Books › An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925 › scan 194
Scan 194
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
14 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 166. See the scan on archive.org.
1CHAPTER XI
3TONE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT
5In my opinion every violinist who reaches a certain age should learn how to breathe properly, something which would be of great advantage to him, not only in aiding the proper exposition of his violin phrasing, but also in view of what I am about to explain.
7It is very difficult to play the violin when the player's breathing is labored; and when heart and lungs are deprived of their freedom of circulation, it is impossible to obtain the maximum results which the exercise of a given talent permits. Experiments which I myself have made in breath control have been perfectly successful. For instance, ascending six flights of stairs, I have taken several deep inhalations before ascending each flight, with the surprising result that I walked the sixth flight without fatigue, and without finding myself out of breath.
9I was moved to apply my experiences in this direction to the violin, and here, too, I obtained unexpected results. Being extremely nervous by nature, and finding that the quality of my playing was often at the mercy of the insensate terror inspired by an approaching performance in public, I made it a practice to inhale deeply at the moment when I commenced to play a composition on the platform, and soon found that my performance gained noticeably in calmness and equality.
11The emission of the singing voice is identical with the emission of the violin tone, the voice of the violin, and by exercising great care it is quite possible to play in a manner which will make it impossible for any listener to notice the falling of the bow upon the strings. Amplitude of tone and the manner in which it should be secured from the viewpoint of breadth and power is also most important, and calls for consideration.
13The manner in which a violinist is able to control the volume of his violin tone at once reveals whether he is an artist of the robust or of the effeminate type. Effeminacy in artistic matters should be regarded as in extremely bad taste, for the effeminate, affected artist has no place among the masters of his art. There are only two classes of violinists: artists, and those players who might be called "scrapers." The true artist always has a smaller tone than a mediocre one, for he pays greater attention to the quality of his tone, while the inferior player is so eager to obtain a big tone—a great volume of sound—that he neglects entirely the proper attention to the quality and purity of the sounds he produces.
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