Musical Instrument: Violin
Chad Satchell
Fine Art Music
Ryan Lewis
June 19, 2016
Musical Instrument: Violin The 9th century can be placed as the beginning of what is known as the violin. “Although violin-playing is best known in European countries, especially considering the origins of world famous violinists like Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, and Niccolo Paganini, violins are believed to have originated in Asia” reports Farisha Salman in an article for the University of Southern California. “The current form of the violin, however,” Salman continued, “evolved more than 500 years ago from several musical instruments. These precursors include rudimentary instruments called the Rebab, Rebec, and Ravanastron, played in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and India.”
The violin is a very honed and precisely built instrument. The bridge of the violin, often referred to as the heart of the violin, is arguably the most important piece of the whole instrument. “The bridge serves two purposes,” writes Salman, “It holds the …show more content…
“The violin could be said to define the orchestra,” writes the Philharmonia Orchestra, a prominent orchestra based in London. “The other strings just fill out the lower harmonies,” they continued, “woodwinds provide pleasantly contrasting timbres, the brass is for added power when you need it and the percussion creates crisper edges and the occasional crash, but there would be no orchestra without the violin at its heart… [Or] perhaps it was true once, but certainly since the beginning of the 20th century composers have begun to treat the sections of the orchestra as equal partners and distribute the music accordingly. It is also a fact that in the modern professional orchestra all the players are virtuosos and so less reliance need be placed on the traditionally more agile violins.” So while the violin may have once been a core root of the orchestra, and while still important, it is slowly taking a backseat with all the other
Fine Art Music
Ryan Lewis
June 19, 2016
Musical Instrument: Violin The 9th century can be placed as the beginning of what is known as the violin. “Although violin-playing is best known in European countries, especially considering the origins of world famous violinists like Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, and Niccolo Paganini, violins are believed to have originated in Asia” reports Farisha Salman in an article for the University of Southern California. “The current form of the violin, however,” Salman continued, “evolved more than 500 years ago from several musical instruments. These precursors include rudimentary instruments called the Rebab, Rebec, and Ravanastron, played in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and India.”
The violin is a very honed and precisely built instrument. The bridge of the violin, often referred to as the heart of the violin, is arguably the most important piece of the whole instrument. “The bridge serves two purposes,” writes Salman, “It holds the …show more content…
“The violin could be said to define the orchestra,” writes the Philharmonia Orchestra, a prominent orchestra based in London. “The other strings just fill out the lower harmonies,” they continued, “woodwinds provide pleasantly contrasting timbres, the brass is for added power when you need it and the percussion creates crisper edges and the occasional crash, but there would be no orchestra without the violin at its heart… [Or] perhaps it was true once, but certainly since the beginning of the 20th century composers have begun to treat the sections of the orchestra as equal partners and distribute the music accordingly. It is also a fact that in the modern professional orchestra all the players are virtuosos and so less reliance need be placed on the traditionally more agile violins.” So while the violin may have once been a core root of the orchestra, and while still important, it is slowly taking a backseat with all the other