The violin is one of the most widely dispersed instruments in the world. This is owed part in the portability of the instrument. One can pick up a violin and case and take it anywhere. It shows up in the most elite classical music in the world, the most emotive folk music and everything in between. It appears in many genres and styles. It seems to transcend cultural boundaries and genre boundaries. Everywhere the violin has went, it seems to have been adopted and put to use syncretically within the new culture.
The violin is a unique instrument because it exists as a status symbol instrument in some circles and its a folk dance instrument in others. It rose in popularity in two completely different social circles. They are so different that many people think that a fiddle that played by Charlie Daniels or a violin played by Itzhak Perlman are actually two different instruments. Part of the reason for this schism in views of the social status of the instrument are due to the fact that early in the 19th century high quality “important violins were owned by the aristocracy and stayed in the mansions and palaces where they belonged: musicians were allowed in to play them but not to remove them from the premises”(Wood 14). It was important to own a high quality violin that musicians could play. Not to say that all violins were expensive, there are reports of playing by “all strata of society, from the nobility to the peasantry” (Remnant). But if the common person was playing the violin and so was the elite, the elite would have been classically educated while the average person would have probably been raised around a lot of folk music. Part of the huge divide on how the violin is viewed is how it was raised in the culture. This leads to the often pretentious association that the violin is an educated elite classical instrument and the fiddle is an instrument for everyone else. Guitar has kind of the same problem because classical music in some circles seems to carry more of a legitimacy rather than other types of music especially folk or pop. It is the remnants of a European ethnocentric view that European classical music is the highest form of music. Part of the reason the violin as had such success abroad has to be attributed partly due to its lack of frets. This means that the player can hit notes not accessible in western music’s system of equal temperament. This means it can fit well into other musical styles which have quarter tones. This is interesting because it can prove to be a challenge to beginners in the western classical tradition to gain a sense of intonation. An interesting feature of the violin is that it hasn't really changed much in the last 200 years. In fact the general shape was the “creation of the unknown 15th-century inventor” (Montagu). This led to it being an established instrument in Europe before the time of colonialism which would be important in its dispersal around the world. But still it did have some variations. There was a while where people experimented with the shape of the instrument, the most famous being “François Chanot's guitar shape with no corners to the middle bouts, or even Félix Savart's trapezoid model (both 19th century)” (Montagu). There has also been some experiment with the arch height on the face and back of the violin. This dramatically affects the tone, “the arching, is one of the most significant factors in tone color and projection” (Zygmuntowicz 47). High arched violins have “a flute-like tone” while flat arched violins have “an oboe-like” tone(Montagu). Probably the most famous are the Stradivarius models. Stradivarius generally “favoured a flatter arch”, but even he “varied his arching considerably as his work progressed” (Zygmuntowicz). The biggest development would have to be a switch to steel strings rather than gut strings. In the early 1900s a switch to a high E string happened because “top-quality gut for so thin a string was difficult to obtain and broke too easily”(Montagu). By the 1950s violinists were playing “All-steel strings”(Montagu). Its interesting to note that the playing position of the instrument varies around the world as much as the styles its used in. In India the player sits cross legged and hunched over and the scroll of the violin is is held in place on the case laid down in front of them or on the players right ankle ankle(Amitava Sen)(Indrayudh Bose). This is vastly different than the european way of holding the violin. It is “placed on the collar-bone, held by the chin on the left-hand side of the tailpiece” (Boyden/Walls). Early on in the violins history even this was unstandardized in Europe. Early european “violinists might hold their instruments almost as low as their waists” (Boyden/Walls). While there is a lot of similarities on how american country/bluegrass musicians hold the violin to their european counterparts, there seems to be a lot more movement. Some of it is because a lot of this music is dancing music but a lot of it seems to be general showmanship as well(Charlie Daniels)(Hadley Castille). It has been truly adopted by cultures because they feel comfortable enough with it to change its playing position. One can easily see that the violin had a lot going in its favour to become the global instrument it has become today. The time it was invented meant that it was already an established instrument in Europe before the time of colonialism. Its portability was a great feature because explorers could take it around the world with them. Its lack of frets made it very easy for other cultures who do not work off of equal temperament to adopt it as their own. Unfortunately partly because of colonialism there is a European association that the violin is an elite educated instrument and the fiddle is played by anyone else. This has not stopped the beautiful sounds of the violin from becoming syncretic in the musics of many cultures around the world. Sources Wood, Glen. Security and Splendor. Strad. Oct 2014. pg 14-19. Academic Search Premier. Online. Zygmuntowicz, Sam. Vibrant Details. Strad. Nov 2013. pg 44-53. Academic Search Premier. Online. Remnant, Mary. Fiddle. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press 2007-2014. Online Montagu, Jeremy. Violin [Fiddle]. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press 2007-2014. Online. Boyden, David. Walls, Peter. (b) Holding the violin. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press 2007-2014. Online. Bose, Shyamol. “North Indian Classical Violin”. YouTube. Mar 21 2007. Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SK6apoAMgc Sen, Amitava. “Raga Kirwani on violin by Amitava Sen”. YouTube. Feb 28 2010. Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HBoyzpfdTk McCormick, Rebecca. “Champion Cajun fiddler Hadley Castille”. YouTube. Apr 23 2010. Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91vBzCaNTQ0 Opry.” Charlie Daniels Band - "Devil Went Down to Georgia" | Live at the Grand Ole Opry | Opry”. YouTube. Jan 22 2008. Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnepPZChA5U
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
ArchivesCategories |