Martin Wulfhorst

The Orchestral Violinist's Companion, Volume 1 + 2

Today's professional orchestral musicians are highly specialized and highly qualified instrumentalists. It has long been recognized that although traditional university training provides an excellent foundation for orchestral playing, it does not meet all the special requirements of orchestral playing.

These volumes provide the skills and knowledge that orchestral violinists need in addition to their normal university education and beyond. As training manuals and guides, they can accompany musicians throughout all stages of their careers - from audition preparation to coping with the long-term stress of daily orchestral duties. The volumes offer a wealth of topics from the areas of:

> Practice techniques
> Reed playing
> Daily practice routines
> Using the body
> Bowing technique and tone formation
> Left hand technique
> Pizzicato technique and special techniques
> Rhythm and ensemble playing
> Notation and performance practice
> Setting up orchestral parts
> Italian, French and German terms and abbreviations
> Knowledge of style
> Developing a core repertoire
> Preparing for auditions
> Coping with performance anxiety
> Coping with everyday life in the orchestra
> Understanding the orchestra as a social environment
> Coping with the physical and mental long-term stress in the orchestra

Included is a detailed, index of all orchestral study collections and all related books and articles, including the most important studies on 'performance science' in recent years. Special chapters on all essential practicing and playing techniques contain hundreds of practice examples from over 300 orchestral works from the fields of symphonic music, oratorio, opera, operetta and ballet from the period between around 1750 and 1950. In addition, there are special exercises dedicated to orchestral technique.

The volumes are aimed at students in special (master's) courses in orchestral playing, audition candidates, beginners, experienced orchestral musicians and conductors and are also suitable as material for courses in orchestral playing.


Contents:

Volume 1:
1. Training as an Orchestral Violinist: History, Challenges, Concepts
2. The Orchestral Mode
3. Learning, Practicing, and Sight-Reading
4. Basic Orchestral Technique: Principles, Routines, and Maintenance
5. Bowing Technique, Sound Production, Coordination

Volume 2:
6. Left-Hand Technique
7. Pizzicato and Other Special Technical Issues
8. Rhythm and Ensemble Playing
9. Decoding and Marking Orchestral Parts: A Manual of Orchestral Notation and Performance Practice
10. Repertoire and Style
11. Profession and Career
12. Resources
13. Index (1) and Glossary: Terms, Abbreviations, Symbols
14. Index (2): Compositions, Composers, Other Musicians