AESTHETICS OUT OF EXIGENCY

V I O L I N V I B R A T O A N D T H E P H O N O G R A P H

It has been described as a plague, compared to canine tail-wagging, and derided as vulgar; others have called it life-giving, a charming grace, or an emotional thrill. The subject of such equally passionate ridicule and praise is vibrato, perhaps the most hotly debated aspect of violin tech- nique in the history of the instrument. Although violinists have been using vibrato for centuries, for more than three hundred years this pulsing effect, created by the rapid quiver of the left hand, was treated as an embellish- ment, considered artistic only in its subtle and sparing use. The first decades of the twentieth century, however, saw a transformation in the practice: concert violinists began using vibrato more conspicuously and nearly continuously, starting a trend still followed in the twenty-first cen- tury. What was once a special effect had become an integral element of violin sound.'

This dramatic change has long been something of a mystery. For decades writers have commented on the matter, but as yet no fully con- vincing explanation has been put forward. I propose that this shift in per- formance pract;ce is in fact a phonograph effect. This is an argument some will find unpalatable, for I am claiming that such a crucial aspect of mod-