Books › grove's dictionary of music and musicians, 1916 › scan 68
Scan 68
grove's dictionary of music and musicians, 1916
30 lines. Read by computer on 10 September 2026. Printed page 48. See the scan on archive.org.
1INTERMEDIATE ARPEGGIO FORMULA.
3Chromatic scales of two octaves in one position.—The fingering for the scale beginning on B will suit all the rest. Below B the fingering varies somewhat. It is not claimed that this is the only way of fingering chromatic scales, but it is very direct, and is easily understood. There is no standard fingering. In actual playing it is usual to take the fingering that best suits the difficulty.
5CHROMATIC SCALE BEGINNING ON B.
7The Double Note Scales which properly belong to the foregoing scale technique, should be one octave in compass and progress through the keys from major to relative minor. Beginning at C major and A minor, through the flat keys to Cb—enharmonic B#, then through the sharp keys to complete the round.
9DOUBLE SCALE IN THIRDS.
11All the scales on the same principle of fingering.
13DOUBLE SCALE IN SIXTHS.
15All on the same principle.
17DOUBLE SCALE IN OCTAVES.
19The scales and arpeggi indicated above cover the compass required for the performance of works by the great masters of the violin from Corelli to Viotti, excepting the six solo sonatas of Bach, which must await a more advanced technique able to grapple with difficult chords of three and four notes, and the power to play in two, three, and four parts.
21The famous opera quinta of Corelli—twelve sonatas for violin, the model for the solo sonatas of his contemporaries and followers, do not in any case go higher than E in the third position; a few double notes in the first allegro of the sixth sonata must be taken in the fourth position, but in all other cases the third position is the limit. Corelli's brilliant passages, both in the opera quinta and other works, are invariably made up of broken chords, broken thirds and sixths, thirds and sixths in double notes. Arpeggi are numerous, but always in the first position.
23From the point of view of the modern player, fingering became a difficulty when the compass of the violin was augmented to three and four octaves. Paganini was the inventor of the modern violin technique, his genius opened out entirely new avenues for the violin, as Liszt did for the pianoforte. He added enormously to the resources of the instrument, as is fully shown in his masterpiece, twenty-four Caprices, op. 1, a real treasure of technical material.
25It will be interesting to give, as fully as may be in an article of this kind, the technical equipment of a violinist of the present day. In bulk it will seem enormous, its difficulty will dismay; but worked at item by item these disappear, one step upward brings the next step within reach, and so on to the goal—a sound and masterly technique able to meet all the requirements of a great concerto, a light salon piece, or the intricate and beautiful work of the string quartet, and other ensemble pieces for the various combinations.
27Principles of fingering for scales and arpeggi of three octaves, etc.—Diatonic scales of three octaves compass in chromatic order of keys. Again the fingering for the scale of B will go through the rest of the keys. Below B the fingering needs no special mention.
29Three-octave scales in progression from major to relative minor, through the keys, each scale beginning in the first position.—The fingering falls into groups of C's, D's, E's, F's, G's, A's, B's. All the scales of C and E, and that of G flat, require exceptional fingering; it includes a half-shift in ascending the scale, and in descending a shift on to the third finger in the third position. Each group has some slight difference of fingering, but the main principle is the same through all, viz. shifting forward on the first finger under second, with the reverse action downward. Arpeggi of common chords, three octaves compass:—these also fall into groups. The downward shift is a difficult one; it is effected on the first finger, the hand has to descend generally two whole shifts in the one movement, a little sound of the glide of the first finger is admissible. Arpeggi of dominant sevenths belong equally to the major or minor keys, there-
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