Klarinet Archive - Posting 000948.txt from 2003/06

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: RE: [kl] Left, Right or mixed handed?/Stephanie
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 04:53:48 -0400

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 19:52:35 -0400, karlkrelove@-----.net said:

> > From: Tony Pay [mailto:Tony@-----.uk]
> >
> > A famous British string quartet, the Allegri, had for a time a
> > left-handed second violin -- who incidentally used to sit opposite
> > the first violin, so that both instruments were 'favoured' equally
> > from the audience's point of view.
>
> Did he reverse his bridge and string his violin in reverse of a
> conventional one? I can imagine all kinds of bowing technique
> involving string crossings being very different if the G string is at
> the top and the E at the bottom - or maybe it would just look
> different. I've never seen anyone do this.

I'm not sure what happened right at the beginning -- I'll try to find
out -- but certainly by the time he played in the quartet the whole
violin was set up mirror-image reversed, including the sound post.

I know that he was self-taught to begin with, so I imagine he just
picked up a normal violin and made some considerable progress
left-handed, being obviously talented. Then he went to a teacher, who
probably thought, gosh, what do we do with this?

Interestingly, the British violist/violinist Louise Williams, who is
left-handed, once said to me that in a way she wishes that she had
learnt the instrument the other way around. She feels that since the
basic drive and expression of the instrument comes from the bow-arm, she
would prefer that to be on her 'natural' side.

I'll report back about the left-handed violinist. For those
interested, the Allegri Quartet at that time was, Eli Goren and James
Barton, violins; Patrick Ireland, viola; and William Pleeth, 'cello.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artists
tel/fax 01865 553339

... Star Trek XXVII - The Search for Shatner's Teeth.

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