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Scan 188
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
14 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 160. See the scan on archive.org.
1Joachim's line of violinistic descent runs as follows:
3Viotti Rode Bohm Joachim
5By head of a school, using the expression in connection with the violin, we mean those masters who have trained pupils who have become famous and whose principles have been handed down to the present day. Art, in the final analysis, knows but one truth—the endeavor to attain a high ideal, one which is void of all low artifice. All the great artists have much in common; all are guided by the same lofty principles: it is their personality alone which differentiates them.
7Nicolò Paganini may be regarded as the most radiant star in the great galaxy of violinists. He transformed the violin, the wonderful instrument which has been the delight of millions, and his greatest merit lies in his having very considerably extended the boundaries of violin virtuosity. Before his day, audiences were enraptured when a violinist could play as high as the fourth position. The genial Italian not only made the use of the entire range of the violin an ordinary matter, but also enriched the mechanism of fingers and bow to an almost miraculous degree. Long before his day Locatelli had registered a notable advance on the mechanism preceding his own epoch with his "Twenty-four Caprices," drawn from his twelve concertos, each containing two caprices. The best known among these caprices is the one called "The Harmonic Labyrinth."
9It is interesting, to-day, to review with all honesty the so-called evolution of the art of violin playing. Progress since Paganini died has been nil, and this is proved by the fact that no violinist who has since arisen has been his equal; for he was not alone a formidable mechanician, but a great artist who knew how to charm and touch his auditors as well.
11At the same time it is only just to pay a tribute of deep respect to Joachim and Ysaye, for their service and influence in the art of violin playing has been of the highest character. Ysaye is assuredly to be reckoned among those who have created a violinistic ideal. I regard Ysaye as the most perfect incarnation of the violin. In his playing the appeal to the heartstrings, the fervor of exultation, is always present. He awakens enthusiasm, and produces a genuine impression of wonderful mastery. He dominates the violin and, especially, those who hear him play it.
13Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski are among the composers who have written most effectively for the violin, for to a noble technical development they added imagination in their treatment of the classic style, and deprived it of its frequent monotony and aridity.
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