Only for the brave?

The recent concert performance by Christian Tetzlaff's of Bach's complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin BWV1001-1006 in Chicago's Orchestra Hall received critical acclaim.
The works, which usually take up a double CD, took 3 and a half hours to perform (including the interval and breaks between movements).
Tetzlaff has amazing stamina, apparently sounding as fresh at the end of the concert as he did at the beginning.

Thomas Zehetmair and Alexander Markov, have also shown similar stamina when performing Paganini's 24 Caprices in one concert. And there was Maxim Vengerov who, back in October 2002, performed a successful and popular unaccompanied violin recital in London's Barbican centre, consisting of works ranging from Bach (an arrangement of the tocatta and fugue for solo violin) to Shchedrin.

But how easy is it for an audience to listen to a complete cycle of Bach or Paganini in 'one sitting?'

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Oldest surviving violin in Europe?

The remains of a violin raised from the depths of the sea is apparently the oldest of its kind in Europe, according to the Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth, UK.

The instrument was on board Henry VIII'S warship, the Mary Rose, when it sank in 1545.

The violin was on display for the first time since the ship's recovery in 1982 in a private fund-raising exhibition for reporters, together with some of
the other finds from the ship.

The violin's oblong-shape construction, with indented corners, resembles an early 'vielle' or 'fiddle' which were also extremely popular in England during the 13th and 14th centuries. They were usually fitted with five strings and had a highly-curved bridge.

Only the top of the instrument and neck were recovered from the shipwreck, but it seems to have had the usual quasi guitar-shaped head with the pegs on the top. The remains of the bow was also recovered, and also seems to resemble a chunky, medieval-type bow.

chief executive of the Mary Rose Trust, Admiral John Lippet, explained on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' programme that very few wooden items from this period of history survive elsewhere - the shipwreck (and all its contents) was covered with mud very quickly, preserving many artifacts perfectly, thus creating a "day in the life of Tudor England." The ship sank with 500 crew on board in the Solent - just 2KM away from the southern coast of England.

The Trust hopes to raise £35m for the reconstruction of the missing half of the ship and for a purpose-built museum which will house the 18,000 or so items from the ship that cannot presently be displayed due to lack of space.


Timeline: Gasparo da Salò, one of the earliest makers of the modern-looking violin (b.May 20, 1540 - d.April 14, 1609)
Though viols were developed in the late 1400s, they were probably the 'Bang and Olufsen' of the day. Many people were obviously still using less 'high-tech' equipment!