On Tue, 2002-11-26 at 12:50, Frank Nordberg wrote:
> I need some fiddler's advice for this.
>
> How difficult is the second fiddle of this arrangement? Childishly
> simple? About average? Quite a challenge? Fiendishly? Unplayable?
>
> I haven't got a clue myself!
Well, hopefully a not-terribly-great classical violinist's opinion will
be of some use. :)
It's definitely playable, and doesn't seem fiendishly difficult. The
sixteenths at the end could be a little difficult for a less experienced
player (depending on the tempo), but the fingering is certainly not that
hard.
Probably the most challenging part to get right is some of the bow
division, particularly the two notes after the sixteenths at the end.
The player will probably need to be near the frog to play the sixteenths
at the correct speed, and so the note after the sixteenths (the eighth
note double stop, [AD]) would be a short down bow near the frog.
Therefore the next bow would be a long-ish up bow, slightly further away
from the frog. But there would be very little room left at the bottom
of the bow to get that note in.
One possible solution is to slur the eighth note and the following note,
and then slur two of the following four eighth notes so that the last
bar remains down, up, down (a natural bowing). However, I have a
feeling that's not the effect you wish to achieve. A more advanced
player might be able to "skate" the bow a little on the eighth double
stop so that it takes up more bow than it normally would, but that might
not be possible, or might not sound good, for other players.
Anyway, I'm just nit-picking: the arrangement is quite nice!
- Eric
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