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Follow-up to my previous thread: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...c-for-mandolin
So I'm working on the first Telemann Violin Fantasia, and the second movement (Allegro) gets... funky. I worked out some fingering (and shortening the note values in certain voices), but I was wondering if anyone else had suggestions. The monster measure in question is #39.
Attachment 189562
Attachment 189563
Thanks in advance!
Measure 39: I have a feeling that in the first note group the g and subsequent c on the violin would be played with the same finger. It is harder for a mandolin, of course, but possible if the strings were optimally closer or the neck narrower than normal. Similar for the next group, f and Bb. Actually I am saying that you position those double course, same fret notes at the beginning of each group. Still, I know this is truly challenging.
I wonder if there is a non-urtext violin edition with suggested fingerings. Might even be some alternate possibilities. Or even find a YouTube video with close-up of violinists left hand to see what he/she does.
Thanks, Jim. I think you're right—that is probably what a violinist would do. That first chord in m 39—w the 1 on Eb, 3 on D, and 2 on G—is already pretty stretchy for me, so I'm not sure I have the mobility to slide my third finger from D to C. I'll look around for some more videos though and see how others manage it.
Yeah, that's awkward, especially if trying for a reasonable allegro. I could sustain all the note values by using single fingers to stop multiple notes: 2 on g" and c" in the first beat, 1 on b'-flat and f" in the second, 2 on f' and c" in the third, and 2 on b-flat and f' in the fourth (requires 4 on d" and 3 on c"; the biggest concern here is keeping 2 from muting the c" and b'-flat in the upper voice, but I managed). What I might find most difficult at tempo would be getting my 1 to a in the third beat. Perhaps allow a slightly staccato approach leading up to each on-beat.
Of course, Ferdinand Binnendijk's video that you'd linked previously could serve as example. Note that Ferdinand uses a Roman mandolin (an Embergher). The defining feature of Roman mandolins is a very narrow and strongly cambered fingerboard (much more violin-like). Interesting, Caterina Lichtenberg (as I'd mentioned) recorded this on a German mandolin (pictured below), which is the functional opposite of the Roman type.
Attachment 189569
On a whim, I just tried this on my only seldom-played Roman mandolin (an 1890s De Santis)—seldom played because I ordinarily find the functional features of the Roman type to feel awkward. To my surprise, this passage felt no more awkward on the Roman type than it did on my Neapolitan types . . . which I suppose is saying something.
Now I want to fool around with this. Following Eugene's example I would try my Lyon & Healy for the shorter scale and general ease of playing and my Embergher for the Roman flavor and give it a fiddler's try on my violin for contrast. It is a lovely piece.