances of other open strings. For instance, the G string is often regarded as having a very full, sonorous sound which is particularly appropriate to late Romantic music. This

20664-456: The orchestral strings (violin, viola, cello) except the double bass, which is tuned in perfect fourths. Each subsequent note is stopped at a pitch the player perceives as the most harmonious, "when unaccompanied, [a violinist] does not play consistently in either the tempered or the natural [just] scale, but tends on the whole to conform with the Pythagorean scale ." When violinists are playing in

20832-492: The other strings, especially on a student instrument, and are sometimes built into the tailpiece. The fine tuners enable the performer to make small changes in the pitch of a string. At the scroll end, the strings wind around the wooden tuning pegs in the pegbox. The tuning pegs are tapered and fit into holes in the peg box. The tuning pegs are held in place by the friction of wood on wood. Strings may be made of metal or less commonly gut or gut wrapped in metal. Strings usually have

21000-455: The outbreak of World War I, the family returned to Odessa where Joe continued his studies with Naoam Blinder , another Odesan, who had just returned from England. After the Russian revolution, Roisman was co-opted to play at farms and factories. He managed to escape in 1923 while working near Poland. He traveled to Prague, then to Berlin. In Berlin he met with Kroyt again, who found work for him in

21168-415: The overtones). In the classical tradition, violinists will often use a string crossing or shift of position to allow them to avoid the change of timbre introduced by an open string, unless indicated by the composer. This is particularly true for the open E which is often regarded as having a harsh sound. However, there are also situations where an open string may be specifically chosen for artistic effect. This

21336-423: The pegbox and neck. Many authentic old instruments have had their necks reset to a slightly increased angle, and lengthened by about a centimeter. The neck graft allows the original scroll to be kept with a Baroque violin when bringing its neck into conformance with modern standards. The bridge is a precisely cut piece of maple that forms the lower anchor point of the vibrating length of the strings and transmits

21504-411: The pickups plugged into instrument amplifiers and speakers to produce sound. The violin has come to be incorporated in many non-Western music cultures, including Indian music and Iranian music . The name fiddle is often used regardless of the type of music played on it. The violin was first known in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries to give

21672-463: The place a breeding ground for a new generation of chamber musicians. The school had been founded in 1950 by incomparable chamber violinist Adolf Busch and eminent flautist Marcel Moyse , and their families. Busch died in 1952 before Sasha arrived, but his son-in-law, pianist Rudolf Serkin , was still quite active and he and Sasha became staunch friends, the latter spending the next twenty summers there. In 1962 Sasha persuaded Mischa to come too, and

21840-474: The quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or equal it, though this belief is disputed. Great numbers of instruments have come from the hands of less famous makers, as well as still greater numbers of mass-produced commercial "trade violins" coming from cottage industries in places such as Saxony , Bohemia , and Mirecourt . Many of these trade instruments were formerly sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers. The components of

22008-400: The quartet was called das Spitzenquartett (not a compliment) because it substituted Spitzen (staccato) for Springbogen (spiccato). Finally, in 1930/31, Son could stand the persistent arguments no longer and resigned. He emigrated to Palestine , and played in concerts there and abroad. Shortly before World War II , however, he made the unfortunate decision to return to Rotterdam . After

22176-400: The quartet was forced not to use it. The rest of the quartet had had to become expert in using another bowing technique (German Spitzen , or staccato at the point, or tip, of the bow) to get around Hauser and Ipolyi's lack of spiccato technique. Roisman found it very hard to readjust his bowing style accordingly. He had to spend many hours practicing, and was unhappy with the result. In Germany,

22344-564: The quartet went to Europe for the first time after the war. They agreed not to go to Germany, especially because Schneider had lost his mother and sister in Auschwitz . This tour, together with the continual demands in the U.S., heavily stressed Gorodetzky. He developed stage fright, and sometimes pleaded for extra rehearsals of works they had already played. Then in September 1952, they played in Japan as

22512-595: The quartet, the only Hungarian among three Russians. He was also the only Spitzen player left, old-fashioned in style and on the verge of a nervous breakdown as well. In 1936, the others persuaded him to resign. He settled in Norway , and during the German occupation was arrested but freed thanks to the intervention of Count Bernadotte , head of the International Red Cross . He fled to Sweden , but returned to Norway after

22680-466: The result accurate (i.e., merely perfunctory) but uninspired as hoped for and expected. In 1939 they again had good results in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Norway and Britain but not in Spain and Italy, where fascism reigned and people were consequently more concerned with political issues. From the U.S., the group was commissioned to play five Stradivarius string instruments which needed regular use as part of

22848-583: The rules; there was an argument and he resigned. He emigrated to Jerusalem , formed a quartet and founded the Palestine Music Conservatory. He helped eminent Polish-Jewish concert violinist Bronisław Huberman rescue many Jews from Austria, Czechoslovakia and Germany, and was instrumental in founding the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. In 1940 he moved to the U.S., teaching first at Bard College in upper New York State , and later at

23016-447: The same challenges or independence as the leader. After thinking about this a lot, he finally reached his decision and told the others on November 26, 1943. He was still only 35, having spent eleven years in the quartet, and needed to expand his range. On January 1, 1944 the quartet selected the new second, Edgar Ortenberg , the man who had nearly become the violist a decade before. Like Joe and Boris, Edgar had grown up in Odessa . Until

23184-553: The same time as the words "violino" and "vyollon" are seen in Italian and French documents. One of the earliest explicit descriptions of the instrument, including its tuning, is from the Epitome musical by Jambe de Fer , published in Lyon in 1556. By this time, the violin had already begun to spread throughout Europe . The violin proved very popular, both among street musicians and the nobility;

23352-590: The sessions, and Mischa had trouble with his back. A recording of the Dvořák was spliced together from multiple takes and published, but the players refused to accept a similar splice of the Smetana. Then Mischa, Boris and the Guarneri performed and recorded Tchaikovsky's D minor Sextet "Souvenir de Florence" with success. Immediately thereafter Mischa needed back surgery, which had troubled him since 1930. The operation failed, as did

23520-404: The standard for perfection in violin craftsmanship and sound, and violin makers all over the world try to come as close to this ideal as possible. To this day, instruments from the so-called Golden Age of violin making , especially those made by Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesù, and Montagnana, are the most sought-after instruments by both collectors and performers. The current record amount paid for

23688-423: The stick, at all levels of craftsmanship. Inexpensive bows for students are made of less costly timbers, or from fiberglass (Glasser). The violin is played either seated or standing up. Solo players (whether playing alone, with a piano or with an orchestra) play mostly standing up (unless prevented by a physical disability such as in the case of Itzhak Perlman ). In contrast, in the orchestra and in chamber music it

23856-425: The strings, as is usual with the guitar , the player must know exactly where to place the fingers on the strings to play with good intonation (tuning). Beginning violinists play open strings and the lowest position, nearest to the nut. Students often start with relatively easy keys, such as A Major and G major. Students are taught scales and simple melodies. Through practice of scales and arpeggios and ear training ,

24024-514: The strings. Another prevalent tuning with these intervals is B ♭ –F–B ♭ –F, which corresponds to Sa–Pa–Sa–Pa in the Indian carnatic classical music style. In the North Indian Hindustani style, the tuning is usually Pa-Sa-Pa-Sa instead of Sa–Pa–Sa–Pa. This could correspond to F–B ♭ –F–B ♭ , for instance. In Iranian classical music and Iranian light music, the violin has different tunings in each Dastgah ; it

24192-503: The summer they were back in the U.S. for three months at Mills College in Oakland , California , where they could relax. The Pro Arte Quartet was normally in summer residence there, but this year they preferred to stay in their home territory of Belgium . They never returned, their leader Alphonse Onnou died suddenly in Milwaukee during an American tour, and the Budapest resided at Mills for

24360-476: The switch from second to first. The new second was Mischa Schneider's younger brother Alexander (Sasha), born Abram Sznejder. At 13, he almost died of tetanus after an accidental knee injury. The tetanus distorted his joints, and recovery was long and painful. Sasha left Vilna in 1924 and joined his brother in Frankfurt , securing a scholarship to study violin with Adolf Rebner , the principal violin pedagogue at

24528-470: The tail of a grey male horse (which has predominantly white hair). Some cheaper bows use synthetic fiber. Solid rosin is rubbed onto the hair, to render it slightly sticky; when the bow is drawn across a string, the friction between them makes the string vibrate. Traditional materials for the more costly bow sticks include snakewood , and brazilwood (which is also known as Pernambuco wood). Some recent bow design innovations use carbon fiber (CodaBows) for

24696-716: The thickness of the wood, and its physical qualities govern the sound of a violin. Patterns of the node made by sand or glitter sprinkled on the plates with the plate vibrated at certain frequencies, called Chladni patterns , are occasionally used by luthiers to verify their work before assembling the instrument. Apart from the standard full ( 4 ⁄ 4 ) size, violins are also made in so-called fractional sizes of 7 ⁄ 8 , 3 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 2 , 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 8 , 1 ⁄ 10 , 1 ⁄ 16 , 1 ⁄ 32 and even 1 ⁄ 64 . These smaller instruments are commonly used by young players whose fingers are not long enough to reach

24864-612: The time came to return to Europe, they considered settling in Australia and held a vote on it. The Spanish Civil War had closed many venues in Italy and all in Spain. The Schneiders voted for Australia, while the other two opted to move on. In accordance with their longstanding rule, a tie meant "no change" so they moved on. After playing in France and Britain, they reached New York again in March 1938. All

25032-440: The top and the back of the instrument. The tailpiece anchors the strings to the lower bout of the violin by means of the tailgut, which loops around an ebony button called the tailpin (sometimes confusingly called the endpin , like the cello's spike), which fits into a tapered hole in the bottom block. The E string will often have a fine tuning lever worked by a small screw turned by the fingers. Fine tuners may also be applied to

25200-406: The tuning pegs and their holes can become worn, making the pegs more likely to slip under tension. A slipping peg leads to the pitch of the string dropping somewhat, or if the peg becomes completely loose, to the string completely losing tension. A violin in which the tuning pegs are slipping needs to be repaired by a luthier or violin repairperson. Peg dope or peg compound, used regularly, can delay

25368-424: The vibration of the strings to the body of the instrument. Its top curve holds the strings at the proper height from the fingerboard in an arc, allowing each to be sounded separately by the bow. The sound post , or soul post , fits precisely inside the instrument between the back and top, at a carefully chosen spot near the treble foot of the bridge, which it helps support. It also influences the modes of vibration of

25536-410: The vibrations of the bowed strings. A violin is usually played using a bow consisting of a stick with a ribbon of horsehair strung between the tip and frog (or nut, or heel) at opposite ends. A typical violin bow may be 75 cm (30 in) overall, and weigh about 60 g (2.1 oz). Viola bows may be about 5 mm (0.20 in) shorter and 10 g (0.35 oz) heavier. At the frog end,

25704-479: The violin in the violin octet is the mezzo violin, tuned the same as a violin but with a slightly longer body. The strings of the mezzo violin are the same length as those of the standard violin. This instrument is not in common use. Violins are tuned by turning the pegs in the pegbox under the scroll or by adjusting the fine tuner screws at the tailpiece . All violins have pegs; fine tuners (also called fine adjusters ) are optional. Most fine tuners consist of

25872-410: The violinist's left hand eventually "finds" the notes intuitively by muscle memory . Beginners sometimes rely on tapes placed on the fingerboard for proper left hand finger placement, but usually abandon the tapes quickly as they advance. Another commonly used marking technique uses dots of white-out on the fingerboard, which wear off in a few weeks of regular practice. This practice, unfortunately,

26040-598: The war. He became a Norwegian citizen, coached a quartet in Bergen and became a professor. Mischa Schneider made sure that Ipolyi received the royalties due him until the latter's death in 1955. Finding a new violist to replace Ipolyi was urgent. The Australian Broadcast Corporation had engaged the Quartet for a twenty-week tour to start in May 1937 with four performances a week and the option of another ten weeks in New Zealand. They needed

26208-477: Was Jac Gorodetzky . He was born in Odessa but the family moved to London when he was only one, to avoid a pogrom. They moved to the U.S. before the war, settling in Philadelphia. He was well thought of as a student and secured good positions in orchestras and quartets. Although his playing, like Ortenberg's, was a little quiet, he was well thought of during the Budapest auditions, when in his mid-thirties. In 1950,

26376-506: Was Josef Roisman , familiarly known as Joe. Roisman was born on 25 July 1900 in Odessa , and was started on the violin at the age of six with Pyotr Stolyarsky , who was also the first teacher of David Oistrakh and Nathan Milstein . After the tragic early death of Joe's father, a wealthy Odessa woman made it possible for him, his sister and mother to relocate to Berlin so that he could study with Alexander Fiedemann . There he befriended Boris Kroyt , another Odesan studying with Fiedemann. At

26544-459: Was RCA eager to extend the existing contract. The quartet felt that with their increasing reputation in the U.S., it could do better signing with, and recording for, Columbia Records . Columbia was delighted to sign the group and make as many recordings as the quartet wished, since it had no existing stock. The deal was made, and kept secret as long as possible. When RCA finally learned about it they protested, "We are astonished. ... [this is] close to

26712-444: Was a bit rough. He also wanted to spend more time rehearsing since he needed to get used to their methods and accustomed to their large repertory. The others, especially Boris, were not so keen to rehearse. It took Edgar two years to feel fully at home, but still the others felt he should practice more on his own and he was becoming noticeably nervous. Critics still felt the quartet was wonderful, but not quite as good as before. Ortenberg

26880-510: Was a performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto to the end in the central music hall during the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942 while central Stalingrad was being massively bombed by the German forces. At least one source indicates that Oistrakh performed there that winter. Oistrakh was allowed to travel after the end of the war. He travelled to the countries in the Soviet bloc and even to

27048-427: Was also Professor at the Moscow Conservatory , People's Artist of the USSR (1953), and Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1960). Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin works, including both of Dmitri Shostakovich 's violin concerti and the violin concerto by Aram Khachaturian . He is considered one of the preeminent violinists of

27216-580: Was also exhausted by the constant traveling, and late in 1948 the others told him they wanted a different second violinist. As soon as it was made public, Ortenberg was swamped by other offers and last performed with the quartet on March 10, 1949 at Cornell University. He joined the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia , where he remained until his retirement in 1984. He also taught at Temple University from 1953 to 1978. The new second violinist

27384-581: Was born in 1901, he had a difficult upbringing. The family had little money, and his father was a tyrant. Mischa often found himself defending his younger brother Sasha against their father. In 1920, at the age of 16, Mischa left home to study in Leipzig under Julius Klengel , his teacher's eminent teacher. Fellow students included Emanuel Feuermann , Gregor Piatigorsky and Jascha's cousin Benar Heifetz . After graduating he moved to Frankfurt , where he taught at

27552-471: Was declining, and they cut down the number of concerts year by year. , In 1955, Sasha had joined the Marlboro Music School and Festival at Marlboro College in southern Vermont (see above). It was a school, a music festival and a summer retreat. Like a human whirlwind, he pushed the young players to stretch their talents. In time, he brought in the other Budapest players (see below), who helped make

27720-508: Was inspired by the enthusiasm of the other. Sasha persuaded Michael Tree , Arnold Steinhardt , John Dalley and David Soyer to form a brilliant new quartet – a daunting challenge for any player – and Boris suggested the name Guarneri. They spent a lot of time together at Marlboro, and the Guarneri Quartet may be regarded as the musical heirs of the Budapest. Sasha advised them, "Whenever you play string trios and piano quartets, make it

27888-423: Was playing in many famous venues and festivals. But then Joe's intonation began to fail him at times, apparently in the aftermath of a mild heart attack at the end of 1960. Only then did he tell the others that as long ago as 1939, he had been told of a problem with high blood pressure. He had occasionally had intonation problems before, which worsened late in 1960. In March 1962, they played their final concert in

28056-449: Was settled, the AFM struck Columbia in a dispute over royalties that lasted until February 1945. Also, after war was declared, the U.S. Government rationed materials for making records. Even so, between 1941 and 1946, the quartet earned $ 60,000 from Columbia in royalties in addition to $ 16,000 from HMV. Sasha felt he could and needed to work outside the quartet. As second violinist, he did not get

28224-433: Was stretched, dried, and twisted. In the early years of the 20th century, strings were made of either gut or steel. Modern strings may be gut, solid steel , stranded steel, or various synthetic materials such as perlon , wound with various metals, and sometimes plated with silver . Most E strings are unwound, either plain or plated steel. Gut strings are not as common as they once were, but many performers use them to achieve

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