Violinspirations No.4: Fritz Kreisler Plays Fritz Kreisler
I’ve been listening non-stop this week to Fritz Kreisler. Famous for his rich, warm sound, and for his ‘rediscovery’ of hundreds of old pieces (which he later admitted were his own work!). He’s one of the greatest violinists of all time.
Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be any video of this incredible musician. Or at least, none with any sound of him playing. Only this silent video: man, violin, dog…
Here’s Liebesleid, one of his faux-traditional Viennese dances:
And you know what? He’s also a virtuoso (in his own inimitable style)…
Violin Lessons in London
For a while now, I’ve given occasional violin masterclasses and workshops in London, and there seems to be such an enormous demand that I’ve decided to offer them regularly.
If you’re in London, UK and you want to learn the violin, the violin workshops I’ve created are all about getting the basic principles of violin playing right: the relationship between the violin and the body, how to hold the instrument and bow and how to stand, and the fundamental ways of serving the music to create great performances (playing the right thing, at the right time is a large part of it!). It’s perfect both for total beginners or as a refresher for more advanced players.
There are also new weekly group violin lessons on a Saturday which I’ll be directing myself in Central London. You can check out the programs here: www.londonviolinstudio.com
Violinspirations No.3: Willie Hall
For someone who’s actually a trombonist, you don’t get much better violin playing than this…
Incredible, no? OK, it’s not the most refined playing (indeed, it’s a ‘vaudeville’ act), but the level of virtuosity is quite extraordinary. Apparently this was Willie Hall‘s main novelty trick – the rest of the time he played the trombone in Paul Whiteman‘s orchestra.
The clip is taken from the film King of Jazz.
Classical Revolution London
When I was studying in Berlin, I came across a group of renegade classical musicians who used to borrow a space at a local cafe every Sunday evening, and read chamber music together. They called it ‘Classical Revolution’.
It soon transpired that the collective in Berlin was not a local group of eccentrics, but an offshoot of a vast global movement. In 2006 a group of students from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music met at Revolution Cafe in San Francisco’s Mission District for public chamber music reading sessions. The success of these events led to a residency, and before long a busy program of concerts and ‘classical jam sessions’ had begun. The idea of performing in a far more relaxed environment than the traditional classical recital hall appealed to musicians visiting San Francisco.
Several of these musicians returned to their home cities with the idea of generating a ‘Classical Revolution’ in their own home towns. In just a couple of years, the idea had spread far and wide, including to Berlin. There are now several ‘chapters’ of the movement across not just the USA, but the whole world!
Check out this article from the New York Times, which explains the concept.
I met up with Charith Premwardhana (the violist who founded the movement) in the States last year. We played a festival together and then put on the first Classical Revolution event in Boston (at the Lilipad in Cambridge, MA). It was a raw event, but the energy was amazing. It made me think: if ever Classical Revolution comes to London, I’d like to play in it!
Last month, I was looking for a low-pressure ‘classical open mic’ night to try out some Paganini Caprices (for a little side project of mine, coming sometime in the next year or two!). But there’s nothing like that here in London. So, I figured, why not start the Rev over here? Up in Manchester, some RNCM-based musicians have been doing this for a while now, with great success. I think it’s time London saw some of the action!
So we’re going ahead and – with a little help from the inimitable Peter Gregson – I’ll be putting on the first Classical Revolution London this Spring. The format will be a 30 minute ‘set’ from a ‘featured act’ (like a well known string quartet or vocal group or soloist), followed by an ‘open mic’ slot for pro musicians, composers and students to showcase new music and repertoire. The night will end with a ‘chamber jam’ – where people can get together and play chamber music with new and existing musical partners.
We’re aiming for February or March – just need to find the right venue. Any suggestions?
In the meantime, you can follow CR London on Facebook, on Twitter, or at the website www.classicalrevolutionlondon.org. If you have any suggestions for a venue or for live acts, email music@<theabovewebsite>.
See you soon at Classical Revolution London!
Violinspirations No.2: Bruce Dukov
So far as I know, Dukov is one of Hollywood’s legendary session violinists – one of the most experienced studio concertmasters and soloists in the world. But that’s not why I’m celebrating him here. He’s a ‘Violinspiration’ to me because of his extraordinarily tasteful ‘crossover’ tracks which are very hard to track down.
They’re in some arcane file format, so you’ll need to download Realplayer in order to hear them. But it’s worth it for ‘Meowski’ (cat meets Wieniawski), and other quirky takes on violin legends such as Sarasate, and indeed Bach! Hear the ‘wild and wacky’ audio files! >>
Also, check out the Youtube video of his ‘pop’ version of Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro.
Maybe ‘classical’ isn’t actually a genre, but a way of thinking.
Of course, we all know that big-C Classical was a period from 16whatever to 17whatever.
But the term which noone seems to be able to provide a satisfactory definition for is little-c classical.
Apparently, I’m a ‘classical musician’. I’m trained in a ‘classical’ tradition, at a ‘classical’ establishment, on an instrument that’s predominantly known for its ‘classical’ repertoire.
Yet if you take Wikipedia’s definition of ‘classical music’, which is lifted directly from the Oxford and Concise Dictionary of Music, classical music is ‘the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times’.
In today’s world, I just look at that and think: what a load of anachronistic rubbish.
Personally speaking, such a definition just doesn’t reflect the breadth and depth of what a ‘classical’ upbringing means to me as a ‘classical musician’. For me, the ‘classical-ness’ is with me regardless of whether I’m playing something that conforms to a classical tradition or not.
In one recent week’s work, I part-improvised a live event featuring the music of Josef Haydn, extemporized on themes by Philip Glass for a brand consultancy, academically deconstructed an entire piece by Mozart, performed Welsh folk music in an outdoor festival, and taught a 10 year old violinist to play a rock song by MUD.
So far as I am concerned, every one of these experiences was 100% classical, in that they brought to bear all my ‘classical’ training and knowledge and experience to create a compelling experience. But not one of them fit the traditional definition of what ‘classical’ is.
This is a problem that so many performers are having to deal with right now, and I think it’s time to reverse the thinking on this. I’ve been trying to find alternative ways of describing what I do over and above the accepted idea of ‘classical’, I think it’s time to just admit that the existing definitions of ‘classical’ are out of date, and no longer applicable.
What we need to do instead, is to accept that ‘classical’ is not some kind of elitist, specialist genre. It’s just a way of thinking that takes into account an exceptionally high level of order and structure within a particular endeavour.
Violinspirations No.1: Mischa Elman
Mischa Elman has always been one of my greatest violin heros, which is strange, as I don’t like a lot of his recordings. Other violinists can be more implicitly expressive and more sophisticated with their use of musical phrases; other violinists are more precise (when Heifetz came along in the early 1900s and introduced a new level of technical achievement to violin playing, Elman’s concert bookings suffered!).
But the sound that he produces is completely unmistakable:
There’s a depth, a warmth, that is effortlessly rich. Overlook Elman’s idiosyncrasies, and try the ‘sweetmeats’ such as this recording (above) of Schumann’s ‘Träumerei’, Faure’s Berceuse, or Dvorak’s Humoresque.
Violinspirations
This weekly blog post feature offers a snapshot of something violinistic that has captured my imagination. It could be a video, or maybe just a recording. It could be old, or it could be new. It could be classical, or it could be hip hop. It doesn’t even need to be good (though most Violinspirations will be). It just needs to be interesting, and to have caught my imagination!