November 2007

Bram Heemskerk is from Waddinxveen, Netherlands.

Hurdy Gurdy or wheel fiddle. It is like playing violin without bowing problems or intonation problems.

Published: Nov. 20, 2007 at 7:24 PM
Last modified: Nov. 20, 2007 at 8:08 PM

Now I learned from a comment of Bilbo Prattle a new instrument : The Hurdy Gurdy or wheel fiddle

After 2 minutes Melissa, the Hurdy Gurdy player give some information about this instrument, also called wheel fiddle, because with this violin the bow has become a wheel and like the Swedish Key Violin or nickelharpa a mechanic pulls down the strings on the fingerprint, so you never can play false. And if you play "violin" on the Hurdy Gurdy or wheel fiddle it is like playing violin without bowing problems or intonation problems.

opened Hurdy Gurdy or wheel fiddle

Comments (1) | Archive link

nyckelharpa or Swedish Key violin.

Published: Nov. 18, 2007 at 10:33 PM
Last modified: Nov. 20, 2007 at 8:07 PM

First I learned from Bilbo Prattle that the instrument on the 50 krones money of Sweden is a Swedish Key violin. Now I learned from Corwin Slack that it is also called "nyckelharpa" ( here more about the nyckelharpa or Swedish Key violin on Wikipedia) and gives Bach on Youtube on this instrument:

The nyckelharpa or Swedish Key violin

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Swedish Key Fiddle

Published: Nov. 16, 2007 at 11:25 PM
Last modified: Nov. 16, 2007 at 11:30 PM

First I thought it was funny to see some notes on Swedish money but Bilbo Prattle told me THAT IT WAS NO GUITAR BUT A FIDDLE!! Its name is : SWEDISH KEY FIDDLE. Interesting information for violinists and me. So I googled this word and got these pictures:

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Musicnotes on money in Sweden

Published: Nov. 16, 2007 at 11:52 AM
Last modified: Nov. 16, 2007 at 6:15 PM

During my holiday in Denmark I visit a museum in Odense of the most well known (ever heard of?) Carl Nielsen:

With the boat we made a trip to Sweden in the dark and that same evening we drove back to Denmark over a big bridge from Malmo (in Sweden)to our hotel in Kopenhagen Denmark.
Later on a tower I made a photo of that huge bridge of 20 km!! connecting 2 countries:

The next day I made another huge bridge over a sea between 2 big islands of Denmark:

In Sweden we drunk some coffee. Both in Denmark and Sweden you don't have euro's (not yet?) so I paid with Danish money and got Swedish money back. Here it is 50 Swedish Krones.

There are musicnotes on the front. And also on the back with a guitarlike instrument, where they show where you can play all the notes.
OK now I can say I have been in Sweden and I have some Swedish money, but I only have seen it in the dark, so I don't know how the countryside is looking. A good reason to visit that country again in the future.

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Obscene or cultural?

Published: Nov. 4, 2007 at 2:52 PM
Last modified: Nov. 4, 2007 at 3:01 PM

Ok, I guess that this entry will perhaps give more comments than a subject like my last entry about the rare violinconcerto of Carl Nielsen, but nevertheless.
I saw a Halloweenface on a violin from Pauline Lerner

and I had to think about the cover of a book of the Dutch-Jewish (Freud inspired?) writer Arnon Grünberg. The book is called Tirza and here is the cover:

Obscene? Or sex sells? But it is a violin.
We have a strange tradition in our machine factory of metal labourers, most men, to sent from holiday a card with nudity on it. When I was in Wien I found such a card, but because there was a violinplayer on it I have a reason to put a censored (by myself) version on my blog.

So not really pornografic I thought.
For my last holiday I was in Kopenhagen, Denmark and I sent a card of a famous stautue, which is not too pornographic, because it is bronze. But it is a pity that she has no violin and bow in her hands.

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Nielsen violinconcerto with Lisa Jacobs

Published: Nov. 1, 2007 at 11:21 PM
Last modified: Nov. 2, 2007 at 7:22 AM

Last Tuesday I saw and heard the violinconcerto of Nielsen played by Lisa Jacobs

and the
The Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra (ASO) in the Doelen in Rotterdam. ASO is an orchestra which plays without financial support from the government. The ticket was even cheaper (25 euro instead of 35 euro) than the more famous (in Holland?) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra,who played some days ago the same violinconcerto of Nielsen with Nikolay Zainder.

I got an autograph on his cd of Nielsen when I heard Znaider in the Doelen (full house, sold out) with conductor Valerie Gergiev and the
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra playing the violinconcerto of Korngold one year ago.

I have not have heard the version Znaider playing Nielsen, but this version of Lisa Jacobs was very good and I think Lisa has improved since I heard her last year at Janine Jansen chamber festival, where she had a masterclass of Julian Rachlin (he said to Lisa, at that time: What are you doing in a masterclass??). Perhaps she can play this piece (or Goldmark, also on her repertoirlist) again in the final of
a big competition like for example Elisabeth in Brussel (please not that often heard and thus hasbecome silly Tsjaikovsky)
It was a pity that the concerthall the Doelen was so empty that evening (I counted 107 visitors), but the music was great (Niels Gade Efterklange af Ossian and 1th symphonie Bramhs.[i both played those 2 pieces with amateurorchestra's]) It is special hat such a commercial orchestra without financial support from the government had programmed this rare but unjustly neglegted violinconcerto.

By the way. Last week I was with a friend in Denmark. We also visit a smaller city Odense apart of Copenhagen. Close to the little birthhouse of Hans Christian Anderson of all the fairy tales we found a concerthall and A MUSEUM OF CARL NIELSEN!! The entry was free and I made some photo's also from the partiture of Nielsen violinconcerto and a photo of Peder Møler.
I have played with amateurorchestra's ouverture Maskerade (there was an old photo of the first opera Maskerade in the museum) and Nielsen 3th symphony.

Partiture of the Nielsenviolinconcerto + 1th performer Peder Møler.

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More entries: October 2007

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