New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-05-19
OLE BUI1 AND r1oGN-fLAYLNG.

} rIial pleasure Ever since he made his hrst Dill
iont aud memorable tour through the United states
en- ts4s he has been the most admired and the most
haood Of musicians. Critics of certain class have
] pronounced him a charlatan, his music trash his
sxection trickery his style false and contrary to
he eanons of art Others have not hestaed to pro-
oonnce him the first violiniSt of the century, ana
have hailed his playing as musical revelation
with this latter class, who are much nearer the
truth than the Others the public have uniformly
sided and there is perhaps no musician III the Woiu'
certainly no instrumental performer who mas
stronger hold upon the popular heart tnan 'ni' -
markable Norwegian viOlinist -,
1t is a curious circumstance that since the In'oI
finn of fine present form of violin, about ~ So"
ago the instrument has undergone no lnp,
None of the changes which successive makers ii''o
attempted TO introduce have proven u Wv -
value The old are still the BEST ana loi on'o .,o
General law of progress seems to nave peeh So' ''
WHOM vions were first brought INTO the oonV,i'
, os substitutes for the old VOL with 1lets' 'ley
were ridiculed as mere toys, incapable OF ever P0
d,ng effects equal to those Of the instruments tney
,ore intended TO supeIsede; yet in the course Oh d
single generation the violin had not only peeh Iecos
ized rs the first and most important OF the conpo-
ponts of the orchestra. but had attained Its iuest
deyelopment of form and tone. The instruments
manufactured during the first half OF the seven
teenth century by the Amat family at Cremona ana
somewhat later by their celebrated pupil Anthony
Stradivarus have never been exceled, and there Is
no reason 10 suppose that they ever WILL be-
But if the instrument has apparently reached the
limit Of its perfectibilty violin-playing has
undergone continual change and improvements
When the use of frets was dlscaIueu,S
change which il was predicted Woulu
,roye fatal to accuracy, and render brilliant
ond ranid nerformance lmpossible-the instrument
oeouired a new soul. 1t was found that correctness
Of ntonotion could be insured readily as before,
while execution became less mechanical, and dell-
cacy of touch and niceness of ear acquired anlmpor
ance which they had not previously possessed
CorelN who Gourished at Rome about the year l'Oo
tanned such repute by his playing ana sun more
perhaps by his compositions for the ylolln that ne
was recognized as the founder of school, now gen
orally known as the ancient, or sometimes as the
Porap scbooI His works have formed the basis OF
nearly all subseoue 1t systems yet he was neither
very profound musician nor very brilliant exeeu-
fant Melody before his time had little spontanely
or grace and it was because he gave it decacy and
refinement and approached somewhat to the pure
aud simple beauty of nature, that he has never be-
come wholly Anticipated. Tsrtini of Padua, who
came few years later, added to violin music the dis
covery of the curious phenomenon, since so much
employed in harmonic playing, of the resonance OF q
third note when the two upper notes OF a
chord are sounded exactly in tune. His sys-
tenn in teaching which he made great
use Of the writings of Corelh, was famous
throughout Europe. and performer he was
TiYaed only by Veracni. This latter artist was dis
tngushed for the energy of his touch and the power
of his tOnes-quaties in which Ole Bull is likewise
omineut-but he received no pupils, and was rather
phenomenal player than the founder of a school
Forty years after Tartin came the Pledmontese
ViOtti whose originality. freedom, rioh imagination
and refined taste marked long advance. He taught
for years IN Paris, and afterward lived in
London and various cities Of the Continent
leaving number Of excellent works which have
always retained popularity. The later viOlinists
and to some extent, perhaps Vlotu also indirectly
a great deal to Haydn who by the general rev
OlutiOn which he effected in instrumental music, b!
the of the string quartet and the infusion
of the inspiration Of nature into the dry TECHNICAL
ties OF tho art opened to the violin capabilities
which it had not been suspected Under the instruc
ton of Ballot at the Paris Conservatoire, mum
Der of celebrated players soon appeared the mos
famous of whom is De Beriot, founder Of the Brus
sells school and professor at the COnservaore In that
city His method was less constrained than that of
his masters and ne played with great breadth of
preston and purity of tone but be sometimes sacr
feed good taste for the sake of sensational effects
Ills fame has been eclipsed by that Of his pupil,
Viouxtomps the only artist now living who rivals
Ole Bull
Spohr meanwhile had founded the German school.
larger and more vigorous than that of his prede-
cessOrs and still earlier Italy had given birth to the
wonderful and erratic Paganin who If not the finest
artist the most remarkable performer the
violin that the world has yet seen. What Paganini
was n the vionsts of the last generation Ole Bull
is to those Of the present Neither be classed
followerof any particular school; for the charac-
ter5tic Of each is a bold sacrifice of technical re-
strctiOns for the purpose of broad effects wonder
fal power of moving the listener, with little care
how that power Is obtained. And Is not
this independence. after all, mark Of genius
As the human voice is the noblest Of all instruments
Of sound, so that Is the truest and most elevated
music which most closely copies the expression Of
human feeling. 1t was when the violin emanci-
pated from mechanical restrictions and made capa-
BILE Of receiving the frees impression of the players
taste and sentiment that it raised from its former
low rank to its present importance; and it was
when musicians pucked up heart to dare the censure
Of Journalists that what was previously little better
than dry science became living and enduring poetry
In its power not alone Of initiating the voice. but OF
expressing profound human sentiment the violin is
unryaled and schools true false, players are
mon OF genius craftsmen, just
in proportion as they bend their rules
TO tho attainment Of this end. In this recognition of
the poetry of his art and this independence in his
method Of giving utcrance to it, Ole Bull is to-day
the first of violinsts. Paganni resembled him in
many things, and surpassed him as an exeeutant;
but his taste was not pure and his playing was
often empty sensatOnalism instead of the voice of
nature. He as well as Ole Buli, was denounced as
chaflstan and musical tricksteF Sometimes the
accusation in the Italians just Oftener it
was not The canOns of music are not immutohle