JAVS Fall 2003

ry. On the subject of bow control, I believe in approaching this movement with the bow taking air from the string, rather than striking the string from the air. I try not to put fingerings in my music at the orchestra. I think they are a pain to see in perform ance and I am changing all the time anyway. I leave myself the option to find something appro priate in rehearsal and concert, depending on the moment. As for auditions, it's nice to have our fingerings set before we go in, but it's more important to be in the moment as well, and to give oneself the option to change in the audition situation. There is always a struggle to make the left hand move as economically as possible; sometimes you need to spend a little in the right hand (bar 41) for things to pay off in the left. You will also notice I like half position shifts. They cost the least. As this excerpt starts on the C string, be careful not to start too soft. You need to be mindful of

to realize that the impetus for this kind of a stroke is better for me coming from my shoulder. This is sometimes taken the wrong way. I don't tense up my shoulder, and try to drive the bow with that muscle group. I do let the shoulder control how level my elbow and wrist are, and I like to have those two body parts at the same level as the top of my hand. Then I let the fin gers follow the wrist, wrist follow the elbow, elbow follow the shoulder, and hope for the best. Finally, metronomes are good for these excerpts, but can be decep tive if used to the exclusion of live practice and performance for people who are interested, and brutally honest with you. Michael I. Strauss is Principal Viola ofthe Indianapolis Symphony and Artist-in-Residence at Butler University. As a follow up to his article, Michael would like to express his love for his wift Cathy and the members ofthe viola section in Indianapolis. B

what is coming in bars 60-64. Give yourself plenty of room to make a quasi-diminuendo in bar 60, and of course, a quasi crescendo in bar 64. Another dynamic problem occurs in bars 119 and 127. I often hear people accent the trill note. I think this is a natural gesture, so I like to play an open G string with that in mind. I am already in the act of backing off that open string when I hit that trill, and the fact that the ending note is an open string kind of evens out the whole gesture, if I let the bow do it. One last thing about dynam ics. It really helps me to think of the fortissimo sections as having a shorter bow stroke than a big ger one. I figure the power will be there, so I concentrate on making sure those notes are articulate enough. Consistency in rhythm all comes from proficiency in repetitive articulation. I used to approach this situation with giving all the physical responsibility to my forearm, wrist and fingers. Over the past few years, I have come

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JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY 76