THE VIOLIN-PLAYING OF ERICK FRIEDMAN
a technical analysis by Stephen Redrobe

I write this as a technical analysis rather than as an essay in musical criticism mainly for the benefit of violinists and students of the violin.

In reading the vast majority of published reviews of violin concerts and recordings, it often becomes immediately apparent that the writer is quite musically knowledgeable but has little understanding of the art of the sheer mechanics of violin playing. It can be most perplexing to see, for example , spiccato confused with sautillé, martélé with staccato, or saltato with ricochet. As the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said "Whereof one knows nothing; thereof one should remain silent". I shall do my best to keep this in mind.


Background
As a student Mr Friedman was fortunate enough to have been the beneficiary of the finest training in the history of violin playing. Most violin aficionados willl be familiar with the Russian, Franco-Belgian and German "schools" of violin playing.. Mr Friedman studied in an environment which gave him the very best of all these "schools" yet he never studied in any of these countries.

To best under stand this we have to go back to the early years of the twentieth century.

Land of Opportunity

In the first few decades of the last century, due to war and revolution in Europe and Russia, just about all of the great masters of the violin - performers and teachers -emigrated to the USA. The names read like a "Who's Who?" of the fiddle. Elman, Zimbalist, Seidel, Heifetz, Auer, Bronstein, Milstein and many more were joined later by Flesch and Galamian, so that eventually all of these "schools" now co-existed as one in America.

After this time one would not go to St Petersburg ( Leningrad) or Moscow to learn the Russian style of violin playing - as it was now resident in the USA.

The Soviet "school" of violin playing - despite Stolyarsky, Yampolsky, Oistrakh and co. - suffered in comparison to the true Russian/European "school" now to be found at Curtis in Philadelphia, Yale in Connecticut, or Juilliard in New York to name but three.

Following (I might venture to say: In spite of !) early studies with Samuel Applebaum,. Young Erick (or Eric as he was then - it was Heifetz who suggested he add a letter to his name so as to make thirteen, like himself and Fritz Kreisler) began serious studies with Ivan Galamian and was later a long-term student of Milstein and long-term protégé of Heifetz. Indeed Heifetz thought so highly of Erick that he recorded the Bach Double concerto with him (R.C.A.). No other violinist ever made a recording with Heifetz on equal terms.

In short, Mr Friedman's violinistic training had the benefit of the total sum of the preceding three hundred years of the development of violin playing. This is powerfully apparent in his playing.

The Way He Plays

Vibrato
It is with very great care and respect that Mr Friedman approaches the execution of his art, yet he is especially careful about his application of vibrato.

As is obvious to the listener, the application of a well-controlled vibrato can give the fiddle a lovely, warm and heart-felt sound. Most people think that this is the only thing it does and some have even written that the reason, say Heifetz's playing, or Kreisler's or that of Elman is so identifiable to the trained ear is due solely to their own unique vibrato ( I disagree, as there is also the bow!).

However, the vibrato also has a totally separate, very practical and equally - if not more so - important function which is not always understood by students and I suspect never understood by the listener.


It is difficult to define or put a name to this function (indeed Prof Friedman and I are not agreed upon this!), however I shall attempt to do so - my way - but cannot think of a one-word definition of this violinistic phenomenon.

Definitions

1) Artistic:- The more carefully and controlled one can apply one's vibrato the better will be the tonal results one can achieve with the bow.

2) Practical (vulgar definition?):- Increasing the speed of vibrato (not the width!) makes the string stronger and allows more bow weight.

All violin students sooner or later discover that they can "get into the string" with the bow in the lower positions but find to their dismay that their beloved instrument will only permit a gentle stroke of the bow in very high positions, with the fiddle emitting only a shrill, pathetic whisper rather than the soaring intensity of their favourite recordings of Heifetz, Rabin, Friedman, Rosand or Perlman.. Little do they realise this is not the fault of their poor violin. The reason is that the shorter the string becomes, the weaker it gets and has to be strengthened or protected by increasing the intensity or speed of the vibrato.

Of course as the string gets shorter so the notes get closer together, therefore the amplitude or width of the vibrato must be reduced. One vibrato movement may actually result in the playing of two or even three different notes! - the main cause of playing "out of tune" as heard by the listener in the audience. Mr Friedman of course is only too well aware of this and is meticulously careful in keeping the width of vibrato proportionate to the height of position; in other words KEEPING IT IN PERSPECTIVE.

For a more in-depth exposition of this I heartily recommend a visit - even if only as an audience member - to one of Mr Friedman's masterclasses.

Arm, Wrist, Hand or Finger?

The methods of producing vibrato are so often misunderstood that two good students could stand right next to a violinist and yet disagree on the type of vibrato being used.

1) Wrist
Let us immediately dismiss this, as the wrist is simply a description of a fixed point at the joint of hand and arm and cannot therefore move at all.

2) Hand
Active movement of the hand resulting in passive movement of arm and finger.

3) Finger
Active movement of finger with passive movement of hand and no arm movement.

4) Arm
Active movement of entire arm from shoulder, elbow moving towards torso and returning; passive movement of finger at base knuckle, hand somewhat stiff.

Mr Friedman employs no active use of the arm as this is extremely unreliable in terms of speed and width, making the aforementioned perspective impossible to attain.

Having observed him at very close quarters for some years I would have to say that Mr Friedman is blessed with total command of both hand and finger vibratos, thus allowing the most minute control in all registers and maximum possibility of tonal colour modulation. (N.B. Erick tells me that he only consciously employs a hand vibrato, but I suspect this to be modesty about his attainments on his part.)

The Bow

Many violinists and students will be familiar with the writings of Carl Flesch in the 1920s with respect to certain supposed relationships between bow speed, bow weight and correct position of the bow on the string (or "sounding-point").

This is all well and good as a thought-experiment in physics but is soon found wanting when applied to the real discipline of producing true violin sonority on stage in a large auditorium. No, the real job of the bow is not simply to cause the string to vibrate but rather to cause the bridge to vibrate. This means that the true "sounding point" for the bow is always as close to the bridge as is practical - consistent with quality.

Mr. Friedman always employs a stroking-line fairly close to the bridge (closer in higher positions of course) and with a fairly constant weight of bow, which means that even when playing softly he still produces a full and rich tone. For playing forte he simply places an accent at the start of a bow stroke, whereas for piano the change of bow is totally smooth.

Stance

Mr Friedman's stance is ideal. He holds the violin well to the left as he has long arms and moves only what is necessary of his body to play.

Longevity

Both Heifetz and Milstein still had all of their violinistic abilities at a ripe old age and guided Mr Friedman to a natural, relaxed way of playing. Mr Friedman has wide palms but without overly thick fingertips - perfect for a relaxed position for all fingers. All of these things have resulted in the fact that his playing is as staggering today, and as relaxed as ever it was.

Shoulder Rests

As with the majority of truly great violinists, Mr Friedman shuns the use of a shoulder rest, preferring to use a small piece of foam rubber, partly as gentle support, but also to prevent the varnish of the violin from slipping on his jacket.


On Contemporary Violin Makers

Despite owning and having performed upon some of the great masterpieces of Stradivari and Guarneri, Mr Friedman does not believe that the art of violin-making died in Cremona in the 18th century. Indeed he has high regard for some of our modern makers, for example the late Sergio Peresson of Haddonfield, New Jersey; Paul Harrild of Newark, England and Jospeh Curtin of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mr Fiedman has performed many concerts and has made a recording using a beautiful violin made especially for him by Joseph Curtin.

 

Violin Bows

Mr Friedman uses a number of fine master bows. He is also interested in current developments in the use of composite man-made materials in bow making and is keen to see research continue in this field.

 

Violin Strings

Mr Friedman uses strings by Gustav Pirazzi of Frankfurt, Germany. Known to all violinists as Pirastro strings. Mr Friedman considers these strings to be superior to all others for tone and reliability and is currently helping the company in developing the latest "Evah Pirazzi" strings along with his assistant Stephen Redrobe of London, U.K. www.pirastro.com.

Naturally this can only be a brief insight into the phenomenon that is the violin-playing of Erick Friedman. I again recommend students of the violin to attend his masterclasses, perhaps even participate in them or, best of all, to study with him.

 

Stephen Redrobe

London 2001