I chose to research the violin because I feel like this instrument can be played in many different ways. The violin was first introduced in the 16th century in Italy, but evidence was found in painting’s as early as 1530’s. The violin has been known to evolve over time; from three strings and a short base to four strings and a longer base. It became most popular in Europe because of it’s small size, versatility, and its sweet, melodic tone. It was played by both the high and low class people just like today.
The violin is now one of the most popular instruments in the world and older ones can go for millions of dollars. The violin has also evolved to be played through amplifiers and microphones, therefore, not needing the sound box. Fully electric sound produced by violins can be distorted to create different tonal qualities that diversifies the instrument further. Giuseppe Tartini was an Italian Baroque composer and violinist that was born on April 8, 1692. Tartini attended the University of Padua to study law, where he became skilled in fencing.
He married Elisabetta Premazore, a woman his father would have not approved of because of her age difference and lower social class. Facing prosecution, Tartini fled Padua to go to the monastery of St. Francis; where he started to play the violin. He was known in his earlier years for not being satisfied of his talent, so he locked himself away to practice saying, “in order to study the use of the bow in more tranquility, and with more convenience than at Venice, as he had a place assigned him in the opera orchestra of that city.
In 1726, Tartini started a violin school which attracted students from all over Europe. Tartini’s most famous work is the “Devils Trill Sonata,” a solo violin sonata that requires a number of technically demanding double stop trills and is difficult even by modern standards. Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, widely considered to be one of the finest violinists of modern times. Born on February 2, 1901, in Vilnius, Russian Empire. He moved as a teenager to the United States. He was known for his unpar¬al¬leled stan¬dard of vio¬lin playing to which vio¬lin¬ists around the world still aspire.
His father, Reuven Heifetz, was a local violin teacher and served as the concertmaster of the Vilnius Theatre Orchestra for one season before the theatre closed down. Heifetz preformed hun¬dreds of con¬certs for Allied ser¬vice men and women dur¬ing World War II, includ¬ing concerts in Cen¬tral and South Amer¬ica, North Africa, Italy, France, and Ger¬many, often play¬ing from the back of a flatbed truck in dan¬ger¬ous conditions. He had a long and successful performing and recording career; after an injury to his right (bowing) arm, he focused on teaching. David Fyodorovich Oistrakh was a renowned Soviet classical violinist and violist.
Born on September 30, 1908, he is considered one of the preeminent violinists of the 20th century. He was born in a Jewish family in the Russian Empire, which is now Ukraine. David started studying the violin and viola at the age of five. At the age of six, Oistrakh performed for the first time and later joined the Odessa Conservatory in 1923, where he studied until his graduation in 1926. For 60 years, he was never out of hands reach of a violin, he traveled throughout Europe, North America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, performing with leading orchestras in the world.
Opera is known as a dramatic work in one or more acts, set to music for singers and instrumentalists. I am researching one specific opera in the romantic era called Carmen. It was written in 1875 by a French composer, Georges Bizet. Based off of a book, the story is about a military soldier who falls in love with a Gypsy. After leaving his wife and discarding his military duties, Don Jose finds out that Carmen, the Gypsy, has left him for a bullfighter. Jose ends up killing Carmen from jealousy and rage, leaving the story without the main character.
This is what made this story so unique and broke new ground in French opera. The opera is meant to portray Jose’s emotions towards Carmen. The feeling of being deceived and betrayed but also the idea of karma, reflecting on what he did to his wife. Habanera is one of the arias in the Opera Carmen, based on some of the videos on YouTube, Carmen seems to have control of any man that she wants. She taunts the men with her Gypsy spirt and embarrasses them without any remorse. Another aria I watched was called Toreador; the bull fighter shows off his prestige technique.
Trying to impress the crowd, he kisses a woman to show that he can also have whoever he wishes. Throughout both of these arias, the orchestra emphasizes the drama in a way that is unnoticeable. You can hear all sorts of string instruments that help with the drastic change in tempo. A famous Classical composer that I choose was Johann Sebastian Bach. He was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bach was born on March 31, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany. He was born into a family of brilliant musicians.
His father was the director of two town musicals and all of his uncles played instruments on the professional level. Unfortunately, at the age of ten, Bach lost both his mother and father due to unknown illnesses. He then moved in with his older brother and continued to play the violin. His brother also taught him theology, Latin, Greek, French, and Italian at the local gymnasium. At the age of fourteen, was awarded a choral scholarship to study at the prestigious St. Michael’s School.
After graduating from St. Michael’s and being turned down for the post of organist at Sangerhausen, Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III in Weimar. He had many more positions as a musician and composer over his lifetime and became well-known throughout German. Johann Sebastian Bach created many great pieces such as Violin Concerto in A minor. This specific piece is considered fairly presto because of the speed and quickness. With staccato notes, it is intended to be played at a very moderato tempo. Another piece played by Bach would be Chaconne; played more allegretto and the notes that flow more together called, legato.
