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Scan 217
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
14 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 189. See the scan on archive.org.
1In his Twenty-four Caprices, Locatelli (1693-1764) has discovered various technical procedures of genuine interest. Several editions of this work have appeared in the course of the past few years; but the fact that these Caprices have been extracted from the Twelve Concertos of Locatelli, each of which contains two Caprices, is not generally known.
3The following is a quotation from a publisher's notice of a forthcoming edition of the Locatelli Caprices:
5"If we are to judge by the astonishment aroused by the appearance of the Paganini Caprices, and by other works written by composers of the present day, it would seem that the violin has only at this day and hour entered the period of virtuoso difficulty. Yet those who believe this to be the case can have but a superficial acquaintance with the older composers for the instrument. If we go back a hundred years, and examine the works of able violinists, we will find that they often combine a profound scientific knowledge of the instrument with the ripest musicianship. Among such artists must be included: Corelli, Porpora, Tartini, Nardini, J. S. Bach, Kenis, Leclair and others.
7"Every period has its own style; yet as to schools, there is undoubtedly one first and original school which will endure through the centuries, and it is certain that the artist who most assiduously studies the ancient masters will find in them greater resources for the development of his own talent.
9"Some ninety-one years ago the Locatelli Caprices were published for the first time, for they appeared in 1733, in Amsterdam, and since their appearance all capable of genuinely appreciating the best in violin study material have admired this master work. Gaviniés, the glory of the French school, who, at the age of twenty-three, composed and played his study work known as the 'Twenty-four Matinées,' a work which has sufficed to establish his reputation, made his début in 1740, at the 'Concerts Spirituels,' at the age of fourteen playing Concertos by Locatelli, and roused astonishment by the skill with which he performed the Caprices.
11"In the twenty-third Caprice, known as 'The Labyrinth,' Locatelli went beyond the boundaries of the ordinary, and undoubtedly amused himself for a moment at the expense of his contemporaries, by giving them a problem to solve. How often, for this very reason, have not certain violinists, too indolent to take the trouble to study out the actual positions, declared that Locatelli had caused the ligatures connecting the fingers of his left hand to be cut, in order that he might play the composition. To-day it is evident that this theory will not hold water, and that the Caprices are very playable."
13As to "The Labyrinth" which the composer has given us—though in abbreviated form and without any indications regarding the manner in which the arpeggios are to be played—it may be taken for granted that he wished to make it easy for those who performed it to vary the different kinds of arpeggios at will. M. Woldemar and J. B. Cartier, however, have edited the
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