Regluing split corner-blocks

Editor’s letter

Is the viola limited by its repertoire? Certainly in

SOUNDPOST

Letters, emails, online comments

On the beat

News and events from around the world this month

Moorish magic

A tribute to an intoxicaing place

Turningtheads

Another tech-based soluion to musicians’ everyday problems

Life lessons Natalie Clein

The British cellist recallsther time studying withtheinrich Schiff in Vienna, and the authors and recordings that still inspirether today

A MUSICAL OUTCAST?

Toby Deller argues that the itle character of Harold en Italie is a social outsider whose isolaion is a metaphor for the viola’s struggle for acceptance throughout musical history

A royal occasion

A castle seing, an enicing top prize and some highly promising string players were what Tom Stewart encountered at the Windsor Fesival Internaional String Compeiion inal in March

BACH RENEWED

French violist Antoine Tamestit releases not one but two albums of Bach arrangements in 2019: the viola da gamba sonatas and the Goldberg Variations for string trio.the reveals his innovatory and thoughtful approach to these challenging works in conversation with Carlos María Solare

Curiouser and curiouser

Was the 1672 ‘Mahler’ the irst viola ever made by Antonio Stradivari? As Jonathan Marolle explains, this is just one of the unanswerable questions that arise when studying this fascinating instrument

POWER OF TWO

In early May, violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Sol Gabetta premiered Akin, a new double concerto written for them by Michel van der Aa. Pwyll ap Siôn attended this performance, in Cologne, Germany, and spoke to composer and soloists about bringing the work to the stage

IN THE MIX

The Edinburgh Quartet recently selected its 2019 apprentice, following a round of public auditions featuring performances from nine young musicians. As the training programme enters its third session, Toby Deller discovers a unique opportunity for rehearsal and performance

A MEASURED APPROACH

Although the many varied methods of stringed instrument making have been analysed countless times, the actual production process has hardly been questioned in its 450-year history. Luan Amorim and Amanda Schwegler use techniques taken from engineering to survey the time and cost factors – and come up with some unusual recommendations

Where there’s a will there’sa way

During two months in Uganda, Pauline Harding learns about the indigenous one-stringed endingidi, and discovers how dificult it can be to learn an instrument in a country whose education system lends little support for arts training

WILLIAM FORSTER II

A close look at the work of great and unusual makers

MY SPACE

A peek into lutherie workshops around the world

Baroque to the future

Luthier Mathijstheyligers has recently completed a project to give the same Baroque set-up to a chamber orchestra’s entire string section. What happened – and how did it change the sound?

SAINT-SAËNS INTRODUCTION AND RONDO CAPRICCIOSO

Spanish dance andtheifetz are two of Rodney Friend’s biggest inluences in this popular showpiece

Chords

How to tackle muli-stopped passages with more conidence, musicality and alacrity

Reviews

Your monthly critical round-up of performances, recordings and publications

From the ARCHIVE

Cellist Gregor Piatigorsky gives a irst-hand account of his light from Russia into Poland

GARY HOFFMAN

For the American cellist, Brahms’s op.99 Sonata in F major is the alpha and omega of cello playing, allowing for every possible feeling and a vast array of interpretaions