the VIOLINIST

Todas las cualidades humanas de Toldrá se reflejaban en su arte violinístico e interpretativo: Un algo primaveral, optimista y sonriente finia de su arco. Pocos artistas poseen este don de la alegría y pureza en el sonido; su manera cariñosa, tierna, nunca empalagosa, contrastaba elocuente y bellamente con su enorme energía, su ritmo, su ataque firme sin dureza ni petulancia; la variedad de timbres logrados evocaba el color de la orquesta; en este sentido y en algún otro aspecto recordaba al famoso Enesco [external link] [biography]. También, como es sabido, violinista, director y compositor. No hay duda que el compositor, influía poderosamente en el arte del violinista-intérprete, que daba, cada vez más, la impresión de hacerse suyas las obras de los otros compositores.

Cuando muy joven dió a conocer sus «Sis sonets», recuerdo que Casals, presente en el concierto: me dijo: «En la manera de expresarse Toldrá en el violín, siempre había sospechado que había en él un compositor». Esta obra para violín es de un frescor y una belleza imponderable, verdaderamente emocionante. Podría aducirse que produce esta emoción y esta simpatía por el hecho de que en ella circula constantemente un aire local de «canto a la tierra». Para desmentir este supuesto juicio que se me permita y perdone, porque no hay ninguna variedad en ello que haga alusión a una actuación mía. Estimulado por la admiración y el entrañable afecto hacia mi gran amigo, me decidí a presentar esta obra, con la colaboración de Blanca Selva, en Madrid. El entusiasmo de los madrileños fue enorme. «Qué maravilla de luminosidad», exclamó Arbós que asistía, al concierto. Posteriormente, esta, obra fue ejecutada en el extranjero, y la acogida fue siempre la misma; compositores como Florent Schmitt y Albert Roussel, reconocieron con entusiasmo la gran personalidad de nuestro Toldrá.

Han pasado muchos años, y estas obras exquisitas no envejecen porque en ellas hay este «algo» misterioso que sólo los elegidos poseen. Nuestros jóvenes violinistas, algunos de ellos acostumbrados a luchar con las obras de los compositores contemporáneos, incluyen en sus programas las obras de Toldrá y sienten la sorpresa, de lo inefable, puro y verdadero al adentrarse en el espíritu de estas pequeñas piezas exquisitas e inmarcesibles. Estas cualidades resaltan en todas las composiciones de nuestro gran artista, que a pesar de su difícil simplicidad, son profundas, nobles y absolutamente sinceras.

¡Es esto un alto ejemplo!

Juan MASSIA

1998

A Bibliographical Guide to Spanish Music for the Violin and Viola, 1900-1997

(text copyright © by Laura Klugherz)

http://books.google.es/books?id=44meEcVc26EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+Bibliographical+Guide+to+Spanish+Music+for+the+Violin+and+Viola,+1900-1997&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MSfcT63xCeek6gHNp7CgCw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

THE MODERN VIOLIN AND VIOLA IN SPAIN

VIOLIN

"All methods of violin playing are essentially descended from the teachings of great Italian masters Corelli (1653-1713), Tartini (1692-1770), and Viotti (1755-1824). The nineteenth century, however, witnessed the development of national idiosyncrasies which characterized particular "schools" of playing. Two of these, French and German, are representative of the range of these variations. In Paris, Viotti students Pierre Rode (1774-1830), Pierre Marie François Baillot (1771-1842), and Rodolfe Kreutzer (1766-1831) left a legacy in method books which was established as norm at the Paris Conservatory and is still used in basic violin study. This style of playing was typified by elegance, precision, purity of sound, and virtuoso technique. The German school focused on different qualities and was initially associated with Ludwig Spohr (1784-1859) and Joseph Boehm (1795-1786, student of Rode and teacher of Joseph Joachim, 1831-1907). These violinists played in a manner which was ample, romantic, and impassioned, rejecting virtuoso effects and searching for profound depth. Ferdinand David (1810-1873), friend and collaborator of Mendelssohn and later of Joachim, was representative of this style with his large and passionate sound which inspired some of the great romantic violin concerti.

Belgium also has a long association with the violin and most of the important pedagogues in Brussels were educated in Paris. Charles de Beriot (1802-1870), one of the most famous traveling virtuosi of the day (and husband of the Spanish singer Malibran), was the violinistic grandchild of Viotti. As a student of Baillot and Roberrechts, he in turn was the principal teacher of later representatives of the Belgian school Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) and Eugene Ysayë (1856-1931). It is within this Belgian tradition that the first great Spanish virtuoso of the nineteenth century, Jesús de Monasterio (1836-1903) was trained, beginning a long association between Spanish violinists and Brussels.

Jesús de Monasterio is considered the spiritual father of modern Spanish violin study. A child prodigy, he was a student of de Beriot and received the Brussels Prize of Honor at the age of fifteen. Rather than pursue an international career he returned to Spain to become e member of the Royal Chapel, maintaining an active performing and teaching career (Madrid Conservatory), and publishing several widely used method books (including Estudios Artisticos, still used in both Madrid and Brussels). As director of the "Orquesta de la Sociedad de Conciertos" and founder of the first Sociedad de Cuartetos, he greatly contributed to a musical panorama heavily dominated by lyric theater. A lengthy and impressive roster of students included Luis Antón (b. l906, teacher of violinists Pedro León, violinist of international stature who was on the faculty of the conservatories of Seville and Madrid; and Carlos Rodríguez b. 1910, teacher of important contemporary violinist Victor Martin, b. 1943]. Another distinguished violinist and conductor, Enrique Fernández Arbós (1863-1939), studied with Monasterio and Joseph Joachim in Berlin, creating for the first time a link with the German school. Renowned violinist José del Hierro (1864-1933), student in Brussels of Baillot protégé Hubert Leonard (1819-1890), was active in the formation of the orchestral and chamber music life of Madrid. He sustained the Belgian tradition through his many years as professor at the Madrid Conservatory.

By the end of the nineteenth century several Spanish violinists, including Hierro and Monasterio, were well known throughout Europe. One name from this period, however, internationally evokes Spanish music. Pablo de Sarasate y Navascuez (1844-1908), a contemporary of Joseph Joachim (1831-1937), was a student of Delphin Alard (1815-1881) in Paris. It has been said of Sarasate that he was neither a great artist nor a great musician, simply a great fiddler. Known for elegance of style, a technique which rivaled that of Paganini, and a delicate pure sound, Sarasate quickly captured international attention. Although he was not active pedagogically his contribution to the violin repertoire was vital. He wrote with knowledge and effectiveness, and his work (along with that of Albéniz and Granados) was pivotal for the internationalization of the Spanish idiom.

In the early twentieth century other Spanish names figured prominently at the forefront of a "Spanish“' violin school. All composed and subscribed to the nationalist doctrine, with varying degrees of sophistication. Andrés Gaos (1894-1959), a student of Monasterio and Ysayë in Brussels emigrated to Argentina early in his career where he had great impact on musical life. Manuel Quiroga (1892-1961) may be considered the spiritual heir of Sarasate. Equally gifted as a painter. composer, and violinist, he was a student of José del Hierro in Madrid. Later al the Paris Conservatory where Thibaud, Kreisler and Marsick taught simultaneously, he received the Grand Pris “Odeon” which Sarassate had previously won. He concertized internationally, including in the United States where he promoted contemporary Spanish music.

Catalonia has produced many important violinists. Joan Manén (1833-1971) is the principal figure in the Catalonian violin tradition. He sustained an international performing career well into advanced age and the most prominent Catalonian composers, including Mompou, Homs, Montsalvatge, Valls, and Bonet, composed for him. Although not a virtuoso in the class of Sarassate, violinist-conductor and composer Eduardo Toldrá (1895-1962) was admired throughout Spain and adored in Catalonia. He founded the Cuarteto Renacimiento and was for many years a professor at the Municipal School of Barcelona. Toldrá, who was trained in Barcelona, was known as a musician for his depth and freedom from artifice. Curiously he wrote relatively little music for violin. Other successors, especially prominent in perfomance and recording of contemporary Catalonian music, include Xavier Turull (b. 1922) and Gonçal Comellas (b. 1942).

Augustín León Ara, a brilliant violinist and son-in-law of composer Joaquín Rodrigo, is an assiduous promoter of Spanish music. He has premiered numerous works in this catalog (many are dedicated to him), and maintained the Belgian connection for almost four decades as a student and teacher at Brussels Conservatory. He is also the prototype of a generation of excellent Spanish string players who became expatriates to further their careers (among other reasons) and are gradually returning. Presently head of the violin department at the Barcelona Conservatory (his predecessors include Xavier Turull and Eduardo Toldrá), León Ara is active as a pedagogue and a performer, continuously forging new avenues for the promulgation of Spanish violin music. A León Ara protégé in Belgium, Gerard Claret (b. 1951) returned from his studies to become a major pedagogical figure in Catalonia while maintaining a significant perfomance career. As a native of Andorra, he has recently started his own orchestra there with government support. Angel Jesús García, former concertmaster of the Bavarian State Opera, is concertmaster of the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. After a career in Zurich, José Domingo Tomás has returned to be concertmaster of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, and Victor Martín, recently returned from Canada, is professor at the Madrid Conservatory. Slowly, a tradition of prominent violinists remaining in Spain is growing."

String quartets

Haydn, Joseph: Quartet in re [mp3] [score];

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus.: Quartet in re [mp3] [score];

Beethoven, Ludwig van: Quartet in re [mp3] [score];

Franck, Cesar: Quartet in re [mp3] [score];