Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
« Scottish Colourists 2006 | Main | Repetition and habits »
violin glissando
Bronislaw Huberman (1882-1947) is considered the most individual violinist ever to record. The extreme characterisation of his interpretations brought him great fame particularly in Central Europe, but also the label of maverick.
This morning I'm feeling pleased with my own humble attempts at violin playing. Having listened to some wonderful 1930's recordings of Huberman last night, whose style may be considered rather 'old fashioned' now, I took away with me a lasting impression of his wonderful slides or glissando between notes. It's indulgent and romantic, and he did it wonderfully.
So I was playing the Largo from Vivaldi's Four Seasons 'Winter' and it occurred to me to change all the fingering, so necessitating making many shifts through various positions on the fingerboard, something I hadn't done before to such an extent. It was tricky, but as I experimented I got used to the new fingering and was amazed at how it brought the piece to life. Glissando isn't something that one would do all the time, only where it can enhance the piece. And it may not be entirely appropriate for the piece I was playing. But as a novice player, it was interesting and exhilarating for me to experiment and discover that I was able to work it out for myself without my teacher's help.
You do not know you cannot do something until you give it a go. And if you believe that you can do it, then there's a high chance you will succeed. And as Picasso said, "I am always doing things I cannot do. That is how I get to do them."
