Books › An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925 › scan 190
Scan 190
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
15 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 162. See the scan on archive.org.
1In the Beethoven Concerto, the opening passage is written as indicated, but as well may be practiced in all of the four ways indicated:
3Beethoven Concerto
4ORIGINAL
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14By these different means it is possible to become practically sure of the attack of the octaves. One very efficacious manner of playing this difficult beginning with exactness is to take the octaves, placing the fingers on them alternately instead of simultaneously. This beginning of the Concerto is unusually complicated and ungrateful, and most violinists are actually afraid of it, since, although they have little respect for the exact notation and cannot avail themselves of the pretext of a personal interpretation, the fact remains that it is preferable to use the composer's notation integrally as it stands. Beethoven indicated the sixteenth note followed by a quarter note with evident intention. The following illustration gives a note photograph of the interpretations of Joachim, Wilhelmj, Sarasate, Ysaye, Thomson, Kreisler and Kubelik.
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