abstract: Most violinists of the Western classical tradition are untrained in the aural skills and left-hand techniques of microtonal intervals. This document surveys the nature of the problem and presents a manual for self-teaching the three-quarter tone step—the equal tempered ‘neutral second’ (N2) a quarter tone between the major and minor second intervals—through the melodic syntax of specific Persian classical music (PCM) modes. While the paper does not teach PCM performance, it does offer a method of melodic functional hearing through a new solmization system designed specifically for PCM. Additionally, the paper guides readers through the PCM repertoire by grouping modes with a shared functional usage of the N2. Combined with the pedagogical research of learning modalities and Edwin Gordon’s Music Learning Theory, these tools provide violinists with a method for achieving the aural accessibility and performance mastery of the N2. This process serves as a future model for learning unfamiliar intervals both within and without the Western classical tradition. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2020

Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) contributed to the development of violin performance through his innovative virtuosic techniques and popular Spanish characteristics, and his influence on violin performing style remains even in the present day. He composed virtuosic compositions to showcase his excellent technique, and well-known composers of the time such as Camille Saint-Saëns and Edouardo Lalo composed for him as well. These compositions include not only virtuosity but also Spanish characteristics that were suitable to Sarasate's nationalistic heritage. The combination of Spanish and virtuosic characteristics made these pieces as standard violin repertoire for modern violinists. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was his distinct performance style that broke the boundary of technical virtuosity in violin performing. The following generations - Kreisler, Heihetz, and in the present day, Isaac Permann - developed their performance techniques based on Sarasate's performance style. To examine Saraste's influences and contributions to the development of violin performing style, this dissertation focuses on Sarasate's performance practices, his technical developments, his unique style of playing, and his music to discuss his influences on composers and violinists alike. This study places Sarasate's performance style in the context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century violin performance practices through a discussion of major violin schools such as Franco-Belgian and German schools. The study is of Sarasate's repertoire such as his Zigeunerweizen and Saint-Saëns's Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, which offers an interpretation of Sarasate's contributions to the development of violin literature and performance practice. Since his performance style can be observed not only in the scores and commentary of his contemporaries but also in recordings, this study also includes a comparison of recordings by various violinists such as Sarasate, Kreisler, and Heifetz to reinforce the discussion of individual performing styles and Sarasate's influences. Through his contributions to the development of violin performance, Sarasate made himself one of the most renowned figures in the history of the violin.

J.S. Bachs Chaconne är den sista satsen från Partita nr. 2 i d-moll för Soloviolin och är med sina 257 takter längre än svitens alla andra satser tillsammans. Den är idag betraktad som ett av de mest tekniskt och musikaliskt utmanande stycken som någonsin har skrivits för violin, och innehåller samtliga för tiden kända aspekter av violinteknik. Föreliggande studie behandlar först en musikteoretisk analys av Chaconne, följt av en kartläggning av styckets underliggande koraler och avslutningsvis en undersökning av anknytningen till Bachs hustru Maria Barbara Bachs plötsliga frånfälle. Studiens resultat påvisar att det inte bara förekommer totalt elva av Bachs egna koraler inkorporerade i stycket, utan även en numerologisk och musikvetenskaplig anknytning till M.B. Bach. Dessa upptäckter åskådliggör att närmare analys berikar framförarens interpretation av Chaconne i synnerhet, och övrig musik i allmänhet.

Three areas of adaptation, namely physical, technical and cognitive, have to be considered if a successful transition from the violin to the viola is to be achieved. This qualitative study followed an interpretative phenomenological design. Data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with six participants from Pretoria, South Africa, all of whom had taken up the viola after becoming proficient in playing the violin. The aim of the study was to explore the physical, technical and cognitive adaptations made by violinists studying the viola as a second instrument. Findings derived from the analysed data were divided into five superordinate themes. The first superordinate theme, "Physical differences between the violin and the viola as instruments", revealed that, because the sizing of the viola is not standardised, the chosen size should be synchronised with the physique of the violist. The size and weight of the viola in the transition process were also regarded as representing a significant adaptation. The second superordinate theme pertains to left-hand technique as affected by the physical differences between the instruments. Although there is a similarity between violin and viola techniques, subtle technical differences distinguish them. Topics occurring in this section were elements of fingering, the longer viola fingerboard, shifting, and vibrato. The following superordinate theme, “Right-hand technique as affected by the physical differences between the instruments”, revealed the challenging adaptation involved in acquiring the correct bowing technique for the viola. This section further investigated issues relating to bow hold, the concept of transmitting natural weight rather than artificial pressure into the bow, and the resistance by the viola strings. It was suggested that, once a viola-specific bowing technique had been learned, violin bowing technique would be improved. Injuries and pain caused by the transition to the viola represented the fourth superordinate theme, particularly emphasising the issue of set-up, which, in the case of choosing an appropriate viola, should be customised according to the unique physique of the player. The fifth and final superordinate theme, "Methods for mastering the alto clef", showed that transitioning violists apply methods both requiring note-reading and not doing so. The findings indicated that methods which do not require the active reading of notes on the stave are not as effective as those in which the performer learns to identify note names and pitches. The study concluded that an understanding of the physical, technical and cognitive adaptations required for a successful transition process, should be cultivated by the transitioning violist. / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Music / MMus / Unrestricted

The folk tradition has often been divided between two sections: on one side is music,on the other is dance. The aim of this research is to study the relationships between dance and music inside one individual to create a new profile: the dancing musician.The process of this research went through different stages. First of all, I relied on my background as a folk musician and dancer to enable dialogue between these two profiles. Then I went beyond the boundaries of the folk tradition by mixing improvisation and folk music. Finally, I analysed movements, meters and expression of each part in order to combine them and to resolve technical issues of the multitasking process. The present study shows different ways of using this dance-music combination as a creative tool and explains what effects those arts have on each other.

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Ludwig van Beethoven föddes 1770 i staden Bonn och skrev tio violinsonater under sitt liv. Den här studien behandlar Beethovens andra sats ur den tredje sonaten för piano och violin i Ess-dur op. 12 no. 3. Med hjälp av övningsdagbok och analys i notmaterial drogs slutsatser inom musikalisk gestaltning i form av karaktär/upplevelse och frasering samt violinteknik i form av vibrato, stråkhastighet med mera. Studien gav en ökad förståelse i musikaliskt uttryck, instudering och violinteknik. / <p>Cecilia Damström - SydänlauluW.A. Mozart Sonat för violin och piano no. 18 G-dur K. 301L.v Beethoven Sonat för piano och violin op. 18 no. 3 Ess-durC. Saint Saens Introduction et Rondo Capriciosso</p>

The purpose of this dissertation is to document the evolution of Moldavian violin performance practice from the middle ages through the twentieth century and examine the major influences and significant musicians that shaped its development over time. My primary sources include excerpts from anthologies, textbooks, and periodicals, as well as audio and video clips; in most cases, the original language is Romanian or Russian and I will provide a translation if none is given in the original source.I will begin by investigating the emerging role of the violin in medieval musical ensembles and exploring the origins of Moldovan musical folklore in art, literature and culture. A discussion of lăutari (a class of musicians) is fundamental to understanding the cultural and societal roots of the taraf (a group of lăutari) and the muzica lăutărească (music of the lăutari) to help differentiate this style of music and the musicians who played it from Romanian peasant music and other folk music traditions in the region. I will show how the movement of the lăutari into cities helped familiarize people with the muzica lăutărească, normalizing and establishing it in popular culture and bringing notoriety to exceptionally talented lăutari. Next, I will examine the professionalization of violin education beginning in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the ways in which the establishment of musical societies expanded exposure to professional performers and opportunities for education through the founding of public and private music schools. This process created a hierarchy of skilled foreign performers and teachers who raised up a generation of local musicians who became performers and teachers in Moldova and whose students became performers and teachers all around the world, some of them attaining international acclaim. I will highlight the societies, schools, teachers and performers who were most influential in helping to grow this performance practice architecture. Nineteenth and twentieth century geopolitics – changing national borders and colonial influences in the region – shaped the development of violin performance practice in Moldova which came to favor Eastern European technique and style. The characteristics of muzica lăutărească, and the centuries in which the lăutari refined their skills and abilities primed them to prefer Eastern European music. I will share examples that illustrate this preference in both audiences and performers of the time. Finally, I will focus on contemporary Moldavian violinists whose careers demonstrate the culmination of these factors that have shaped the evolution of Moldavian violin performance practice. These award-winning, internationally famous violinists are actively exporting a centuries-in-the-making home-grown performance practice that is both diverse and unique, taking its place among the best performance practice traditions in the world. / Music Performance

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Övning är något som är aktuellt för alla musiker. Det har skrivits och forskats en hel del kring övningsmetodik, men det är oftast genom experimenterande som man hittar de för sig bästa övningsmetoderna. Med detta projekt fick jag chansen att djupdyka i övningsmetodik i ett försök att hitta nya, effektiva sätt att nå mina mål. Dessutom ville jag undersöka hur man genom det man gör utanför övningsrummet kan inverka positivt på övandet. Under detta projekt hade jag stort stöd av litteratur, kunskap från min instrumentallärare och egna tidigare erfarenheter. Under projektets gång kom jag fram till insikten att det inte finns en övningsmetod som passar alla musiker eller som kan appliceras på alla verk. Det gäller att skapa en så mångsidig och bred verktygslåda som möjligt, för att sen kunna välja ut de för situationen mest passande verktygen. Därtill är det fullt möjligt att ge sig själv bättre förutsättningar i övningsrummet genom det man gör utanför. Motion och vila tillhör grundstenarna. Min förhoppning är att detta projekt kan inspirera till ökat experimenterande i övningsrummet och väcka en nyfikenhet för nya metoder. Dessutom hoppas jag på en öppnare diskussion kring övningsmetodik, så att det blir lättare för oss att dela med oss av det vi kan och på så sätt lära oss av varann. / <p>Sonatin för violin och piano i E-dur, Op. 80 - J. Sibelius</p><p>Violinsonat nr. 1 i D-moll, Op. 75 - C. Saint-Saëns </p><p></p><p>Medverkande musiker:</p><p>Emma Dahl - violin</p><p>Mårten Landström - piano</p>