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Most of my violin training has been based on traditions which come from the St Petersburg School. By School I am referring not to an individual institution, but a very specific style of "bel canto" playing. Before I started studying with a pupil of Michail Vainman, ( himself a star soloist and teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire ), I had little or no idea of the meaning of the word "School" ( a "tradition" ) ; at least not in this sense of the word.
As I gradually assimilated this "school" of violin playing, I was also told about other Violin Schools. The Italian School in the 1700s which became the French School in the 1800s, then The Franco-Belgian School which lead to other schools including The Modern Schools in Russia during the early 1900s. As Violinists migrated out of Italy, to Paris or to the court at St. Petersburg or indeed other European courts, violin technique developed, grew and followed a steadily progressive course. Discounting this "historic" progression, there exists a multitude of different schools and styles in use today. Unfortunately though I consider the Petersburg school to have surpassed every other violinistic tradition past and present I don't believe it has won all the worldwide recognition that it deserves. It is often misunderstood or confused with the Muscovite ( Moscow ) School, which couldn't in fact be more different !
Nevertheless, The Petersburg School is where a long search for superlative standards and teaching traditions attracted me. The history of the Petersburg School started with a steady input from the greatest violinists in the world, starting with the Italian School of the 1700s. St Petersburg, and other cities were visited by Pugnani and his young star pupil, Viotti on concert tours. Viotti is credited with having imported The Italian School to the French School in Paris. De Beriot succeeded Baillot, a Viotti disciple as a Paris Conservatoire teacher, and passed on his style to the Belgian Vieuxtemps. In 1846 Vieuxtemps took up employment with the Tsar of Russia as director of violin studies at the Conservatoire in St. Petersburg as well as being Solo Violinist to the Imperial Court. He stayed for 6 years, thereby laying the foundations of the Russian School. The Polish born Henryk Wieniawski graduated at the Paris Conservatoire with first prize at the age of eleven. At thirteen he toured Poland and Russia, and in 1860 was appointed solo violinist to the Tsar at St. Petersburg. He held this position for 12 years, after which he took over Vieuxtemps' post at the Brussels Conservatoire. In 1868 Leopold Auer succeeded Wieniawski as violin professor at St. Petersburg under three Tsars, Alexanders II and III and the ill-fated Nicholas II, who knighted Auer in 1894. The Hungarian born Auer trained with Jacob Dont at the Vienna Conservatoire, receiving the coveted medal and diploma at the age of 13 years. Auer trained many star performers including Mischa Elman, Nathan Milstein, Jascha Heifetz, Toscha Seidel and Efrem Zimbalist. Auer remained in Russia for 50 years before emigrating to the United States in 1918. Thus, as briefly described the foreign roots and influences in Russia took place. I haven't mentioned every famous violinist who came to Russia ; Sevcik, for example was professor of violin at the Imperial School of music at Kiev from 1875 to 1892. Rode arrived in Russia in 1803 and stayed there for 5 years. Baillot played there in 1802. As music making was essentially amateur, brilliant musicians and violin virtuosos had to be imported from places abroad like Paris During the 1920s up until the 1950s there was a huge boom of star violin performers. Moscow gradually attracted many musicians, gradually surpassing St. Petersburg as a centre for violin playing. In Moscow children were trained at an alarming rate, and developed at a very early age. Here, Romantic repertoire, which is so suited as a warm and expressive approach to music and performance is generally given at a very early age, the Classical repertoire being considered more advanced.( NB. In St. Petersburg the opposite "classical" approach is used ). In both schools, however, technique and rapid mastery of the left and right hands is usually completed by the age of 13.
The Petersburg School approach, as hinted, is quite different, however. A student starts with a "Classical" repertoire : First Baroque, then Classical then Romantic or Post-Romantic. That would mean a Handel's Sonata n4 in D, A Bach Concerto, a Viotti Concerto, a Mozart Concerto, and finally a Vieuxtemps or Wieniawski concerto which would then provide a gateway to The Great concerti ( Mendelssohn, Sibelius then Tchaikovsky ). During my repertoire program I was always given Solo Bach and Studies. In fact the backbone of my training consisted of mastering French studies ( Kreutzer, Rode, Gavinées ) and Bach playing. Whereas Moscow trained students can rattle off a huge repertoire of Paganini caprices, Grand Concerti or Encore pieces, St. Petersburg trained musicians have a relatively limited repertoire. This is quite understandable, as the Moscow approach of accelerated "romantic" development contrasts with that of the St. Petersburg approach which is to form a "Classical" ( sometimes referred to as a "modern" ) Baroque Style. In Baroque music the form of the music is very strong and precise : No liberties are allowed with swelling or "romanticizing" of tone and phrasing. Thus the evenness and purity of sound does not spoil the music. Here a good example would be to listen to Nathan Milstein's Solo Bach recordings for a similarity in style. Bowing technique and tone is kept quite concentrated, and the Oistrakh type of light bowing for all its wondrous inflections and nuances is considered impure and in bad taste (for Bach). Indeed, artists like Oistrakh and Kogan were highly criticized for their Bach playing in Russia, though I do have a marvelous live recording of Kogan playing solo Bach. His ( Kogan's) style and concentration of sound is remarkably close to the Petersburg School. I don't think so, but I have yet to discover if Oistrakh really recorded the Bach Sonatas and Partitas. He ( Oistrakh ) , himself, said his style of bowing was not suited to Bach. Kogan was unlucky in that on a couple of early performances he played some Bach off the string, and was never forgiven by the Russian critics.
One of the best representatives of the St. Petersburg School is Michael
Vainman ( d.1977 ) , who has recordings of Vivaldi's Four Seasons ( 2 movements
) in a CD of the Leningrad Conservatoire Students by Olympus / Melodia and also
a whole CD of Telemann, reissued by Sony. On these recordings the Modern Baroque
style is exemplary. There is no weak phrasing or effeminate superficiality which
one often senses when listening to Baroque or Period ( Philological )
performances of the Baroque masters. In Russia anything which is overly
effeminate is teased. This Telemann CD is so boldly played with a firm masculine
directness in the rhythms. At no time do they ever hint of becoming floppy or
careless. The bowing style and clarity of tone ( with a net or clean attack of
the note ) resembles a trumpet playing. Some of the supposedly
"authentic" styles I find quite ugly and unnatural.
From descriptions of the French School Virtuosi, it is obvious that these 19th Century violinists had likewise a beautiful tone. We are talking about very special sounds, which I feel are rarely heard nowadays. I think some of the string sounds in the Russian Academic Symphony Orchestra ( Svetlanov) are similarly "magical". The Leningrad Symphony Orchestra also has a "unified" and wonderful Violin section ( though their violinists are rapidly becoming less in numbers ). My first approach when teaching is to teach "tonus". Tonus is the word for a full, rounded and rich sound, obtained with one's natural arm weight. This sound is made more easily on the D than the A and E strings, because the upper strings haven't as much a bass component in them. Actually, my first piece I teach ( to 5 year olds ) is called "Elephant Parachutist", and consists of an open G ( a minim ) and a minim rest ( with bow retake ). These wondrously rich and Elephant like G string sounds are accompanied with a melody on the piano. Unlike the Suzuki School which starts with the E string for easy accessibility, I go for the richest sound. Open Es are far too difficult for a beginner to play nicely in my opinion ! I train my pupils for several months with open strings ( they play with piano accompaniment ) When they have a rich and more confident bowing technique ( rhythm and character are in the meantime improving ) I move on to Left hand. A nice book to start the left hand is "The Little Violinist" by Albert Markov ( Schirmer ). This masterpiece is a collection of 21 animal pieces, with beautiful accompaniments to excellent bowings applied on minor and major scales.
Though I never studied the child's repertoire in Russia, I did thoroughly master Dont and Rode. My initial priorities in rhythm and sound quality provide an investment to the pupil. The first 2 years of training determine all the following years. Once I had a French pupil who must have sounded like Thibaud. The boy was aged 8 years and had started with me 2 years earlier. The "sound" quality that boy held in his right hand was considerable. Have you ever wondered what makes the sound on a violin ? Well it's the right hand itself. This boy conjured the sound, caressing the string with such fine sensitivity and deftness that I was almost frightened by his sound. It is obvious that all children possess freedom and spontaneity, and combined with 2 years of imitating and following the example of my sound, the end result astounded me! Of course the boy had only ever heard me play, and it is apparent that children imitate sound very accurately and possess refined hearing. Be careful, for if you play with a harsh sound, your pupils will too!! This French boy possessed the finest violin sound I have ever heard so closely. I always make sure my pupils play with Dominant strings ( or anything which isn't metal ) as otherwise they will never achieve anything like a good sound. Surprisingly the quality of the violin doesn't count, as, if the instrument is bowed with the proper speed, weight and contact point, then the string vibrates freely, and the violin sound box starts "opening" up. I once read that the teacher Kato Havas ( who writes books for Bosworth & Co. & has a web site ) could tell how much or how well a student had practiced that week by checking how well the violin sounded. Well, not many people believe this, but for some inexplicable reason ( any ideas, reader ? ) it's absolutely true! Children who learn to make a good, open sound will have a violin with a good, open sound, even if it's Chinese. When I hear pupils with small, squashed or impeded sounds, then I know their violin hasn't had a chance to "breathe" and will sound badly. Needless to point out, the French boy's violin was a joy to play. In contrast, recently I took on a 4 year old Suzuki student who played Twinkle Twinkle to her class. The children had their hands covering up their ears, because though the left hand training had been considerable, the right hand was producing the most awful screeching sound I have ever heard. Unfortunately, I find many Suzuki students who have a poor right hand, but a strong left. This is the opposite approach to what has been so far described. One similarity between the two is relying on playing and learning by ear.
So in what else does the St. Petersburg School consist of ? Well, everything
in violin playing is believed to be based on this "tonus" or tone.
Even rapid scale works must be played under "tonus" i.e. with
"singing" bow. Everything, in other words, becomes cantabile and song
like. Otherwise it still needs mastering. It is quite pointless to play the
violin if you make a harsh sound. Even the most simple music becomes unbearable
if played with a forced sound. As a young student start working his / her way
past the Dancla Method, the Kayser or Wohlfahrt and finally ( for the moment )
the Mazas Etudes ( Masterpieces ) he / she learns more about how to maintain the
fluency and natural phrasing capabilities they have even when the notes become
more complex.
I would like to describe my Violin Teacher-Pupil Tree. Auer taught Yuri Edlin, who taught Gutnikov and Michail Vainman ; the latter taught Stojan Kaltchev who taught me. Though I have studied with Oistrakh pupils, my School and style belongs to the violin playing tradition accumulated in St. Petersburg. Of course I explain that this is a direct consequence of the French School. There exist many recordings of the late French School violinists ; the Capet Quartet, Kreisler ( violin trained in Paris and musically trained ( think of his waltz rhythm charm ) in Vienna ), and Jacques Thibaud. These are my favorite violinists ( Kreisler is everyone's favorite, surely, even Oistrakh loved listening to him and studied his recordings, imitating and copying him ), and though so many youngsters seems to "go" for young beautiful Oriental TV violinist stars, there are some phenomenal young Russian violinists coming to fame ; Vadim Repin, Sergei Stadler ( St. Petersburg trained ), Mischa Keylin, Maxim Vengerov and Julian Rachlin ( Vienna ). Also it must be mentioned, particularly in the States that there are a huge number of fine VIolinists of the Armenian Teacher, Ivan Galamian. I have, on several occasions by ( American ) mothers of pupils been asked if I teach the "Galamian" Method. Well though it's great, I don't ! I have every respect for this school of playing, but I must declare that I belong proudly to another tradition, though let's say that certain concepts, like a light left hand in fast passage work is common to all good schools.
Lastly, but quite importantly, I believe that one need not "label" oneself as anything in particular, because when we have learnt to be and play in our "own" way, ( though I personally derive my choices and taste based on the St. Petersburg framework ). Part of the process of following a real School was to play and make all the principles involved my own, i.e. to assimilate the style totally. This means to absorb and accept the wisdom and teaching which was handed down. One need not "copy" anything. I play a line of music my way ( which I trust would please the composer ). In addition, I have been given a method, and a School, a collection of experience and wisdom on how to use my hands and shape the music in a fine way. Had I been on my own, ( or with most "average" Teachers ) I would never have acquired so much knowledge. Even Leonardo da Vinci copied paintings during his learning process, and wait a minute didn't someone called JS Bach ruin his eyesight copying music? It is claimed he learnt everything about composing this way ! Thus a School builds on the knowledge of many, who collaborate and build upon the experience of those who came before. If good classical music is to survive, better schools are needed quickly. I have just moved back to the UK after 14 yrs abroad, and I'm not too happy the way Teachers are often considered "failed performers". Compare this attitude with the attitude in Russia, where only the best musicians are allowed to teach. Many people complain why the UK has never produced top violin or string soloists, even saying it's inexplicable. Well, with many of the teaching organizations in grave difficulty in more ways than one, it could take several years for any improvements to develop. In the U.K. there seem to be a large number of children that learn a musical instrument, but this does appear to be quantity and not quality. I personally had 2 six hour lessons a week, but a child is lucky if he / she gets 20 minutes a week in some places ! One thing is certain, that a great amount of work, better teaching, organizing, know-how and commitment is necessary to achieve anything like the standards once reached in Russia. I do not regret pointing out the shortcomings of this country ( and several others I can think of ) - my main concern is to produce good violinists ( from the start ) and thereby inject a totally fresh style, rich in many good qualities ( handed down from the St. Petersburg school ) rather than criticize or complain about the falling standards that may or may not exist ! |
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As a student ( now we are talking about a 16+ yr. old, not a 6 yr. old )
starts Dont Op.35, then RH chord playing in the lower half of the bow needs to
be mastered. Chords are usually played too harshly and heavily. Double stops for
instance require half the amount of bow weight. Chords too must be played in one
beat ( = a unique characteristic of the Russian School though the American
School plays very "short" chords too, although more harshly ) and not
spread out to much. Right hand includes double stops, scales in 3rds, ( not to
mention scales in 4 octaves…here Kogan aptly puts it " Scales in 3
octaves are not recognized in my country" ), and LH chord layout ( Guitar
style ). If we mention all that is involved in Bach playing this article will
never end, so suffice it to say that more articles will go into more detail.