Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op.28 by Camille Saint-Saens
Hello, we are Antonio, Federigo, and Max. We would like to introduce you to the Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso. We are identical triplets, our mom is Kitty Roach.
We really enjoy talking about music as you can tell by our animated behavior. If you look closely, You can tell us apart. One of our cousins will give you some pointers for each excerpt. Try to recognize Antonio, Federigo, and Max; who by the way were named for famous composers. Can you figure out who the composers are who have the same first names?
Put your curser on Antonio, Federigo, or Max and hold down the left click button on your mouse and you can drag Antonio, Federigo, or Max along with you to visit the excerpts and you can compare their likeness to their clover cousins below.
The Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso was written 1863 for violin and orchestra by Camille Saint-Saens for Sarasate.
Camille was born in Paris on October 9, 1835 and died in Algiers on December 16, 1921.
He was frail as a child and his aunt taught him to play the piano. He became an accomplished pianist and began composing at an early age.
He was the organist at the Madeleine in Paris and taught at the Ecole Niedermeyer.
This solo is fun to listen to and fun to play. It has many challenging sections. I have tried to select a few of those sections
for you to read through and get a performance taste for the piece.
Students will often hear this Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso and ask to play it. However, the violinist needs to have learned his/her arpeggios well and
have very good bow techinic to draw on.
An opening appassionato with a lyrical theme. Watch the bowing.
Also the passage dircetly after the 16th rest....be sure to come in at the right time.
The dotted 32nd notes are off the string, spicatto. The bow leaves the string creating a springing sound.
This spicatto is quick and short and played near the middle/to lower middle of the bow.
This section is almost an adlib cadenza.
There are many possible bowings.
Adding the accompaniment to this section is a challenge.
With piano it is difficult, with orchestra it is more difficult.
Upbow stacatto on the run....and do it in time with the beat
What is written on the music in pencil is an E (dotted quarter note tied to a 16th) that is a down bow, then follows a run of up bow staccato notes ending on a harmonic E.
Followed by a pickup E eighth note then a down bow slurred F,E,F,D. Then there is a 16th rest followed by a run that I have marked up bow (groups of triplets minus 1)16th notes. The run just has to have the fingering memorized and then practiced a lot. I cannot look at the music when I play it ..or it doesn't happen.
I see then in my music the next triplet run is all in one bow except the last note of the run the G# has been separated into a down bow and therefore then the next staccato run,,same as the one before is still on an up bow.....
However the original bowing in the edition was to put the second triplet run into one bow and that would cause the next staccato run to be on a down bow,,, and I think you will have to call in Heifetz to do that (in my house )
Staccato is a succession of short, crisp, separated notes. Heifetz had a unique approach to the down bow staccato. He would pull downward on his wrist, knuckles held at an almost right angle to the forearm with a rigid right
arm executing the movement. It produced a brilliant effect.
The flying staccato, upbow, there is less pressure and the bow leaves the string after each note. The lifting is slight and should move steadily. To execute this stroke, The upper arm and wrist are both used.
For further study on this subject I recommend the book The Mastery of the Bow by Professor Emery Erdlee.
This is a challenging double stop passage.
Know the half and whole steps between notes and practice moving slowly from one double stop to the next. For instance select two adjacent double stops and practice going back and forth from one to the other.
Watch the accents
and remember this is in 6/8 time.
The first arpeggio E-G#-B-E-B-G# has suggested in the music using fingers 4-3-1-0 then the next measure where the first note changes to a D ....4-3-1-4
Add to this use an open E so the bow can retain the same arm action memory. An alternate fingering might be 4310 in 1st and 2nd bars of that passage, then 2210, then 1320, and keep the open E going.
Failure to think the 6/8 rhythm correctly (2 times 6) instead of (4 times 3), is a danger if in addition the violinist puts an involuntary accent on the second half
of each thematic segment. Here the violinist's accompaniment figure will clash with the 6/8 rhythm of the piano if the violinist does not make it clear he feels two groups of six eigth-notes(semiquavers) and NOT four groups of triplets.
Practice retake down bow triple stops. Do not roll your bow! The fingering
has a pattern. Once the pattern is learned memorize the section, and work hard.
Full or unbroken chords that ask for simultaneous sounding of three notes is a challange for fingers and arm. Breaking or not breaking a three note chord depends on the experience and talent of the performer. The whole bow is used from the tip to the frog with a full movement of the whole arm.
for quarter notes as seen in this passage. Keep the bow on the string and make the tone continuous. Try to keep your shoulder relaxed and aim for the middle string.
Be sure to know where the phrases are in this passage of notes.
Not only will it sound more musical, but it will also help you in the execution of the passage.
The last run takes off and ends high.
Soar to the end and give your audience a good show.
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Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op.28
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