Editor’s letter

It is self-evident that becoming an accomplished string

Contributors

(Trade Secrets, page 60) has been working as a bow

SOUNDPOST

Letters, emails, online comments

On the beat

News and events from around the world this month

NEW PRODUCTS

Sitting on a stool, most bassists will rest the instrument

Life lessons

The British cellist, composer and founder of new music group Apartment House on John Cage and how visual art helped to open his mind

ORCHESTRAL OVERLOAD

Conservatoires and youth orchestras in the UK too often imitable an excessive number of orchestral rehearsals and concerts. These rob students of precious hours of private pracice, writes violin teacher Simon Smith

Playing it for a queen

This year’s Queen Elisabeth Compeiion in Belgium was devoted to the violin, and showcased a set of distinct and accomplished performances by the twelve ffinalists, as Tim omfray reports

Blaze of glory

At the Montreal Internaional Musical Compeiion, Tom Stewart heard a winning performance full of fire among a seriously impressive field of contestants

IRREPRESSIBLE DRIVE

South African-born double bassist Leon Bosch has held top orchestral posts and performed as a soloist on multiple international stages since arriving in the UK in 1982. But, as he tells Kimon Daltas, now is not the time to rest on his laurels, as new works and new challenges await

NORTHERN LIGHTS

The 19th century witnessed a thriving double bass making scene in the Manchester area of England. This northern school, which had its own distinct style points, flourished for a longer time than its southern counterpart, as Thomas Martin, Martin Lawrence and George Martin explain

Social harmony

Violinist Leonidas Kavakos this year presented his eighth Musical Horizons Conservatory masterclass series. Toby Deller attended the three-day event in Athens, during which Kavakos proved himself to be not only an intelligent and dedicated teacher, but also an advocate of social cohesion and personal responsibility through music

MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

In an age of little numeracy or literacy, how did luthiers settle on the proportions of stringed instruments, with hardly any variation in their basic design? François Denis shows how the principles of the classical Greeks – notably Pythagoras – informed their thinking

TESTAMENT TO VERSATILITY

Austrian violinist and violist Eduard Melkus turned 90 last year. Tully Potter speaks to colleagues, former pupils and the man himself – and outlines a far more diverse and varied career than his reputation for early music performance would suggest

ANDREA GUARNERI

Andrea Guarneri was the patriarch of one of the most

Making a Tourte-style eye

How to use gold, tortoiseshell and abalone in copies of works by the ‘father of the modern bow’

LUKAS KEHNEN

As far as I know, I’m still the only violin maker in

Keep the wolf from the door

Joseph Curtin describes a quick and simple method for violinists to eliminate a wolf tone on their instrument, along with the science behind it.

MENDELSSOHN CELLO SONATA NO.2

Johannes Moser takes a look at tempo, dynamics and the relaionship between instruments in the exciing and energeic irst movement of the D major op.58 Sonata

Walking bass

Essenial foundaions for producing a jazz bass-line with good sound, rhythm and harmony

Reviews

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

From the ARCHIVE

Violinist Mavis Bacca Dowden reports from the fourth edition of the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition, where Jaime Laredo was victorious and Joseph Silverstein came third

BARRY GUY

The Briish double bassist recalls his irst encounters with Iannis Xenakis’s solo work Theraps – including some frank exchanges with the composer himself