I've found it quite interesting that violinists seem to adore certain types of music like Bach and Mozart and loathe others like Paganini and Beethoven and the other way round and all other combos

What do YOU love and loathe?

I personally (if I was a violinist) love Paganini and Wieniawski (sp?) but detest Mozart and Handel (although I love his recorder music)

Detest is rather a strong reaction, Chris. Why in particular would you feel like that about Handel or Mozart?

*keeps mouth shut at this point*

Chris, I am not in any way sniping at you. I'm just curious as to what it is about Mozart's or Handel's music that makes you feel like that.

To be honest, I don't know enough about violin repertoire to make that sort of judgement - which is why I'd be interested in your elaboration of why you think that.

IMO I see them as being rather boring and dull! Although obviously it does take a very very VERY good violinist to get the character of Mozart or the interpretation of Handel very very topnotch

I think it's quite an interesting choice of composers. As a recorder player, I really like the music of Handel - it's great to play and leaves me feeling cheerful. The same was true in my 'violin' days when I found the Handel violin sonatas particularly satisfying to play. Perhaps Handel's music appeals most to the performer.

In the case of Mozart, his recorder repertoire is somewhat lacking! I always found his string music very difficult to play (too much fancy bowing) and so, quite unrewarding. However, I would probably prefer to listen to Mozart than to Handel.

Er - I'm not sure what that suggests...

W

Playing or listening???

IMO Paganini is generally not much fun to listen to, (unless you are a violinist and interested in that sort of thing), and very tricky to play. I think Wieniawski too is really a bit of a showman in the same vein, and you just marvel at the technical brilliance of the player (well I do anyway) rather than any emotional stirring from the music . Top marks in this arena goes to Ernst and his "Last Rose Variations" and "Erlkonig"...with the Bazzini "Ronde des Lutins" coming in close behind. In my opinion not musical but a circus act.

Mozart, Bach and Beethoven (and Brahms and ...well I have a long list) are emotionally moving and not written for the virtuoso technical acrobat but for the listener to wallow.

But for real technical skill coupled with awesome emotion you can't beat the Bach Chaconne. That would be the one I rescued on my desert island when the rest got washed away.

I wouldn't say I loathe any of it particularly, each has its place, and depends on my mood at the time how much I enjoy it.

Well, I have two favourites for easy listening (which is the mood I'm in at the moment) and would like to have a go at after my exams, and that is the Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik by Mozart and Pachebal's Canon in D. I think I've not met anyone who doesn't like them, and that is something interesting. They are known and loved all over the world.

I HATE (yes, I mean hate) the way Beethoven wrote for violin. It's so unviolinistic, compared to something like Bach which is obviously written on, and for, violin. I adore the music of Beethoven, and enjoy playing much of his orchestral stuff (currently doing Beethoven 1) but...grrrrrr. In a way, I feel the same about Mozart, but he is the master of deception - apparently stupidly easy things are actually musical killers. But I enjoy that in Mozart
As I said, I adore Bach. He is a superb composer in every way for violin. So is Vivaldi. Handel sends me to sleep, although that might be a reflection on the sort of people who I often hear play it I have a particular love for composers such as Mahler (his orchestral parts somehow "work"), Bloch (specially his 2nd phase), Mendy, Sarasate, Brahms, Kreisler, Weiniawski...that's really my kind of music I don't know how to describe it, but it suits my strengths and my technical failings often don't have a big impact on them. Probably helps that I enjoy making a piece my own, and there's a lot of room to do that with those composers, likewise I find that I can do a lot of new things with Bach and Vivaldi, but not with Beethoven, Handel, Paganini-style stuff (although I fear Paganini so I'm not going there) or...well it's hard to name them because I shy away from music which is like that.
Luckily I choose all my own repertoire at the moment, so to give you a rough idea, I'm currently on a diet of Bloch, Mendy and solo Bach. And Schradieck


Well you've not met me, but I hate it. Eine Kleine is so overplayed that I am starting to really hate it too. Sorry

Pachebel's Canon is over-played. In the last 6 months I've had to perform it twice in concerts... it may be a very nice piece of music but I'm sure violin players of a certain level come to hate it very quickly!!

Eine Kleine we've so far only done once with orchestra so I still enjoy that.

And I'm being converted to Vivaldi.... I used to hate it, simply because I didn't have the co-ordination for the string crossing that is inevitably involved... however, with my new teacher this year I've learnt the Vivaldi from the Gr 6 syllabus and I really like it!! At first, I chose the Leduc, and my teacher chose the Vivaldi, and we agreed to work on both. But now I've come to like the Vivaldi more than the Leduc, so I'm glad my teacher insisted on me learning both!

Interesting. I was thinking only today that if I had to give a recital (something I'd like to do but probably never will) I would play Handel and Mozart sonatas! Seriously! Have been listening to the Mozart sonatas of late and love them (love the concertos too, am learning number 5). Hope to get stuck into Handel at some point in the next few months.

bohemian, I'm not sure I agree with you about Beethoven being 'unviolinistic'. I recently had a go at the first movement of the concerto and, although it was a bit hard I don't think it could possibly have been written with any other instrument in mind. Perhaps you were referring specifically to the sonatas? I must confess I've not done any of those yet...

janexxx, the Bach Chaconne! What can I say? Astonishing piece. As a mere mortal, I have never dared attempt it...

I-L, I will take your closing comment in the original post with a pinch of salt.

You attempt Beethoven and find it quite playable, and yet flee from the Bach Chaconne? Weirdo I am the other way round...I can't comment on the Beethocen concerto because it scares me a lot. I did mean the sonatas, yup.

I'm nowhere near good enough to attempt to play them, but I love listening to the Beethoven sonatas...op30 no 2 YAY!! And the string quartets are incredible right through from the opus 18 set, the Rasumovskys and then the wonderful late ones.

Oh so true!! I love them

Have you played any of them? We have a go at the opus 18s the rest is just too hard for us.

I'd love to play the Beethoven quartets. Unfortunately, I'm not in a quartet so it might be tricky

I particularly like the late B flat one (I think it's B flat - must have another listen)...

Whoever premiered that called the opening solo "the most difficult 60 seconds in the entire violin repertoire"

But that was before Sarasate and co... (It's actually just mainly scales and arpeggios, albeit with occasional nasty octaves!)

At the end of the BBC series about Auschwitz, Maximilian Vengerov played a piece, unaccompanied, by Bach, I think, whilst walking away from the camp. The music seemed so suitable and lovely in that very unlovely place. I'd love to know what it was, and it will always stay with me.

That *was* the Bach Chaconne....(and he's plain Maxim not Maximilian ...see my sig for more details)

I'm not friendly with any competant violists so unfortunately we don't attempt decent repertoire in my quartet (besides, we stopped meeting a while ago). Next year I should have a great trio and/or quartet though...oooooooh the Beethoven triple concerto... I am using too much in this thread.

Sorry to pick here, but I think he's simply known as MAXIM Vengerov, not Maximillian. I'm sure Jane will correct me if I'm wrong.

Bach I love, I think most violinists love the detailed nature of his writing, the counterpoint even in string parts and the technical challenges in playing the music correctly ie. making it sound deep, thoughtful and meaningful, not blatting your way through it as I've heard some people play.

Mozart, typical early classical very exposed melodic line that shows up every wrinkle in your playing. In short, extremely difficult to play well, very easy to play badly. Handel is similar, but in a different way. You need to play Handel with a subtle approach of the bow, even more subtle than Bach in some cases.

Beethoven and later, although becoming technically more difficult, in some ways they can be easier to tackle because a certain amount of fireworks can be allowed in the playing of works by composers of the 19th century onwards.

I agree with bohemian that some composers didn't seem to write with the violin in mind - the Beethoven, like so many concerti - was branded unplayable at the time it was written. Wagner does not "sit" well on the violin fingerboard - I don't know what Wagner was thinking when he wrote his violin parts. Debussy (esp. La Mer), poses similar problems for violinists especially with some of the obscure keys he wrote in - he should have stuck to the piano in my opinion.

For me the ultimate violin playing hurdle is the Sibelius concerto. Sibelius himself longed to be a virtuoso violinist, but because it would only ever be a dream he set out to write what is often regarded as the most technically difficult concerto ever written. The likes of Shostakovitch and Prokofiev have written similar, but the Sibelius, for many soloists is THE pinnacle of their playing achievement.

My 'pet hate' composer is Bruckner. Drawn out, longwinded works that go round and round.

Already mentioned it Amanda, in an earlier post . Not a case of known as, more of IS plain Maxim (or Maxim Aleksandrovich if we are being true to the Russian naming system )...but is one in a "milian"

Absolutely!!!

Well, it's not possible to say Beethoven music was not "violinistic". Beethoven played violin himself!!! of course his way of thinking was more for piano... but I still think his music is very confortable to play. I've played many works by him, chamber music (trios, sonatas, quartets...), orchestra (6 symphonies, 3 piano concertos...) and I think he wrote in a pure classic style, with all its difficulties.

I don't have a "favorite" composer to play but If I had to choose... I will probably say Bach and Ysaÿe... and then: Paganini, Wieniawsky, Vieuxtemps, Spohr, Bártok, Braaaaahmsssss, Mendelssohn, Beethoven!, Haydn, Kreisler, most of baroque composers for violin: Locatelli, Vivaldi, Leclair, Corelli, Tartini, Pugnani...

Possibilities

Ok probably the Pachebal's Canon is really overplayed over there. But we don't get to hear chamber music live that often over here, so we're not that sick of it. Maybe my teacher is, but not his students

Thing is, most of the violin repertoire you guys mentioned are not available over here. So we have to make do with Mozart's Divertimentos, sonatas and Bach. Of course we still have the more famous works like Meditation and pieces like that.

Whereabouts are you, violin-ann?

Make do with Bach? Oh I pity you
How about mail order?

I guess that goes to show how individual preferences can change what we think is easy or hard.

Personally I would be scared witless by either piece


Ahhh no ambition

Does anyone will be able to tell me whether mendelssohn was a violinist or not, my music history is very bad but i think he must have been because his music really is supremely violinistic. Nearly everyone will play the hebrides sometime, i've played both the italalian and the scottish symphonies which goes really high and are absurdly fast in the violins but it just 'works', the fingering, bowing, everything! The same goes for the eminor which i'm playing at the mo and just love.

On a personal note, mozart is not my thing at all. A bit controversial, i know but compared to the likes of Bach and Beethoven, where every note is just amazing, mozart seems a bit over rated. Each to their own i suppose. and i do love virtuoso stuff especially Kriesler.

We could do a movement at a forums concert...

We have 2 violins and a viola...just need to find a cellist???

Malaysia. Well, right at the moment I'm not too happy with the huge hike in prices of mail order from Musicroom. It used to be that if you ordered 20 pounds' worth of books, you could get it mailed to you for free... but now it's like 100 pounds! And our money is seven times that amount! *faints*

I did get a friend from the uk to buy books from musicroom for me, but then she posted the parcel, and it's been 3 months since, and I've yet to receive it So it's a no-go either, bohemian.