Études for violin are designed to follow the technique demands encountered during years of learning, while also fostering a love for the instrument. In addition to the performing demands in the études, certain interpretative requirements also need to be met.
The First Étude focuses on string crossings and combined legato-staccato techniques, with the primary material continuously varied in different combinations. The Second Étude aims to make the left-hand technique elastic through frequent alterations and chromaticism. The Third Étude primarily deals with double stops, but also incorporates elements requiring integrity of the right hand, as the bowing hand must maintain a significant tone intensity in such passages. The Fourth Étude explores various bow strokes at a relatively fast tempo, but it also features demanding movements of the left hand, given the speed, the alterations, the chromaticism and double stops. The Fifth Étude encompasses elements from all the previous études, requiring greater technical and musical preparation, and features a more complex formal structure.
Dubravko Palanović
Five Études for Violin by Dubravko Palanović are conceived more as violinistic miniatures rather than arid technique exercises. They are written in Palanović’s very recognizable harmonic and melodic language, abounding in alterations. Additionally, rhythm often takes precedence in these études, adding energy and motoric momentum.
The difficulty of the études does not consist in countless diverse and different types of playing techniques, although they are also featured: double stops, polyphony, fast détachés, spiccatos, chords… The real challenge lies in the more complex musical notation, which also results in greater difficulty when memorizing the pieces. It seems that Palanović eschews preparing young violinists for the usual, virtuosic type of playing; but, instead, wants to teach them how to approach pieces that are more modern, which require a lot more effort while reading and memorizing the music. Pupils encountering 20th-century compositions for the first time often face difficulties in interpreting the score and mastering the rhythm, problems they rarely encounter with Baroque, Classical, and Romantic works. This way, young violinists will gently enter into textual language of contemporary composers.
Despite their unique style, the études are ranked by their level of difficulty and duration. The First Étude is written in the first position, featuring a catchy rhythmic motif. Détaché over the strings presents the technical focus, made more difficult by having to perform the exact dynamics. The Second Étude is very motoric, written in a semiquaver pulse, with numerous alternations and quite complex chromatic sequences. The Third Étude, marked “Adagio”, features problematic double stops and introduces polyphony. This étude is of a calmer and more melodious character, which will be very challenging for the violinist, considering he has to play two strings in double stops while phrasing melodies at the same time. The Fourth Étude is somewhat longer and more complex, featuring a meno mosso section in the middle that requires a natural and logical abating, followed by a return to tempo primo. The opening is once again characterized by a very clear-cut rhythmic motif. The technical challenges include unusual alterations for the violinist, spiccato across strings, and rapid changes between strings and chords. The Fifth Étude is the longest, with most musical text and an abundance of rhythmic challenges. The tempo is quite fast (Allegro) and it’s written in 6/8 and 3/4 time signatures, often with a displaced downbeat in a measure, which poses rhythmic difficulties for the performer. The violinist is required to be quick, dexterous, but also respectful of the dynamic markings, and he has to play the rhythm accurately.
Broj izdanja | Edition Number Can. 378-3510
Zagreb, 2024.