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June 2020 and Accessories Supplement
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SOUNDPOST
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LETTER
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MATTHIEU BESSELING
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This article is from...
The Strad
June 2020 and Accessories Supplement
VIEW IN STORE
Other Articles in this Issue
The Strad
Editor’s letter
For most string quartets, chamber playing is a full-time
The Strad
As musicians we understand that playing an instrument
THE IDEAL fit
Freelance violists Edmund Riddle and Kathi Von Colson join The Strad‘s editor Charlotte Smith and contributing editor Pauline Harding to test a range of shoulder rests - and discover enormous differences in weight, balance and comfort
NEW LIFE FROM OLD STRINGS
The structure and shape of strings make them difficult and costly to recycle. But that hasn’t stopped some manufacturers from tackling the challenge, and even extracting metal from old strings to use in new ones, writes Tom Stewart
TEAM BUILDING
For luthiers, finely sourced white instruments may well be the perfect accessory - offering the double opportunity for varnishing practice and to sell less expensive models to students and those with shallower pockets. But, writes Peter Somerford, the issues of provenance and labelling are of utmost importance when marketing such instruments to the public
NATURE’S WAY
Leatherwood Bespoke Rosin founder Andrew Baker describes the process of hand making his products, which can be tailored to meet the requirements of individual players
CREATING AND SHARPENING KNIVES FOR VIOLIN MAKING
A traditional method honed over the centuries by the luthiers of Mirecourt, France
SITTING PRETTY
Musicians take great time and care to find the best instrument accessories, but rarely give the same consideration to the ideal chair. Anyone who cares about their posture, comfort and health would do well to pay more attention, writes Harry White
TEMPTING ENTICEMENTS
String manufacturers were as keen to promote their wares in the earliest years of The Strad as they are today - but their methods of persuasion varied considerably. All these advertisements come from the magazine’s first three decades, as evidenced by the enthusiasm for 'acribelles' (silk strings)
SEEING DOUBLE
A pantograph milling machine may not be an accessory on every luthier’s workbench, but for the past three decades Andreas Kägi has found it preferable to CNC alternatives. Here he gives three examples of how the process works in creating patches for repair
FRONT
Secondary research
Musicians are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental cost of cutting down ebony and maple, even as stocks of top-quality wood are dwindling. What are the alternatives?
AUCTIONS Soldiering on
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, sales continued at the London auction houses in March. Kevin MacDonald gives a tour of the highlights
NEW PRODUCTS
DIGITAL MAPPING SYSTEM
Life lessons Nathan Meltzer
The up-and-coming US violinist on his early years in
MIND THE GAP
For classical music students, bridging the divide between training and employment is often a case of being entrepreneurial, writes Jacqueline Vanasse
Forecasting the future
The 13th Winter International Arts Festival in February presented no fewer than seven world premieres, a Beethoven sonata marathon and a double bass extravaganza, writes Peter Quantrill, who met artistic director Yuri Bashmet
FEATURES
THE REAL BEETHOVEN
The members of the Tetzlaff Quartet, who recently released their first Beethoven disc, talk to Tom Stewart about what’s really behind the composer’s late quartets, why they’ve taken a quarter of a century to record any Beethoven, and the challenge of keeping up appearances
AMATI… OR NOT AMATI?
Could the cello shown here be one of the eight ’bass violins‘ ordered by Catherine de‘ Medici for the court of Charles IX of France? Luthier Filip Kuijken explores the known history of the instrument and considers whether it could be an original Andrea Amati - or a clever fake
NATURAL BALANCE
When playing a concerto, the string soloist is rarely fully in charge - and working with opinionated conductors means that sometimes disagreements will occur. Charlotte Gardner speaks to three top performers and a conductor to find out how to strike the right balance
BELOVED MOTHER…
During a two-year concert tour of America, violinist Pablo Sarasate corresponded with his adoptive mother Amelie de Lassabathie in Paris. His surviving letters have been translated for the first time into English by Nicholas Sackman and Bastien Terraz, who present a digest of their contents
FRENCH CONNECTIONS
Several violin, viola and cello bows still survive from the Imperial Court Orchestra of Napoleon III. Gennady Filimonov examines their history, and on page 53 provides evidence that the so-called ‘Napoleonic-type bows’ originated with the first Emperor rather than the third
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REGULARS
ANNIBALOTTO FAGNOLA
A close look at the work of great and unusual makers
Lengthening a violin neck
An alternative to performing a neck graft, without the need for making a replacement
SETH KIMMEL
A peek into lutherie workshops around the world
Pearls of wisdom
One of the most mysterious parts of bow making is the production of mother-of-pearl slides and eyes John Matthews provides a guide to the process, and explains why ormer is the best shell to use
FRANCK VIOLIN SONATA (CELLO VERSION)
Henri Demarquette looks at the conflicts of French atmosphere and German Romanticism in the first and second movements
Scales for violists
A system specifically for the viola, which has not been adapted from violin alternatives
Reviews
Your monthly critical round-up of performances, recordings and publications
From the ARCHIVE
An anonymous reader remonstrates with The Strad for characterising Marie Hall as the first female violinist of the modern era
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
‘Benecke’ Stradivari violin
STEVEN ISSERLIS
Beethoven’s Cello Sonata no.4 was the gateway the British cellist needed to understand the myriad delights and complexities of the composer’s work
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