By Greg Cahill | From the March/April 2020 issue of Strings Magazine The International Review of Music has praised the Tesla Quartet for its “superb capacity to find the inner heart of everything they play, regardless of era, style, or…
When it comes to your violin, the soundpost can be a best friend or worst enemy. Here's what it means if your violin soundpost has a crack.
By Megan Westberg | From the March/April 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Comfortable. Functional. Practical. These are probably the kinds of words you’d conjure up if asked to describe your shoulder rest. And all of these adjectives describe a shoulder…
A conversation with its director By Laurence Vittes In the aftermath of the 27th Netherlands Violin Competition in Utrecht, I spoke to its director, Aart-Jan van de Pol, about the pressure on the winner Coraline Groen as her career proceeds,…
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By Sasha Margolis | From the March/April 2020 issue of Strings Magazine These two new releases offer radically distinct visions of Bach’s unaccompanied violin music. Drawing upon differing strands of historical performance practice, they also provide contrasting ideas about the…
By Emily Wright The basic order of operations for installing a string is simple enough. Secure one end through the tailpiece, thread the other end through the hole in the peg, hold taut, and wind the string until it’s close…
By Miranda Wilson | From the March/April 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Dvořák and Khachaturian Violin ConcertosRachel Barton Pine, violin; Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Teddy Abrams, cond. (Avie Records) Pairing the violin concertos of Antonín Dvořák and Aram Khachaturian on the…
Recent interest fountain pens reminds us of the dramatic difference between typing a musical score on a keyboard and the focus and flow of laying down ink on paper.
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By Benjamin Whitcomb | From the March/April 2020 issue of Strings Magazine David Popper’s Gavotte in D major is a delightful, short work that intermediate cellists have been learning and performing for decades. Like so many of Popper’s works, it…
A new commission by Anna Thorvaldsdottir hovers between light and dark—and revives my inner NASA geek By Doyle Armbrust | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine The thing I love most about the music of Anna Thorvaldsdottir is…
Sponsored by Ingles & Hayday: On 24th March at Sotheby’s in London, Ingles & Hayday will auction the bow collection of Bill Watson. Watson, who died in 2018, was one of the leading British bow makers of the 20th century.…
By David Templeton | From the March/April 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Tradition. Within the worlds of folk, world fusion, and classical music, a deep respect for tradition has always—or at least often—been key. That is especially true for players…
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By Laurence Vittes During the last week of the 27th Netherlands Violin Competition last month, four young Dutch virtuosos curated four concerts in and around Utrecht that were a virtual fringe festival for the violin. The concerts came while the…
By Laurence Vittes | From the March/April 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Having recorded the piano quintets of Franck, Shostakovich, and Robert Schumann with the Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin, the Takács Quartet and Hamelin moved on to the two written…
Rubato (in Italian, literally “stolen”) is the act of taking time from one beat, or group of beats, and giving it back in subsequent beats.
Here's tongue-in-cheek look at some of the most common issues with stringed instruments, from the instrument repair person's perspective.
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By Greg Cahill What’s the best violin or viola case? The answer is, well, complicated. Cases come in a variety of shapes and sizes and prices. There are hundreds of options and much to consider. For instance, if you’re looking…
By Juliana Soltis | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Player: Cellist Juliana Soltis connects audiences with the forgotten stories of classical music through historically informed performance. Her new album, Going Off Script, explores the long-lost tradition of spontaneous…
By Cristina Schreil | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Twenty-five years ago, François Danger saw a film that changed everything for him. Titled Tous les matins du Monde, or All the Mornings of the World, it’s a…
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