Comparing Ysaÿe's gestures with Two Established Styles
During a recording workshop held at the University of Surrey in Guildford on 20 October 2023, I recorded a melody composed by David Milsom in three distinct versions. This exercise was designed to explore how acoustic recordings preserve two key violin techniques (vibrato and portamento) across different violin styles.
The three styles are schematically outlined as follows:
1. 20th-century style: A vibrato-led manner. This style emphasises vibrato as the main component of the sound. Portamento is used sparingly and subtly; the rhythm remains strict*.
2. 19th-century Austro-German style: A portamento-led manner, characterised by frequent portamento (mainly types 1 and 2B).The base sound is non-vibrated, with vibrato treated as an ornament. Rhythmic patterns often feature uneven quavers.*
3. Ysaÿe's gestures as I studied them, the base sound includes vibrato, though tighter than in the 20th-century style. Portamento plays an important role, similar to the 19th-century style, but is employed in more diverse ways. Significant rhythmic flexibility beyond the uneven quavers.
Visualising the differences
The recordings were made without accompaniment, which helps provide clear graphical representations. Below, each recording is accompanied by its spectrogram, effectively highlighting the differences:
Vibrato: Straight lines for non-vibrated sound and smaller or bigger waves for vibrato.
Portamento: Diagonal lines between the notes across the three styles.