Ricardo Odnoposoff had originally hoped to study with Leopold Auer in New York, but that was not to be. Nonethless, the fates remained on his side and he instead trained under Carl Flesch in Berlin, a thorough preparation that stood him in good stead the rest of his playing life.
The September 1921 issue of The Etude (shown at right) excerpted select portions from Auer’s volume Violin Playing as I Teach it and are reproduced on the following pages.
For many years The Etude was issued in large format size (10 1/2″ X 13 1/4″). Transferring the original layout to A4 necesitated some slight changes in layout and different photos have been substituted for the originals, which were quite faded in the copy I possess. Additional photos were also added. The text is Auer’s, unaltered.
Modern Violin Study by Leopold Auer
Short Extracts from “Violin Playing as I Teach it” Professor Auer’s recently published masterly work. Reprinted here by Special Arrangement with Professor Auer and the Publishers, Frederick A. Stokes Company
Editor’s note: Professor Leopold Auer was born at Veszprem, Hungary, and studied at the conservatories of Pesth and Vienna. Later he became a pupil of his great Hungarian predecessor Joachim. He became leader in Dusseldorf (1863), Hamburg (1866), Soloist to the Tzar (1868 to 1917), Professor of Violin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1887-1992), conducted concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society, elevated to the hereditary nobility (1895), State Councillor (1903). His long train of musical successes with his pupils has astonished the musical world. This list includes Elman, Zimbalist, Parlow, Heifetz, Rosen, Eddy Brown, Toscha Seidl and many others. Professor Auer’s new work is probably the most important book upon violin playing ever written. It is especially rich in content for students and young teachers. THE ETUDE takes pleasure in presenting the following extract, possibly made more interesting because Professor Auer has transferred his teaching activities to America.]
Holding the Violin
In holding the violin the first thing to bear in mind is that it should be held in such a position that the eyes may be fixed on the head of the instrument, and the left arm should be thrust forward under the back of the violin so that the fingers will fall perpendicularly on the strings, the fingertips striking them with decided firmness.
The second important point is this: avoid resting the violin on the shoulder or, vice versa, shoving the shoulder underneath the violin. The placing of a cushion beneath the back of the instrument, in order to lend a more secure support to the chin grip, should also be avoided. These are bad habits which one should from the very start carefully avoid, since they not only spoil the violinist’s pose in general, but—and this is extremely important — they make the player lose at least a third of the whole body of tone which his violin—be it a fine or an indifferent instrument, a powerful or a weak one — is capable of producing.
As for the chin-rest, the one used should be adapted to the individual neck, so that by means of it the player is able to hold the instrument easily and without strain. Those violinists who rest the instrument against the shoulder, and place a cushion at its back — both of which act as mutes — evidently have no notion of the disastrous effect this arrangement has on their tone.
Always try to raise your violin as high as possible, in order to secure for your hand the greatest freedom of movement from one position to another. This may be accomplished by slightly advancing the left arm toward the chest.
Endeavor always to lessen the distance between the arms, to bring them together by inclining the body slightly to the left, yet without resting the left arm against the front of the body. At first you will not find it at all easy to raise the violin without support, but in the course of time one accustoms oneself to it, with a resultant gain in facility in reaching the higher positions, as well as in the playing of rapid descending passages.
Sing on Your Violin
Joachim, Weiniawski, Sarasate and others — every great violinist of the close of the last century — had each his own individual manner of holding the bow; since each one of them had a differently shaped and proportioned arm, muscles and fingers. Joachim, for instance, held his bow with his second, third and fourth fingers (I except the thumb), with his first finger often in the air. Ysaye, on the contrary, holds the bow ‘with his first three fingers, with his little finger raised in the air. Sarasate used all his fingers on the stick, which did not prevent him from developing a free, singing tone and airy lightness in his passage-work. The single fact that can be positively established is that in producing their tone these great artists made exclusive use of wrist-pressure on the strings. (The arm must never be used for that purpose.) Yet which of the two, wrist-pressure or finger-pressure, these masters emphasized at a given moment — which they used when they wished to lend a certain definite color to a phrase, or to throw into relief one or more notes which seemed worthwhile accenting — is a problem impossible of solution.
Incidentally, we may observe the same causes and the same effects in the bow technique of the virtuosi of the present time. They may have nothing in common either in talent or temperament, yet, notwithstanding this fact, each one of them will, according to his own individuality, produce a beautiful tone. The tone of the one may be more sonorous, that of the other more transparent, yet both will be ravishing to hear, and not even the closest attention will enable you to divine which form or degree of finger-pressure the artist has exerted to produce his tone. Young students cannot be told too often: “Sing, sing on your violin! It is the only way in which to make its voice tolerable to the listener.”
Hints on Tone Production
When taking up the bow with the fingers, lower the hand in such a way that the bow falls naturally into position, of its own accord. By so doing you will obviate the feeling which impels you to cling tightly to the stick. Hold the bow lightly, yet with sufficient firmness to be able to handle it with ease; above all, do not try to bring out a big tone by pressing the bow on the strings. This is an art in itself, and can only be developed by means of hard work and experience.
Do not press down the bow with the arm: the whole body of sound should be produced by means of a high pressure of the wrist, which may be increased, little by little, until it calls forth a full tone, perfectly pure and equal in power, from the nut to the point of the bow, and vice versa.
Begin with slow strokes with the whole length of the bow, allowing ten or twelve seconds for each down- and up-stroke, and stop as soon as you feel fatigue. The muscles and the joints of the wrist and forearm stand in need of relaxation after an effort which, however slight, has been continuous.
The degree of finger-pressure to be applied to the stick is a question of experience, of observation from the instructive side, and also of discipline.
In order to learn properly how to obtain an equal tone, both at the nut and at the point of the bow, the natural tendency of the hand to press down upon the bow at the nut, — because of the greater weight of this part of the stick — and, contrariwise, to weaken at the point, — the weakest portion of the stick — must be counterbalanced by additional pressure — always of the wrist.
Style in Violin Playing
Historical style, traditional style: I acknowledge that there are such things, just as we have armor in museums and time-hallowed observances. And I will not withhold due respect to all musical tradition which serves a useful purpose, which is a contribution to the general history of music. Style, however, is incidental to its period. It changes but does not develop — I am speaking as a violinist, of violin playing — in the sense that its development is sequential. How can it ? Style in reality is the temporary crystallization, at various periods, of the ideals of violin interpretation best suited to the intellectual and musical feeling of the periods in question, and born of the violin music of those periods itself. No doubt it has even in a measure, been influenced by the make of the instrument. Speaking in a general way, the high model violins, such as those of the Stainer type, speak more readily, while the flatter violins of the Cremona school have more carrying power and flexibility, and their tone is more susceptible to subtle variation by the player. That the greater interpretative possibilities of the Cremona type have had their favorable influence on violin composition is more than probable. But this is only incidental. The music written for the violin by the older masters and played by them did far more to determine the style of their period.
Another century, other music— other music, another style. Of course we do not play Bach as we play Tschaikowsky. But that is not really because tradition tells us that Bach requires a different interpretation. Musical instinct is sufficient. We play Bach differently because his music itself make us observe certain canons of taste, certain modes of expressional procedure in presenting his Sonatas or his Concertos. But I again insist that it is not because of any traditional feeling — at least it should not be — for Bach’s works rise far above all considerations of historical style in their grandeur and majesty, their soul and charm. We play them, or try to play them, as Bach’s music should be played — reverently, almost as a rite of the sacrosanct mass of beauty, expressing as best we may, individually, all that they convey. Probably no great violinist of today plays the Bach sonatas as they were played by the well-known violinists of Bach’s own day. Yet, despite the fact that the player may be centuries removed from the interpretative spirit of Bach’s time, he may play Bach sonatas better than they were wont to be played then. The musical spirit of Bach transcends all narrow limitations of period, and the artist of to-day who truly enters into this spirit will play Bach as he should be played, and will play Bach better because he will play him in the interpretative spirit of our own generation, not that of 1720.
Leopold Auer – Further Reading & Listening
On 14 May 1920, 74-year-old Leopold Auer traveled from New York to the Victor Talking Machine Company’s studios in Camden, New Jersey and set down two works, Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 1 and Tchaikovsky’s Mélodie (“Souvenir d’un lieu cher”), accompanied in both by his second wife, pianist Wanda Bogutska Stein (1875-1961). These recordings were not issued commercially, and were apparently made for his own use. Both can be heard on YouTube.
“Great Violinists of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries” on a 1960s American Stereophonic Corporation LP ( ASCO A-123). Both of Leopold Auer’s 78rpm sides are included on this fine album, alongside recordings by Sarasate, Joachim, Ysaÿe and Kubelik.
Though mostly devoted to legendary singers, the ASCO Record Corporation also released a few LPs featuring great instrumentalists. The label was founded by Edward J. Smith, once called “opera’s most famous pirate”. Smith (also referred to as EJS) is estimated to have transferred, produced and released some 900 LPs of bootleg opera performances, as well as some 78rpm studio material, during the years 1956 until his retirement in 1982. Though production standards often left something (or a lot) to be desired, his LPs were a boon to the serious operaphile. Greenwood Press issued two discographies that attempted to catalog Smith’s vast output, a Herculean task given that the albums were usually bereft of much documentation.
Pearl CD “20 Great Violinists Play 20 Masterpieces” ( GEMM CD 9125). Only the Hungarian Dance No. 1 is preserved on the Pearl issue, re-mastered by Colin Attwell.
Post-Script: Worth visiting is the Leopold Auer Society webpage, which presents a wealth of information about the man and artist, his pupils, the violin competition that bears his name, and much else.
Photos, album links, and more in the Spring 2022 issue (available in subscriber accounts) starting on Page 79.