CONDICIONES PARA LA GESTIÓN ESCOLAR DEMOCRÁTICA

The world we live in now is, paradoxically, expanding rapidly in an effort to make distances smaller, be that in the geographical sense or on the route to knowledge. This has had a profound effect on violin teaching and playing, an effect rooted in two particular consequences of this expansion that have had a profound influence on the matters under discussion in this thesis. One is a change in hierarchies of knowledge;

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another is the homogenisation of cultures under a general tendency towards globalisation.

The access we have today to information brings with it the advance of instant gratification via the media and the Internet to any questions we might pose. This has not necessarily been only a good thing. For instance, Internet search engines, the birth of Wikipedia in 2001 and sensationalised news-reporting by privatised and heavily-sponsored TV channels have brought with them a stream of information that is unreliable and does not discriminate between that which is authoritative and that which is unsubstantiated. To keep it digital (and tongue-in-cheek) by citing the relevant article in which the following information appeared, let us take Wikipedia as a point in case: “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit”65, is a site that has been criticised for being riddled with inaccuracies, at one time even displaying misinformation about one of its founders, Larry Sanger.66 It must be said however, that thanks to constant visits to the site by countless editors, the matter was quickly settled and the inaccuracies put right. The birth of immediate access to information via the Internet also brings with it easily-consumed, bite-size morsels of knowledge at a click; however, this knowledge is both unhierarchised and unreliable.

It is those aforementioned constant visits to a website and the quick revision of an incorrect statement that bear an indication of our fast-moving way of life. The reasons for writing this thesis lie partly in the accelerated speed at which we work, travel and communicate.

Teaching is a business in as much as the teacher earns his or her living by it, and business is based strongly on supply and demand. The increase in demand for teaching has intensified in recent decades and thereby changed the nature of the business. One of the most striking consequences of this is an increase in group teaching as normal practice. The public wants to see “long-term drop-out rates lessen”67

65

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.

amongst early learners and, although many members of the public are not

66 _{See Dan Mitchell, Insider Editing at Wikipedia (Published by The New York Times on}

http://www.nytimes.com, 24/12/05).

67 _{Quote taken from an Email circulated on 28 January 2008 by the Irish Association of Music}

fully informed when it comes to teaching approaches such as the Suzuki Method, every parent who wants to bring their child closer to music wants to see their child continue along the road of learning, as opposed to abandoning the subject at hand. To this end, music schools in Western Europe are starting to cater to demand. This can be observed at the Musikschule of Berne where a recent job placement (as advertised in music journals such as the Schott Verlag-distributed “Das Orchester” and the “Schweizer Musikzeitung” in the closing months of 2007) for a violin teacher implicitly suggested that applicants be open to and experienced at group teaching for students from the age of three onwards. Seminars held under the umbrella of the Irish Association of Music Schools include workshops that specifically encourage a change towards group teaching.

There are certainly advantages to group teaching; but concentrated individual attention, by definition, cannot be paid to a student during group teaching sessions. Due to how we work in this “digital age”, many musicians are intent on being specialists in their particular field so as to excel in a market that is more competitive than ever before — for a performing musician, this means hours of daily practice.

To exemplify the views of an internationally recognised master of violin pedagogy, it is worth considering a comment made by Ozim.

“Many violinists are lazy and stupid. Lazy because they do not bother to look in a book to find out anything for themselves but, instead, prefer to be spoon-fed by a teacher. And stupid because, once they have come to the point where they realise that they could be independent, they do not know where to start searching for information.”

With this sentiment, Zakhar Bron, in turn, might agree.68

“alongside their work, young people have too little time to live. Look at [Fritz] Kreisler: he played chess, performed magic tricks, was gregarious, went to museums, collected incunabula and more besides, and the youth of today live in greater isolation, in greater competition, they have to play

Ozim adds,

68 _{See the section on Tone Production for Bron’s statement on the three main principles that define his}

faster, cleaner, faultlessly so as to bring their statement to the Everyman. However, this statement is based on a life that no longer is one!”69

Ergo, the well-informed Renaissance man is a rare being amongst violinists today. And it shows.

For instance, where in times past such diverse and outstanding talents as Emil Gilels, Dmitri Kabalevsky, Aram Khatchaturian, Leonid Kogan, David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich and Dmitri Shostakovich were part of the musical landscape under the Muscovite sky, all of them teaching at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (with the notable exception of Richter), such birds have flown. The history and politics of the Soviet Union, and then of Russia, have played a big part in the exodus that has occurred amongst Russia’s finest artists and today, it seems, there is no single epicentre in the world of teaching that can boast such a line-up. In turn, migration has intensified, creating the competitive market in which not only musicians grow up today. In the words of Ronald Masin as communicated to me on 15 January 2008 via Email: “Do not forget that with the advent of aeroplanes and the subsequent freedom that travel offers, people were not bound by their local conservatories anymore.”

With the advances made in technology, artists all over the globe are travelling, sharing their ideas and acquiring more knowledge. Less than fifty years ago, this was not the norm, hence there was more rigidity in school of thought and it was easier to define the various schools of violin-teaching. Even where violinists where acknowledged to have contributed to more than one school, the cross-fertilisation, unlike in many cases today, was clear, not only historically but also as far as technique and approach were concerned. A short list of players whose relationship to more than one specific school is definable and distinct includes: Henryk Wieniawski (1835–1880), who had a great influence on the Franco-Belgian70

69 _{Urs Frauchiger, Der eigene Ton, p. 174. Ozim’s original quote reads: „Die jungen Leute haben}

neben der Arbeit zu wenig Zeit zum leben. Schauen Sie Kreisler: Er hat Schach gespielt, gezaubert, hat gern Gesellschaft gehabt, ging in Museen, hat Inkunablen gesammelt und was weiß ich noch alles, und heute leben die Jungen in großer Isolierung, in einem großen Konkurrenzkampf, sie müssen schneller, sauberer, makelloser geigen, um ihre Aussage an den Mann und an die Frau zu bringen. Aber diese Aussage basiert ja auf einem Leben, das keines mehr ist!“

School as well as

70 _{Franco-Belgian is a term used by the author to signify the French and Belgian schools of violin}

the Russian School; Henri Vieuxtemps (1820–1881), who had a great influence on the Franco-Belgian School as well as the Russian School; Leopold Auer (1845– 1930), who had a great influence on the German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian71 schools. There is also a distinction made between “old” Russian School (also known as the Soviet School) which includes teachers such as Pyotr Stolyarsky (1871–1944) and Izrail Yampolsky (1905–1976), and the “new” Russian School, whose most famous ambassadors include Leonid Kogan (1924–1982), David Oistrakh (1908– 1974), and Ivan Galamian (1903–1981). In the case of the latter school, once again a wider influence is felt, as both Galamian and Josef Gingold (1909–1995) are seen as having been fundamental in the establishment of the American School. In more recent teaching, Max Rostal (1905–1991) taught an approach based on the German School, one passed down to his student Igor Ozim (b. 1931) who in turn takes not only from the German, but also the American School.

Therefore, while cross-fertilisation continues to take place, it is no longer clear, in a world where the boundaries between schools of thought and practice are far less distinct than they used to be, exactly what part of the total sum of any one player, might be attributed to a specific heritage.

71 _{Austro-Hungarian is a term used by the author to signify the Viennese and Hungarian schools of}