Deutsche Violintechnik im 17. Jahrhundert - Moens-Haenen, Greta (Akademische Druck & Verlagsanstalt Graz, 2006)
Since the beginning of the 1970s, there have been heated discussions about the "correct" violin posture, about "genuine" baroque violin playing. In what respect the method naturalised today actually corresponds to baroque practice or whether it is rather a matter of modern dogma is examined in this book on the basis of contemporary sources.Of far greater importance than the question of violin posture with or without supports, however, is the "constant extended musical stroke" (the slow and regular stroke that makes use of the entire length of the bow), through the mastery and perfection of which the violinist of the 17th century emancipated himself socially. Here too - as with violin posture - our generation of musicians ran the risk of slipping into one-sided dogmatism through uncritical examination of the source material. The author researched the surviving practice material, searched through large stocks of music and also dealt intensively with the theoretical writings on this subject that have been handed down to us. The quintessence of this study: there is no clear answer to the question of "the" baroque playing technique. But findings that were previously considered to be well-founded are justifiably doubted, and others that one does not want to imagine in this way are put up for discussion.
Keywords: 17th Century (1601-1700); Violin; Performance; Germany