INSTRUMENTS IN THE ORCHESTRA

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 420, 11 July 1947, Page 17

INSTRUMENTS IN THE ORCHESTRA

(1) The Violin HIS is the first of a series of atticles on the instruments of the National Orchestra, designed to help interested listeners towatds a more informed appreciation of orchestral music, and a better understanding of the resources at the command of the conductor. The articles will be accompanied by Spencer Digby photographs of the leaders of the different sections in tke National Orchestra.

HE violin has been termed "King of Instruments," and. though this may not be universally conceded there are few who will deny that for clarity of tone and sensitivity of expression it is not surpassed by any other instrument. It is the most fully occupied member of the symphony orchestra, and it has the principal voice in the string quartet, The origin of the violin still provides the subject for much argument and conjecture on the part of* historians. While some claim that the Arabian rebab and the Welsh crwth were the logical ancestors of the violin, others point to the Greek kKithara as their choice. Even the more generally accepted theory that the violin did at least spring from the viol family of the 15th Century is held in some dispute. The Golden Age of violin-making dawned in the mid-16th Century with such names as Amati, Guarnerius, and Stradivarius. The work of these master ctaftsmen has never been excelled‘ and seldom equalled, though countless experiments with wgod and varnish, and in design and construction, have been carried out.

Between 70 and 80 pieces of wood go to make up the violin, which has ‘four strings, usually of catgut or fine wire. The sounds are produced by the touch of the bow upon the strings and the fingers of the left hand are employed to press down, or "stop," the strings to the fingerboard, thus reducing their effective length and producing higher notes. Sounds can be further modified by such devices as playing pizzicato (plucking the strings with the fingers of the bow hand), «vibrato

(making the finger tremble on the string, thus producing a fluctuating note), hAarmonics (touching, but not stopping the strings lightly in certain places), spiccato, staccato, and so on, A wooden mute may also be used, and different strokes of the bow produce different sounds. By playing upon different strings the quality of tone can be varied and double notes and some chords can be played by stopping two or more strings simultaneously. The first music for the violin was composed .at the close of the 16th Century, but it was Arcangelo Corelli (16531713) who came first to "appreciate the -qualities of the instrument and to write music worthy of it. Lotti and Paganini gave it its status as a virtuoso instrument and Monteverdi, Lully, and Scarlatti assigned to it increasingly important roles in the orchestra. In the symphony orchestra the violins are assembled in two groups, the "first" and "second" violins. One group, the first violins, usually sits to the immediate left of the conductor and the other, the seconds, to the right. In writing for the orchestra the composer either uses the two sections independently, assigning each a distinct part to play, or both together. The NZBS Orchestra has 13 first violins and 9 seconds. The leader of the first violins is also the legder of the orchestra. He is respon-

sible for the bowing and notes of his own section | and plays a leading part in the guidance of the whole orchestra. Where a passage for solo violin | occurs in a work other | than one in which a soloist is playing with the or- | chestra, this is usually played by the leader.