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LOCATING THE MUSIC OF ANDRE RIEU | GRAFTED SCROLLS | TALL SHOULDER RESTS REVISITED | COMFORTABLE GIG SEATING | PLAYING BOTH VIOLIN AND GUITAR LOCATING THE MUSIC OF ANDRE RIEU Q I was really impressed by a violinist I saw on television named André Rieu, whom I had never heard of before. Can you tell me where I can buy his video, entitled Romantic Moments? And do you know where I can buy the sheet music he performed on that and his other videos? His arrangements were beautiful. —Mary Sorrell A Dutch violinist André Rieu has become enormously popular in recent years. His videos are a staple of PBS pledge drives and his CDs rank high on the Billboard classical charts. Now 47, Rieu quit an anonymous symphony position ten years ago to start his own orchestra, the Johann Strauss Orchestra Netherlands, which proved an immediate success. Rieu follows Johann Strauss Jr.’s 19th-century technique of conducting the orchestra while simultaneously playing the violin, and his repertoire is heavy with the works of Strauss and other Romantic composers. Although the video does not seem to be available, the CD André Rieu: Romantic Moments can be ordered through the on-line version of Borders Books, Music & More, www.borders.com. And while there is no sheet-music version of Romantic Moments or Rieu’s other CDs, most of the works, which range from the traditional "Londonderry Air" to excerpts from Dvorak’s New World Symphony, are well-known pieces that can be purchased individually at any store with a good supply of printed classical music. For more information, you might want to visit the André Rieu Web site at www.pukkie.demon.nl/rieu/andre.htm. —Editors Q Are scrolls usually made in one piece with the neck of the violin, or separately? In violins with grafted scrolls, are they made that way or is the grafting the result of a fracture and repair? Does a violin with a grafted scroll have less value? —Carlos Caplan A On a brand-new instrument, the neck and the scroll are carved from the same piece of wood, which is almost without exception maple (beech is found on some cellos that have poplar or willow backs). It always comes as a surprise when I show someone how big a piece of wood is necessary for a neck and scroll, considering that most of it ends up in the fireplace—although if it’s an exceptional piece of wood for a cello scroll, it might be just possible to squeak a fiddle back out of what is left over. (I’ve seen violins by Guadagnini where I am sure this is what he did; it might be fun for a fiddle detective to try to match Guadagnini’s cello scrolls with their diminutive kin.) With constant use, though, the neck wears out. You wouldn’t think that just rubbing your fingers along a piece of maple would be enough to make it disappear, but hours of it, year after year, cause a significant erosion. It happens commonly with bows, too—you often see significant wear at the spot where your thumb grips the stick, or where the fingers rest along the top of the butt end—and pernambuco is one of the toughest woods going, much more so than maple. The neck is also vulnerable to accidents. A blow to the head usually results in no damage there (scrolls are remarkably durable), but it can and often does translate into a broken neck. The strings are pulling the neck forward, putting a lot of stress on the recurve where the neck turns into the root, where it joins the body. Wood tends to fracture along the grain, and there is not a lot of grain in that area—often even less than there should be. A properly cut neck is one of the most difficult parts of making a violin anyway, for it involves a very complex set of curves joining each other, and there are only a couple of numbers and a simple template to guide the craftsman. All the rest is done by touch and feel. When the neck does break, gluing it is not an effective repair. Aside from the stress on the joint and the inadequate gluing surface, your fingers are constantly running over the area, and heat and perspiration are the worst thing for glue. If a repairman does glue the neck back together, he will try to reinforce the joint by drilling a dowel into the neck heel, which helps prevent the constant tension of the strings from pulling the joint open. The only proper repair, however, is to graft a new neck onto the old scroll. A grafted neck doesn’t affect the value of an instrument. Almost all instruments made prior to 1800 have replaced or altered necks, for it was around then that necks were lengthened and the pitch raised to achieve a brighter and more penetrating sound (bass bars were also made more substantial at that time). There are very few Stradivari instruments, for example, that have original necks, and none whose necks are unaltered. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many commercial-grade instruments were made with grafted necks to make them look older and therefore more valuable; they sometimes even had peg bushings. As far as value goes, if you ever needed proof that violins are a part of the antique market and valued accordingly, the scroll is Exhibit A. While the scroll itself does affect sound (exactly how or to what extent is not known), whether the scroll is original or not makes not a whit of difference to how your violin performs. And yet if the original scroll is missing, the instrument’s value can sink by as much as 25 percent—and with Strads and del Gesùs selling for upwards of $5 million these days, that makes for a pretty valuable 10.5 centimeters of maple. Even so, original scrolls are often missing from instruments. Later work by the same maker might be substituted, or something from a pupil or associated school, or a replacement might be made. A clue to this is any repair work done around the button on the back, which is an indication that at some point the neck was broken off the instrument. It is only within the past few generations that many of these old instruments metamorphosed into valuable antiques; prior to that, the idea was to fix them up in any way that would make them work. Often the pegbox, which suffers the most damage, is replaced: the volute is saved and a new pegbox is grafted on, or new sides are grafted to the original pegbox. All of this repair work does diminish the value of the instrument, although to a much lesser extent. Why should it matter so much that the scroll be original, when the purpose of the instrument is to make music, and no one but an expert can usually tell the difference? Well, as the King of Siam said, "This is a puzzlement." Or in modern usage, go figure. —James N. McKean A I was just visiting your Web site and saw the correspondence from players in search of higher shoulder rests (I somehow missed the original "To Our Readers" in the December 1998 issue). The Kun Shoulder Rest has been manufacturing extra-long screws for long-necked players for five years. These nonstandard screws are 1-15/16 inches or 34 mm long, and judging by the number of requests we receive, many dealers don’t carry them. If you can’t find them through your Kun supplier, please contact us directly by calling (613) 232-1861, faxing (613) 232-9771, or e-mailing kun@kunrest.com. We’d be happy to assist you. —Juliana Farha A This is in response to Paul Rowinski’s comment about loss of tone when using the SAS chin rest (Q & A, February/March). I, too, have had problems playing off the shoulder with standard chin rests. I purchased the high (35 mm) SAS chin rest and the matching Viva la Musica shoulder rest. After several tries with the chin rest—they supply you with a hex wrench, and you need it—I finally found the perfect angle and position for it. This particular chin-and-shoulder rest combination is, for me, the best innovation to date. I am completely comfortable when I play. I did have to glue a strip of foam on the chin rest; after a while, the wood hurts your chin. As far as loss of tone, I figured out that the changes don’t affect the violin—they affect how and where your ears perceive it. Depending on where you locate the chin rest, your ears pick up different volumes of sound and tonal shadings. The single foot, the way I have it set, is not far from where the foot of a Guarneri-type chin-rest foot would rest. It’s still close to the endpin block, so it shouldn’t affect the vibrations of the top. The only other nuance I have noticed when using such a shoulder rest is that it changes the angle at which the bow strikes the bass strings. You have to raise the elbow of your right arm to compensate. If I get sloppy and relax the right arm, I squeak, because the bow drags across strings other than the one I meant to play (but it’s great for double-stops!). —David D. Bunch
A In reference to LaVonne Senn’s problem with finding comfortable seating when going from gig to gig (Q & A, April), I would highly recommend the Ergo Cush by AlliMed ([800] 225-2610). This is a wedge that helps support proper posture. One side is stiff and the other a little softer; on low or soft chairs I sit on the stiff side and on other chairs, the softer side. With the use of this cushion, the body’s weight is balanced over the feet. Depending on the height of the chair, I can sit toward either the front or the back of the pad without losing the feeling of proper balance. My back is aligned so that it is difficult to slump, even after hours of playing. I bought the Ergo Cush several years ago and I think I paid around $40 at the time, but whatever it costs now is well worth it. —Lewis Davis A I use a wedge-shaped seat cushion called Tush-Cush, made by Kinetic Diversified Industries, Inc. Such cushions are meant to be used in wheelchairs and are available at drugstores that carry wheelchair supplies. Although the cushion can’t entirely compensate for grossly uncomfortable chairs, it does considerably improve any chair’s comfort and is also good for your back (I also consider this cushion a lifesaver for airplane travel). Another option I’ve seen is to take two blocks of wood, each a few inches thick, and make a circle of nails in the top of each. The two back feet of the chair can be placed in the center of the circle of nails, tilting the seat of the chair forward. The blocks should be painted black to make them blend at symphony concerts, and they can be attached to one another with a rope for easy transport. —Nicole McKenzie
PLAYING BOTH VIOLIN AND GUITAR A In answer to Maricar C. de Guia’s query as to whether it is inadvisable to simultaneously study violin and guitar (Q & A, May/June), I know from personal experience that it is very much dependent on the string tension and action on the guitar. There is a basic difference in left-hand technique between the two instruments. On the violin, one needs to learn to minimize any squeezing or clamping action and feel a lightness in the left hand; on the guitar, chord playing necessitates a certain degree of squeezing in order to keep the strings down. This habit could transfer itself to the violin, where it is not needed. But playing both instruments is certainly possible as long as you are aware of this issue. I recommend playing a guitar that has light-gauge strings,
a low string action (as close to the fingerboard as possible), and, if
possible, a neck that is narrow at the nut. These things will minimize
the need for excess tension in the left hand. —Dr. Ronald Francois
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