University of Leeds

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Viotti concertos ed. Massart - George Kennaway

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Massart's edition of the complete Viotti concertos (Paris: Cotelle, [1850?]) is held at the British Library, shelfmark h.1747.d. The full title reads Collection complète de concertos de J B Viotti le Violon principal seul Edition corrigée et doigtée par L. Massart. Bound in the BL copy is a letter from Viotti to George Robert Chinnery, the collection's dedicatee. The collection includes 29 concertos, and consists of some 300 pages of music. Each concerto is separately engraved, but the collection appears to have been published complete.  A prefaratory note from the 'editor' (editeur signifies publisher rather than a textual editor - cf. Alard's Maîtres classiques du violon

Les concertos de Viotti étant au premier rang parmi les œuvres qui servent de base à l’enseignement du Violon et contribuent le plus à maintenir la grandeur et la sévérité de style qui sont la gloire de l’école française nous avons pensé qu’une édition complète, uniforme et correcte des Concertos de ce célèbre compositeur serait accueilli favorablement et nous en avons entrepris la publication. [continues to the effect that early editions of Viotti had many mistakes]
[…] des pages entières ne portent aucune indication de coups d’archet, ni de doigtés, de sorte que les violonistes qui ne sont pas à même de recevoir les traditions du style de Viotti parviennent difficilement à les exécuter d’une manière convenable. [in order to rectify this, Massart was asked to edit the concertos; explanation of the notation of appoggiaturas]  
On sait encore que lorsqu’un passage se représentait plusieurs fois, Viotti en variait les coups d’archet et même les notes. Mr. Massart s’est également abstenu de toute indication de cette nature, c’est une affaire de goût dont nous avons voulu seulement faire l’observation. > 
The concertos of Viotti being on the first rank among works which serve as the basis of the teaching of the violin, and contributing the most to maintaining the grandeur and severity of style which are the glory of the French school, we thought that a complete edition, uniform and correct, of the concertos of this celebrated composer would be welcomed favourably, and we undertook the publication. [...] entire pages carry neither a single bowing indication, nor fingering, with the result that violinists who cannot receive the stylistic traditions of Viotti will find difficult to execute in an appropriate manner. [...] It is known that when [the same] passage appeared several times, Viotti varied the bowing and even the notes. M. Massart has abstained from all indications of this type; we would only observe that this is a question of taste. 

The edition is generally sparingly marked with bowings and fingerings. Some longer passages are marked to be played on the same string. Massart's bowing signs are the exact opposite of modern convention - V = down bow, Π = up bow. 

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