HOW TO
STUDY FIORILLO
A DETAILED, DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF
HOW TO PRACTICE THESE STUDIES, BASED
UPON THE BEST TEACHINGS OF REPRESENTATIVE,
MODERN VIOLIN PLAYING
BY
EDITH L. WINN
NEW YORK
CARL FISCHER
1913
Copyright, 1910,
BY
CARL FISCHER
International Copyright Secured
Respectfully Dedicated
TO
W. Davol Sanders
FIORILLO.
FEDERIGO FIORILLO was born in 1753, at Brunswick,where his father, a Neapolitan, lived as conductor of the opera. Itseems that at first Fiorillo was a player of the mandolin, and lateron became interested in the violin. He went to Poland in 1780, andin 1783 was conductor of the band at Riga, which position he filledfor two years. In 1785 he played with great success at the ConcertsSpirituels in Paris, and also published some of his compositions, whichwere received most favorably. Three years later he went to London,where he seems to have met with little success as a violinist, since heonly played the violin part in Salomon’s quartet-party. His last publicappearance in London was in 1794, when he performed a concerto on theviola. There is very little known about the rest of his life, exceptthat from London he went to Amsterdam, and was in Paris in 1823.
Among his numerous compositions are duos for violins, for piano andviolin, and violin and violoncello; trios for flute, violin, andtenor, for two violins and bass; quartets and quintets for stringedinstruments; concertos for the violin; concertantes for two violins,etc. These, though somewhat dry and old-fashioned, were favorablyreceived, and show him to have been an earnest musician.[Pg vi]
However, there is one particular work, his Thirty-six Caprices, orÉtudes, which is known and valued by every violin player, and whichfor a long time will probably remain a standard. They rank with theclassical studies of Kreutzer and Rode. This work has been edited overand over again,—most recently by Emil Kross. Spohr wrote a second violinpart, but he altered the original text to such an extent that his work ishardly authoritative, though decidedly violinistic and interesting.
How to Study Fiorillo.
No. 1.
Many teachers of note cling to old traditions. The earliest extanteditions of Fiorillo, by Ferdinand David and others, have no expressionmarks for the Largo of the first étude. This was originally playedforte, counting four very slowly. The tone should be full and even,there being absolutely no variation. This is excellent practice forthose who are inclined to play with a weak tone near the point of thebow. A broad stroke requires a fine arm and excellent bow control. Theelbow joint should be very well relaxed. Such passages as occur in thefourth, fifth, and sixth measures should be played with some tone-color