Romantic Violin Performing Practices

What are the key topics that define Romantic violin playing?

This book discusses key issues (and barriers) of putting into practice nineteenth-century violin performing practices. It deals with a number of well-known problems concerning romantic performance including the widely perceived 'gap' between scholarship and the act of performance. Taking account of a modernist revolution in performing practices and aesthetic thought in the twentieth century, the book focuses on key topics to define romantic violin playing.

Practically-focused chapters discuss key aspects of performing practice evidence. The book then moves into a case-study phase to discuss examples from the author's long experience. It concludes with practical advice and exercises to enable students to begin experimenting with the assimilation of such practices into their own performance. In this way, the proposed structure aims to be a 'handbook' proper. The handbook ends by looking to the future and suggesting practical ways for violinists to adopt what has been discussed in the text. The continued centrality of nineteenth-century music in contemporary concert life makes the importance of the topic self-evident.

DAVID MILSOM is Senior Lecturer in Music and Head of Performance at the University of Huddersfield. Milsom is a performing and recording Violinist.