Books › An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925 › scan 238
Scan 238
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
24 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 210. See the scan on archive.org.
1This movement from B to F is all too often played with a glissando which is really pitiable if we consider the lofty and severe manner in which the beautiful theme should be presented. No portamento is called for between these two notes, and the violinist should concentrate on carrying out his change of position without effort, and without its being noticeable.
3Further on we find another passage:
5Here, too, there should be no glissando between the B and the F.
7Every note should be given its exact value, and there should be no curtailing of even the shortest note as regards its duration; whether it be the case of an eighth-note triplet or of a whole note, each should be treated with the same regard for its rights of duration.
9As a rule the ear is offended by the unseasonable glissando applied in the following fragment:
11As a general thing a real voyage is made of the transit from the G to the D, whereas, were one to pass rapidly from the first to the third position, a glissando in very poor taste would be avoided.
13In the admirable phrase which follows:
15it is heartbreaking to have to listen to it played:
17as this voyage from B to the D is so often carried out. It is the combination of actual worth and good taste which distinguishes the real artist.
19The andantino of the Saint-Saëns' Concerto is prolific in useful examples. The following moving phrase:
21is one which often suffers from the violinist's mania for using the glissando without excuse. Played with a glissando, a "sliding" effect is produced between the G sharp and the G natural which, rankly speaking, is horrible. Nevertheless, this terrible glissando delights the masses, and one can hear people listening to it say: "What sentiment! How soulful!"
23It will be seen that the student must above all things, avoid what is antip
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