Scan 41
Violin master works and their interpretation, 1925
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1At Aa the phrase closes with a fortissimo, and begins again quietly on the second quarter of the measure:
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5moving on without change until we reach Bb, where we have an added expressivo which is carried through to Cc. The four measures which follow serve as a preparation for Dd, where the great organ-point, beginning piano, works up uninterruptedly in tonal power to lead to the climaxing point of the whole composition at Ff. A final Variation, at Sempre più forte, carries us to Gg, where the violin—just as though it were an organ—presents the original theme with the utmost employ of tonal power, in a fortissimo; the composition ending in a serious and dignified style with a short piano fortissimo.
7A consideration of the Bach Sonatas for Solo Violin would begin naturally with the Sonata in G minor No. 1. In my edition* the time signature for the Adagio is given as 16/16, instead of the more usual Common Time (4/4), in order to facilitate playing the rhythmic introduction. If all the eighth-notes, sixteenth-notes, thirty-second notes and sixty-fourth notes which occur be divided into sixteen parts, then counting at so slow a tempo is far more secure than when counting by eighths. And—what is of major importance as regards interpretation—the melodic portion of this Prelude stands out more clearly when this division into sixteenths is carried out, playing very slowly. The movement is extremely singable, and it should be played in a singing manner. The thirty-second and sixty-fourth notes are short passages which should be handled as part of the melody-line of the composition. At C the music takes on a dramatic development and this mood dominates up to the close.
9* "Six Solo Sonatas for the Violin" by Johann Sebastian Bach. Revised and Edited by Leopold Auer. Carl Fischer, Inc., New York.
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