Simon Hewitt Jones: Violin Weblog

This Feed Is Dead! - Update Your RSS Feed!

2007-02-02T12:45:00.000Z

Just a quick reminder to those of you still receiving this blog that ViolinMP3 has now been replaced by www.SimonHewittJones.com!

You can replace your RSS feed with this new one:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/simonhewittjones

The End Of ViolinMP3.com!

2007-01-29T19:42:00.000Z

OK, this is what's happening.

It's impossible to run a website without having people to do it for you, when you have a violin to play! At least, that's the situation for me.

So from 1 February, ViolinMP3.com is - shock, horror! - going to be mothballed and archived. If you're reading this there or on my blog at http://www.courtlanemusic.com/blog/ - this is the last post. And if you're reading here...

http://www.simonhewittjones.com/

...then it's the first one!

Let's be honest, ViolinMP3.com had run its course; it wasn't getting updated often, and it was very generalized, unexceptional writing... millions of other websites do that better.

From now on, there's just one website, and it's a simple blog in my name. More music, less extraneous bits. More writing, although less about technology and more about the violin (though I'll continue to explore the 'essential questions' that ViolinMP3.com helped to identify.

RIP, ViolinMP3.com (2002 - 2007). I enjoyed working with you.

See you at http://www.simonhewittjones.com/.

[please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds! New RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/simonhewittjones ]

[http://www.courtlanemusic.com/blog/ and ViolinMP3.com will both stay online indefinitely as an archive]

And Now A Short Interlude Whilst I Reflect

2007-01-08T03:14:00.000Z

I've only just taken a look at the footage from the Gardening Club. Raw(!), but the beginning of an answer I think. Or at least the next stage of questions ;)

I'll get a snippet of it on here soon.

For now, I'm going to take a little time out to reflect on the Virtuoso Violin Tour, build up some repertoire for concerts later in the year, and start working out how best to move forward (I have a month's break from performing anyway, so I'm going to expand London Violin Studio - enquiries welcome!). But I think there are some fundamental changes underway, and the subjects of environment, repertoire genre programming, new music, juxtapositions of type of music (e.g. virtuoso to sonata ratio) without seeming boring, are all part of it.

One thing I won't be doing for now though is any more adminstration. If I don't reply to any emails for several months (or possibly forever) it's because I'm practicing ;) . There are so many exciting possibilities now, but I can't do it all on my own, because I have a violin to take to the next level. Agents and/or administrators over to you!

Another thing I might do is move this blog over to wordpress, and perhaps make some swingeing changes to ViolinMP3.com. We shall see.

May I close with one more thank you for the amazing generosity of those who supported us in the last month or two. It would have been even tougher without your help. I (& we) will be back, bigger, better, more refined, soon.

See you in a month or so.

Yourspace Maybe. But Not Myspace

2007-01-02T23:52:00.000Z

Myspace is supposedly the pinnacle of music social networking sites. Well, if you're wondering why my myspace page is over six months out of date then you should know that despite multiple emails to myspace explaining that my email address has expired, I have received nothing but identical copied-and-pasted standard replies (each taking nearly two weeks to arrive) telling me to reset my password using the email address... that I had already explained wasn't working. No sign of them actually reading my correspondence in the near future then...

I recognize the currency of Myspace at this moment in time, but in the longterm, I have yet to be convinced that it will in the future be relevant - particularly if they continue to treat professional musicians with the attitude they've shown towards me. If I ever regain access to my account, I intend to redirect it to my own website, and then forget about it for good.

There are good things out there though. I have since the beginning of our winter tour last month been addicted to a recording of Bloch's Prayer by cellist Olly Coates & others (accordion?).

h ttp://www.myspace.com/olivercoates

It just so happens he's sharing a concert platform with me in London on Thursday. You have reserved tickets, haven't you?

Credit Where Credit's Due

2006-12-23T21:16:00.000Z

I'm reeeeeally excited about the Gardening Club concert on 4 January.

Basically, because I know it's going to be great fun. We know and love the repertoire, the venue is just amazing, and everyone will be slightly out of their comfort zone, because nothing quite like this has been done before.

Having said that, I'd like to acknowledge a couple of people (who I don't know), whose ideas have inspired me. The way we're doing this may be new, but the concept behind it isn't.

The first is Matt Haimovitz, the American cellist. I don't know why he's not better known over here, but you can find most of his recorded work on the download networks and he's amazing. He's been doing 'indie-style' for years what most independent classical artists only dreamt of in the pre-download era, and Bach in a nightclub is probably second nature to him. Respect!

The second is Matt Fretton, who I also don't know and have never met, who is I think some kind of concert promoter here in London. He started the whole This Isn't For You thing, and I went to one, and it was fantastic. When you see an idea that's amazing, you want it to become mainstream, and if imitation is indeed sincere, I hope I'm being flattering. I also hope that I'm not the only 'Young British Musician' to be following his example. Formal evening recitals have their place and always will do, but so long as they remain the benchmark for classical performance then the genre is still at risk of stagnation, I think.

So often, the most incredible ideas are the ones that just pop into your head when you're doing something completely mundane. It's nice to combine the unknown-ness of those ideas with the security of a proven concept. Then at least it's interesting, even when it doesn't work.

Same goes for musical interpretation.

Thank You! ... And Another E String Bites The Dust

2006-12-19T19:10:00.000Z

Why thank you? Thank you to you all for the amazing responses that we received on the tour, both at the concerts and by email, and thank you to everyone at the venues, the places that hosted us, that helped to promote the concerts, and of course for the invitations to return! And thank you to David and Kodo for being such amazing people and musicians.

The past few weeks have been without a doubt one of the most intense and exciting experiences of the whole violinmp3 'thing' so far, though they've been so busy that I've not even had a moment to post to the blog. We've two more performances to go, then hopefully 'Romance for Violin' will be out as a digital single in time for the New Year (rumour has it that it'll be on iTunes within a few days now). My brother and I are working on a live version which we'll premiere at the Gardening Club in London on 4 Jan (tickets here).

I've been through about 6 E Strings on this tour already (!!) and so it wasn't much of a surprise when another one snapped last night too. Next time, I'll try and improvise in the correct key... Listen for my desperate scrabbling up the wrong strings after [00:31] ! Ugh!

One Of My Many Skills

2006-12-07T10:02:00.000Z

New MP3: Paganini's 24th Caprice

2006-12-01T19:13:00.000Z

David & I have arranged Paganini's 24th Caprice especially for the tour (what do you mean what tour? Surely you've already bought hundreds of tickets?).

Click here to download it for free. Also listen out for us on BBC Bristol (Thursday's arts programme), BBC Coventry (Monday 1.15pm) and on various other radio shows over the forthcoming two weeks. (BBC Radio player)

Announcing the Virtuoso Violin Tour...

2006-11-23T13:37:00.000Z

Can't see the image? Click here >>>

Oop North

2006-11-23T13:29:00.000Z

Forgive the brief flurry of blog posts... I have only a few minutes to catch up before the next concert this afternoon! I was hoping to blog this week's concerts, but with eleven (yes, eleven!) performances in five days (the vast majority of which are recitals rather than outreach events), and an almost complete lack of Wifi or even mobile coverage here in Yorkshire, I seem to have been somewhat thwarted. Globalization does have its upside... Starbucks Harrogate is an oasis of Wifi-ness in a seemingly unconnected region...

Never fear though... Live Music Now concerts do have a habit of being full of surprises, and I will tell you all about it later in the week....

In the meantime, for those of you in Cambridge and London, do join Daniel and I this Sunday at 8pm (Cambridge, Gonville & Caius recital series) or Monday lunchtime (1pm I think, or is it 1.10pm? - will say on ViolinMP3.com) at St Martins in the Fields (London Trafalgar Square, by the National Gallery). See website for full details. Great programme - Beethoven Spring Sonata and Ravel Sonata. Hope to see you there.

Emmanuel (Manny) Hurwitz dies

2006-11-23T13:16:00.000Z

Only just read this. Guardian's obituary here.

An icon of violin playing, Manny Hurwitz died aged 87. I believe he was ill for sometime, so not unexpected, more of a chance to celebrate a wonderful life.

I didn't know Manny especially well, but I certainly remember from my few encounters with him the incredible warmth and integrity of his personality. A strong memory is studying in Dartington (Devon) with a quartet, and a friend pointing out how tender and loving he was towards those around him. He will no doubt be sorely missed by very many people.

There's a beautiful book that's just been released that I'd like to recommend warmly (if only I could remember the title, my copy is at home in London. - Conversations with Emmanuel Hurwitz , I think? - written by ?Ricky Gerady)

I bought and read this only a week or two ago and it is a wonderful set of recollections, opinions about violin playing, and conversations between Hurwitz and the author; a beautiful epilogue and tribute to the man. (If anyone can set me right, please do, it's not on Amazon!).

Henri Oguike Dance Company and Shostakovich

2006-11-07T16:50:00.000Z

I'm in Ilfracombe, North Devon, to play Shostakovich's 9th Quartet with the Henri Oguike Dance Company (HODC). It's weird being in a seaside tourist town out of season. All the tourist facilities are open and in place - fish and chip shops, amusement arcades, tearooms etc. - but everything is nearly completely empty, even in the middle of the day. It must be strange to live in a ghost town, even more so to spend your childhood in one. It really brings home how crucial an arts venue is to places like this. Just because you can't precisely measure the effect that the arts have on a community doesn't mean that they aren't an essential part of what gives that community balance and contributes to the wellbeing of those who live there.

**

I used to play Shostakovich's 9th quartet a lot with HODC when I was at the Academy. But it's been two years since I last did so. It's so great to come back to a piece of music after such a long period of time and find it fairly intact; muscle memories are still vaguely there, and cleaning up the piece and making it ready for performance is a fairly swift process.

What's interesting is seeing how the piece you're playing is improved by everything you've learnt in the interim period. Improved rehearsal technique, improved technical accuracy, increasingly wide intuitive musical knowledge and countless other small general improvements all add up to make a marked difference in the effectiveness with which you approach a piece of music... even if you've barely thought about that music for such a length of time.

Of course, with all these improvements comes an ever-heightening sense of awareness, which of course is crucial. But it does mean that the better you become, the more you realise there is to improve....

Where The Boundaries Are

2006-10-29T23:53:00.000Z

Earlier in the year, I pledged to spend the summer finding out: Where are the Begrenzungen? (in German, literally meaning borders, but taken by me to mean musical boundaries [stylistic, but also structural, presentational, compositional, whatever really]).

So far as I can see, musical boundaries are wherever you wish them to be, but with the proviso that they should, in order to be effective, be vaguely related (by those perceiving them) to previously established boundaries, so that people can make sense of them, even if they push beyond the comfort zone of their current expectations. Cor, long sentence.

For instance, if I play Bach with a weird new conception of vibrato and sound that improves upon but doesn't betray the best traditions of established Bach interpretation, then people will find it interesting, even if they don't like it.

If I play Bach on the xylophone with an R&B backing track and very loose tonality, it will have breached the boundary of acceptability, not because it doesn't have any artistic merit (though of course it might not!) but because it is not easy for the audience to find any way to relate to it.

This ties in very nicely with Greg Sandow's argument that the so-called crisis in classical music happened partly because of the severity of the modernist movement; there just wasn't enough for a mainstream musical audience to hang onto, yet they were still forced to listen, and therefore became alienated ("no one forces book groups to labor through Finnegans Wake; nobody puts art films in a multiplex").

In a sense, we are always constrained by the current expectations of our present day audience. But this also liberates us; the moment we manage to connect and gain their trust and acceptance, by producing and representing that which they like and enjoy, we can then draw them forward and expand those very same boundaries and expectations that before seemed like an obstacle. The audience's attention will follow ("We liked what he did before - why not give this a try?").

Empirical evidence of my own from excursions to some of England's wilder suburban communities (!) suggests that the same parallel is equally valid when introducing so-called musically 'uneducated' people (like you need to be educated to enjoy music!) to types of music for the first time. If you can tap into and relate to their current experience, you can introduce people to whatever you wish. Getting 14 year olds with severe discipline problems to appreciate Wagner with more enthusiasm than a conservatoire student might sound like pie-in-the-sky to you, but I've done it. Frequently.

If this is all true, and I think it is, then this is great news, because it means that there's no crisis in classical music at all. We ('classical' musicians) are just not empathetic enough to the nature of our social environment.

Therefore, don't be surprised if this tour we're doing (tickets on sale 1st November pluggy pluggy clicky clicky) is slickly marketed and full of pictures of nice middle class boys who are charming on the radio and thrill Granny with virtuosic double stops and tricky harmonics. Instead, smile knowingly to yourself and know that accessibility and flighty repertoire choices are simply an entry point to more sophisticated classical artforms.

Where 4 octave arpeggios tread, transcendence is sure to follow. Or something.

First Violin Invented

2006-10-23T22:54:00.000+01:00

One of the questions we get asked a lot through ViolinMP3.com is "What was the first violin invented?"

Well ask ye no more... for your question is answered!

London Violin Studio

2006-10-22T20:05:00.000+01:00

I've been meaning for quite a while now to start a small teaching studio, and I finally have. It's a fascinating process; totally different from performance in some respects, but quite similar in others. Obviously everything is couched in terms of how it benefits the student, but I have to say I really do enjoy the process as well. It seems true what people say; as soon as you begin to teach, you instantly become more aware of yourself during practising. Therefore, it's more noticeable when you find yourself doing things which you've guided your students away from.

Of course age and experience is not on my side (or perhaps you could say it still is, depending on how you look at it...), but already I find myself trying to find a way of imparting information in a way I wish I had been taught at an early age. Specifically, I hope to encourage rather than criticise failure as a means to success, create a completely organic student-driven learning environment (not forcing them to change things they're not ready to change, but guiding them there socratically), and reach a stage with more advanced students where I eventually render myself completely obsolete by teaching them to teach themselves. Surely, common sense tells me, this last point is the most crucial aspiration for any effective teacher? It still startles me when I come across teachers who bludgeon information into their students' heads as if it is some kind of Gospel Truth. But I suspect, in the Age of Google, where information finds its own level, that those kinds of teachers are increasingly becoming anachronistic dinosaurs.

Anyone London-based with an interest in violin lessons may like to know there are still a couple of places remaining in my London Violin Studio. Read more at:

http://www.londonviolinstudio.com/

And The Future of Theatre...

2006-10-20T16:39:00.000+01:00

An old friend of mine, a theatre producer now studying in Paris, sees the same trends that I do in classical music appearing in the world of classical theatre; that is, a rapid marginalization of serious art by the commercial mainstream. And I don't doubt that the challenges (I think that's a better word than 'problems') are even tougher in theatre than in music.

In today's Evening Standard (London evening paper - no link unfortunately, the article doesn't seem to be online), the newspaper's theatre critic illustrates the problem bluntly with a projection of a drama-free, musical-saturated west end within in a decade, should present trends continue. The entertainment capital of the future, he argues, could be exclusively devoted to popular musicals, and the front line of serious drama would retreat to what are now the fringe theatres. The likes of Monty Python will succeed where Shakespeare fails! Obviously this is an exaggeration, however, there are no clear suggestions for a solution - if indeed a solution is what's needed. The Standard critic makes a vague call for government intervention, but that's all.

Perhaps the future isn't so bleak, though. Maybe the internet and touring and other areas have more to offer in this case, just as they do for classical music. Well, Andrew Lloyd Webber seems to think so anyway. Yes, I know, it's not the same as 'live'.

One thing's for sure; the next generation of theatrical producers is going to have to include some serious innovators. The challenges that classical music faces pale in comparison.

And what's the situation on Broadway? If anyone's commentating/blogging on this, please let me know.

Bowed Radio

2006-10-18T23:35:00.000+01:00

That track 'The Violin Player' (which my brother wrote, not me - it's been wrongly credited on some broadcasts) is included in the latest show (episode 16) from web radio station BOWED RADIO.

Presented by former Turtle Island String Quartet violinist Darol Anger, the program features several different styles of string music, including performances on the fiddle. You can download or subscribe to the podcast at www.bowed.org.

Wieniawski

2006-10-10T10:21:00.000+01:00

Henryk Wieniawski was a violinist and composer from Poland, whose virtuosic compositions often match those of Paganini in terms of the technical demands they make on the people who play them!

We're going to be featuring some of Wieniawski's Etude-Caprices for two violins in the VIRTUOSO VIOLIN tour (details soon!), and you can read more about Mr Wieniawski and his background on this new ViolinMP3 page.

I Couldn't Agree More

2006-10-04T12:07:00.000+01:00

From my favourite blogger, Hugh Macleod. The curse of always being nearly there is a harsh one, but it is getting better. There is a UK Tour in the works (with David and Tommy), it is going to be called 'THE VIRTUOSO VIOLIN', and it is going to be in December. Except for the London date: London people, keep the evening of 4th January free! 'Official' announcement and tickets on sale in a couple of weeks.
I might learn how to update a blog regularly soon too (no, really).

In the meantime, I'm off to call the bank.

Paganini

2006-09-14T17:47:00.000+01:00

We've got some exciting news for you about some live events coming up in the UK in December. Hope to be able to reveal all in about 2 weeks. Suffice it to say, it involves virtuosic music including works by Paganini...

...talking of Paganini, I've updated ViolinMP3's Paganini page. I think one of the crucial things to understand when playing his music is how lyrical it actually is. Read more here ...

The New Season Begins...

2006-09-07T01:09:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone! The summer is coming to an end, and ViolinMP3 updates begin again. But first, I've recorded a quick video message for you... (video camera is feeling unwell so it's mobile phone quality sound...)

More later this week...

London Concerts

2006-07-20T12:42:00.000+01:00

Coming up: Friday 21 July 6.30pm National Portrait Gallery London, Daniel & I play programme of Beethoven Sonata Op.12 No.1, Tartini's Devil's Trill and Benjamin Britten's amazing Suite Op.6.

Also, on Monday 31 July, 1.10pm, David Worswick & I present a virtuoso programme at St James Piccadilly of Paganini, Sarasate, again the Devil's Trill, Wieniawski and some other tidbits...

Admission free for both concerts, and we'd love to see you there. Webcasts to follow, probably.

The Balance of Old and New

2006-07-19T12:43:00.000+01:00

I've spent most of this week in Germany, in Leipzig and Berlin, listening to the Leipzig Bach Competition amongst other things, which interestingly was for Baroque violinists and modern violinists, competing together. Including, in some cases, violinists using both instruments.

I have a morbid fascination with both Leipzig and Berlin because of the obvious incongruities in both cities' recent histories that are still evident today. The amount of investment that's gone into redeveloping Leipzig (a former East German city) since the fall of the wall is enormous, and the result is a thoroughly modern city which completely follows the cutting edge (big shiny transport systems, WiFi everywhere, 2012 Olympic bid etc.) Yet the city's present way of life is thoroughly respectful to its history. City tourism trades heavily on Leipzig's reputation as the 'City of Music', and culture is an integral part of everyday life - to a far more obvious extent than in London. Posters and advertising for the competition, as well as numerous concerts and events, adorned every last advertising hoarding.

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof

When I visited Leipzig in 2004, the outgoing mayor talked at length on how he had led the city's transformation over ten years by asking not only 'how do we bring everything up to date for today and for the future?', but also 'how do we draw on the established qualities and traditions of the city and update them without compromising their core qualities?'. In a sense, the violinists of the Bach competition were faced with the same dilemma.

Like most things, of course, the answer comes down to balance, and this balance is something I'll be seeking during my long forthcoming journey across Europe this summer (of which more to follow...). It's a question of having such a clear idea of the boundaries, the Begrenzungen of a style, that within these limitations, there are no limitations. By which I mean, the violinist who knows the point at which a classical phrase will suffer from over-articulation or some other surfeit of a supposed 'good idea' is the violinist who is not afraid to play with unbounded charisma and excitement within that established framework. Not afraid, because he knows that he will never cross those boundaries unknowingly or inadvertantly. By comparison, the architect who has an unwavering sense of what will be tasteful, architecturally, within the city of Leipzig, is the architect who has no fear of causing controversy and excitement with a stunning new design that will 'push the boundaries' of what already exists, without being disrespectful to the validity of those boundaries (if he really must change something, he needs a really good reason for doing so).

Berlin also has many of these qualities. In fact, I find it to be even more of a striking metaphor because when the incongruities do exist, stylistic border-crossings let us ironically call them, they are so much more obvious, because of the East/West scars that can still be seen today.

What are the incongruities? They arise when others' boundaries are crossed, usually through ignorance. There are a million examples in the history of Berlin that will explain this better than I can - political, cultural and sociological. But when differences are too big to ignore, resolution is inevitable, however long it may take - be that through negotiation, war, or gradual evolution.

The true incongruities therefore, are the ones so small that it's easy not to notice. Visiting friends in Braunschweig, I play through the Adagio of a Bach Solo Sonata and realise that the vibrato I am using in several phrases is one-dimensional, unimaginative. Boring, dare I say it. I alter the colour, and it sounds right. But it takes another listener to point out to me that, when I change the vibrato, I instinctively alter the technique of the bow to complement it, which in turn increases the resonance of the sound I create. All this from one small alteration of vibrato, previously neglected and ignored.

The parallels are everywhere. In Berlin Schoenfeld airport, only after experiencing all the usual faff and security and shopping are passports finally examined, when people arrive at the boarding gate. So far, so usual. Except that it's not the job of the air people to check passports, it's instead the responsibility of two sombre immigration policemen, decked out in yellow regalia and perma-grimaces, barricaded in a large whitewashed security checkpoint. Odd, but we all accept it as we wait in line, for we have no choice. Only later do I realise that Schoenfeld is the old Berlin airport of the DDR, the Eastern point of departure to Soviet destinations only. Those yellow-clothed men were there in the past not to scrutinize who was coming in, but who was going out... Why though, no change? This unnecessary committment to the rituals that went before? It is seventeen years later! Can it be that the authorities have simply not thought to change their vibrato?

So what are the congruities? Take the Brandenburg Gate. Restored and as majestic as ever, the boulevard it towers over is less then a few years old; it is easy to forget that every single building surrounding it is a creation of the 21st century (for their predecessors were destroyed; this checkpoint was in the middle of the Berlin death strip). Here, on Unter den Linden, I'm writing from a branch of Starbucks that some planning officers must have seen as an ultra-symbolic statement of intent about the new capitalist East Berlin. Yet the fusion of Starbucks and Brandenburg Gate, tied together with beautiful paving and an iconic public space, does not for a moment seem unnatural. Just as Elgar's Third Symphony (completed by composer Anthony Payne) is true to Elgar's known intentions, yet is not entirely Elgar, and Mozart's Requiem (completed by Süssmayr) is true to Mozart, yet not entirely Mozart, we can see also that Starbucks and the Brandenburg Gate are neither one nor the other, and whilst the Brandenburg Gate is the icon that defines the situation, it is the relationship between it and the Starbucks (or everything that the Starbucks represents) which defines the present, and indeed the near future.

And perhaps that is the greatest challenge faced by those Bach violinists in Leipzig; how do we update our practices, our interpretations, our traditions, without compromising that which makes them special to begin with?

So I'm going to spend the next few months asking this question: Where are the Begrenzungen?

Free CDs!

2006-07-18T12:43:00.000+01:00

Deutsche Bank have produced a limited editon CD/EP called 'FLUX MIX' (no, I don't know what it means either!), and I have 40 copies to give away FREE - including worldwide postage ;)

It's a weird selection of 5 music tracks, including a movement of Tippett's 2nd Symphony and a 1.5-minute soliloquy by yours truly (The Violin Player - now playing on the virtual IPod). It's the only time this will ever be available on CD, so if you'd like a copy, grab one today