I come out with this one a few times every year on this subject. :)
Does no harm to repeat it again as, for me, it puts things into perspective.
More years ago than I care to remember, there was an excellent TV
documentary in which the classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin met with an old
Shetland fiddler (can't remember his name, sorry - big tall chap with
receding hair and a winning smile and twinkle in his eyes - I think he was
in his 80s then) and they discussed the instrument and played each others
favourite tunes etc.
Interestingly, the Shetland fiddler was able to play classical quite well
but poor Yehudi had a terrible time getting any life into the traditional
tunes at all (very precise and mechanical) the fiddler was very patient with
him but it looked like a master teaching a novice.
Same instrument but what a difference.
many of the nuances for the fiddling were, of course, "no-no's" for Yehudi.
Nobody could possibly claim that these two were not masters of the violin
but both styles and interpretation of the dots were very different as was
their method of playing (vibrato, bowing etc).
This discussion does remind me of it each time it comes around.
Colin Hill
From: <christopher.bi...@ec.europa.eu>
To: <j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk>; <gibbonssoi...@aol.com>
Cc: <nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 11:43 AM
Subject: [NSP] Re: nps
James Galway playing tin whistle used to be alarming,
though the Chieftains taught him a better, more fluid, style
subsequently.
Only heard him doing so once and this was back in the early Cretaceous or
thereabouts.
Your description of the "better" style as "more fluid" suggests that he fell
into the same trap as classical violinist when presented with a folk tune -
they tend to play in a clipped martelé fashion (more suited to, say, Vivaldi
or Mozart, their differences nothwithstanding) rather than letting it roll.
This might be similar to the kind of "overdone staccato" that the
unexpurgated Fenwick was warning against.
The much maligned Kathryn Tickell is a model of fluidity (but can shell peas
with the best of them when she so chooses).
c
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