Books › An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925 › scan 278
Scan 278
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
22 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 250. See the scan on archive.org.
1The superb phrase which runs from measures 1 to 8 should be played with fervor, and with a clear, somewhat mezzo forte dynamic coloring.
3Measures 9 to 28 clearly expose the intellectual capacity of the violinist who undertakes to interpret the work; for the manner in which they are to be played is very adequately indicated in the Joachim edition. These measures should be played in the following manner:
5[Musical notation]
7with the first eighth sustained, as well as the two notes following, as indicated, with grace and above all without skipping.
9In measures 29 and 30 strongly sustain the trill and see that an energetic accent is given to each note.
11The sextolets in measures 4, 5 and 6 should be played with repose, holding back somewhat on the third beat of the measure 6. Measures 15 to 27 set the violinist the problem of how to avoid ridicule. The period is a grotesque one, and it seems clear that Brahms wished to depict a species of the hilarity appropriate to some bibulous person, whose silly mirth is followed by a brief and atrocious drama of some kind. The dramatic effect of measures 28, 29 and 30 of this period, and of the 17 measures of period 9, is tremendous.
13The 16th and 17th measures of this last period seem to echo the triumph of a rage assuaged.
15Period ten begins after the tutti. Measures 1 to 4 should be played with delicacy, yet with a prolonged bow stroke, and measures 5 to 9 with a feeling which evokes the graceful flight of a swarm of swallows.
17Up to the tutti preceding the cadenza, we have a repetition of the first part; hence all that is necessary is to apply it to what has already been said.
19Beginning period two after the cadenza, we may note that this period comprises the last 45 measures of the first part.
21The first 21 measures should be played in contemplative fashion, with calmness and on a mezzo forte dynamic plane, since the piano indicated does not raise the violin sufficiently above the orchestra. The phrase is one of ideal beauty, and one in which His Majesty the Violin displays his tonal resources in the happiest manner.
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