CHASE

Umwender (page turner)

The fingering here retains the tone of the D string and at the same time, is probably intended to elicit a delicate portamento between the f#' and the b'.

David will almost certainly have taken this note with a backwards extension of the 1st finger.

The fingering here not only produces a portamento between c'' and e'', but also facilitates a likely vibrato on the minim.

The use of harmonics and open strings here and in the following bars is a classic example of fingering that indicates a basically non-vibrato style of playing as well as concern for the colour of a particular string.

The absence of fingering until the passage of 16ths which clearly begins in 1st position implies that this would have been played as an open string and the following passage all in 1st position.

David marks this passage mf cantabile and fingers it to be played on the G-string. Once again the presence of a harmonic in the middle of a legato phrase indicates clearly that continuous vibrato was not expected.

David originally fingered this with 3, but then decided to remain in 1st position

Presumably returning to 1st position here.

David evidently changed his mind about the bowing here, but his final intention is not entirely clear. It seems evident that 4th and 5th bars from the end are meant to begin down bow and that the last note of the 3rd bar from the end should be a down bow, therefore if the down-bow at the beginning of the passage stands, as it appears to do, the up-bow in the following bar must be included in the deletion of the end of the slur preceding it.

David probly regarded it as obvious that this note would be taken as an harmonic.

Here and in similar passages throughout the movement, these notes were included in a single slurred staccato, but this pencil marking has been rubbed out and is only faintly visible. It can be seen more clearly in a few places. The bowing thus indicated would tie the execution more closely to the last movement of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, which has similar passages of slurred staccato both up- and down-bow. In many cases the pencil markings are overwritten in blue crayon, indicating the earlier date of the former.

M, which is found in a number of David's marked parts, obviously stands for Mitte (middle). The fact that this staccato bowing should be executed in that part of the bow may seem obvious to players trained in the 20th and early 21st century, but it would not necessarily have been evident to a player trained in the 19th century, who was more accustomed to play rapid notes near the point of the bow. David, therefore, seems to mark M in these cases to remind himself that this is not to be played with the short on-string stroke favoured by his master Spohr, but with the more modern hüpfende or springende (hopping or springing) bowstroke described in his Violinschule (pt. 2 p. 38 http://mhm.hud.ac.uk/chase/view/pdf/420/88/#page). David comments, however, that the hüpfende bowing will be played in the middle when it is loud and more towards the point in proportion as it becomes softer. His examples suggest that the hüpfende bowstroke could be played more rapidly than the springende.

M needs to be repeated here because the previous forte passage will have taken the bow towards the point, where the last 3 bars of piano will also have been executed.

This manner of executing a succession of conjunct notes with the same finger is typical of David.It corresponds with one of the relatively few fingerings Ferdinand David entered into the set of parts now in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; it also occurs in Paul David's part (see the copies on this website).

The significance of this up-bow is unclear, since the previous bar will have begun up-bow if the bowing of the preceding passage is followed.

The slurred staccato here and in the following barswas evidently intended to be played up-bow very close to the point. Curiously, it was expunged from a later impression of these plates in all four parts. See the copy marked 'unknown' http://mhm.hud.ac.uk/chase/view/pdf/2655/7/#page

The 3 below probably belongs to this note rather than to the harmonic below, although it seems probable that David also envisaged a 3 for the harmonic, as in FD I.

This unusual fingering, apparently indicates going from a harmonic on the E-string to one at the top of the A-string with the 3rd finger. It corresponds with one of the relatively few fingerings Ferdinand David entered into the set of parts now in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (see the copy on this website).

Ferdinand David's added natural sign here brings the Vl 1 part into conformity with the Vl 2 part, which has a printed natural sign here. All later editions of the parts and score (based on Julius Rietz's Gesamtausgabe) delete the Vl 2 natural. Since David was so closely involved with pre- and post-publication performances of these works, however, it seems plausible that his solution to the problem may represent Mendelssohn's final intention.

David has deleted an o (harmonic), perhaps because the tuning of the G-string could not be relied upon at the end of the movement.

talon (heel); probably a reminder to attack the notes strongly using broad strokes in the lower half of the bow before moving towards the middle of the bow for a détaché stroke.

The reason for marking staccato strokes in this passage is unclear, but it was probably a reminder to play a sharply accented (possibly martellé) bowstroke (in the upper half of the bow) in the forte passage.

Possibly indicating a slightly rebounding stoke of the kind marked hpfd (hüpfend) in David's Violoinschule.

David has shortened the final note to give him an additional bar for the page turn, presumably when no Umwender was available..

A harmonic is undoubtedly intended.

The employment of the repeated open E-string is noteworthy.

This bowing facilitates the performance of the following 1/4 notes at the point.