Music History True Crime Podcast Project

Selection
I picked Guiseppe Tartini for my composer.

1692-1770.

A fun fact about him is that he was an Italian violinist, and upon hearing a fellow violinist play
so well, he became so discouraged that he fled to central Italy and lived there for 5 years,
basically in isolation, until he thought he had improved his playing so much that he could be
seen/heard in public again. Once he reentered society, he was name the "Maestro di Cappella" of
St. Antonio's Basilica in Padua, and he was allowed to play at any other institutions he wanted.
He had improved immensely and went on to be the first owner of a Stradivarius violin from
Stradivarius himself.

Tartini Tone, named after himself

https://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/tartini-temperament.html
Podcast Segment 1 Draft

Outline
I. Overview of Tartini’s Life
A. 1692-1770
B. Lived in a time where he saw the start of violin soloists’ fame as performers and
composers
1. Italian people such as Vivaldi, Francesco Veracini, Francesco Geminiani,
and Pietro Locatelli all tried to emulate or distinguish themselves from
Arcangelo Corelli, the great international figure at this point in time
C. Tartini specifically stood out for multiple reasons:
1. Great compositional output, almost exclusively consisting of sonatas and
solo works for the violin
a) Violinists and composers prior to Tartini didn’t want to share their
‘trade secrets’ because such tips about the violin were highly
prized and were used as leverage to students so that the composers
could make a living.
b) The sheer amount of manuscript sources with his works with added
cadenzas and embellishments shows how much he was admired by
his students and other teachers
c) Was one of the first to use the term applicatur, meaning the
position of how to hold the violin, which hadn’t been talked about
before
d) Large emphasis on right hand technique
2. Small but important body of theoretical writings that caught the attention
of many theorists
a) Leopold Mozart wrote about the ‘Tartini’ bow, which was longer
than a normal bow to facilitate more lyrical playing
b) Traité des agréments de la musique (Tartini Treatise on the
Agrements of Music) was believed by Mozart to be the first violin
handbook- he didn’t know of anything that had been released prior.
(1) Mozart used Tartini’s work to assist in the publishing of his
own violin handbook
3. Very large impact on the future generations of violinists
4. Created an internationally respected violin and composition school in
Padua
 a) Known as the “School of Nations” founded between 1727 and
1728
(1) “it acquired fame throughout Europe, thanks to the
innovative teaching methods and the notable artistic level
achieved by the various students coming from various
geographical areas.”
(2) “Many of his students in fact became famous violinists and
contributed to the spread of the technique and style
promoted by the Piran master.”
5. Worked to create a comparable bridge between a new “instrumental
cantabile” that paralleled lyrical voice melody
6. L’arte dell’arco = ‘The Art of Bowing’, one of Tartini’s most important
works
7. Famous letter of 1760 marks one of the beginnings of violin pedagogy
a) Preserved in his native Piran (Slovenia)
b) He had written it to one of his last students- Maddalena Laura
Lombardini Sirmen (1745-1818) when she was 14 years old and
already an accomplished violinist and musician
c) Explains three essential skills of good violin performance:
(1) Bowing, shifting position, vibrato

I’m thinking about framing the “true crime” part of the podcast around the lack of confidence in
an original manuscript of The Art of Bowing and his debate within himself about whether to
share his violin “secrets” to earn money, or keep them to himself because he had coined the
terms and spent the time to develop great instrumental musicianship. I have also come across
rumors of an affair with his young student, Maddelena, potentially instead of monetary payment
for lessons, but of course, not confirmed. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Tartini’s life, so
attempting to remove the veil with sources in his native language (translated online), his own
compositions, treatises, and letters, as well as other mentions of him in other composers’ works
will most likely be the main point of this podcast. I tentatively have separated the three segments
into the overview of his life (I.), relationship with his students at the Padua school with
Maddelena being the most notable and accomplished (II.), and lastly, a more modern
understanding of Tartini with the prevalence of his Devil’s Trill Sonata, as well as the creation of
a complete catalog of Tartini’s works only being compiled four years ago. I also would like to
find a scholarly source that details more of his personal life, such as the facts I included in why I
picked this composer that I had found online: he was the first owner of a Stradivarius violin and
he went into hiding for 5 years to work on his playing because he heard another violinist who
was considerably better than he was. If I can find these facts corroborated in a scholarly source,
they will make a great addition to the podcast and aid in the “true crime” aspect.
Podcast Segment 2 Draft
Outline
II. Students
A. Maddelena Laura Lomardini Sirmen (1745-1818)
1. One of Tartini’s last students, and one of his most famous
2. Admitted to the Ospedale dei Mendicanti in Venice when she was only 8
years old as a student of music, and not as an orphan, originally from
Venice
a) Young girls were taught music either to enhance their future
marriages or benefit a convent– those were the only two options
women had at the time
(1) Girls in the Venetian schools would learn the normal
instruments– violin, harpsichord, and organ, but also all the
current orchestra instruments– flute, oboe, bassoon,
violoncello, and basse!
(2) They also learned how to conduct, sing recitatives, solos,
choruses in three parts. They could replicate almost
everything except bass voices. Their lowest contraltos
could replace male tenors!
3. She received Tartini’s letter when she was only 14 years old, but was an
accomplished violinist and musician
a) This is evident in his addressing her as signora
b) She was a gifted composer, taking after Tartini
c) We can tell through his letters to Maddalena that he “placed much
weight on character, knowing well that the most brilliant gifts fail
unless supported by force of character.
d) “Tartini also insisted on pure intonation, employing as a guide in
double stopping his own acoustic discovery of the third sound or
differential tone.” (p. 151)
4. The governors of the Medicanti had permitted her to travel to Padua in
1760, 1761, and 1764 to study with Tartini directly
5. When she was in her mid-twenties, she was touring Italy
a) She was known for her broad tone “Sonorous yet brilliant” (p. 153)
b) She was soon performing her own concertos, since she was also a
composer
(1) She ONLY composed instrumental works, which was very
unusual at this time as most composers either started out
 with vocal pieces, or found themselves needing to compose
for voice in order to be employed by a local church, which
was the best place for a musician to be able to make a
living as a musician.
c) At the height of her fame, she was playing concertos in the middle
of Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and The Messiah, traveling all over
Europe, and Tartini died soon during this time.

This section of the podcast is about the life of Tartini’s most famous pupil– Maddalena Laura
Lombardi Sirmen. She learned how to play all the instruments while a student at Tartini’s School
of Nations, and also learned violin and composition from Tartini himself. Tartini’s most famous
letter is addressed to Maddalena, and the two were very close for some time during Maddalena’s
early years as a teenager. Tartini’s teaching style is communicated well through this letter, which
I am planning on translating to include directly as one of my sources.
Podcast Segment 3 Draft

Outline
III. Modern Affects
A. The first start of a collection of Tartini’s works wasn’t until 1935 by a Greek
musicologist, and then a second collection, this time of Violin Sonatas in 1975 by
Paul Brainard
1. A complete catalog of Tartini’s works only emerged recently - it took until
2020
B. The Padua School encouraged degree and doctoral writings, so their students have
created very numerous writings that have lasted until today that have aided in our
understanding of Tartini.
1. The Padua School was founded in 1222, making it almost 800 years old. It
is the second oldest university in Italy, and the 5th oldest university in the
world.
C. Tartini was so popular that there are many manuscripts of his treatises and his
“Art of Bowing”, but they all differ and none have his autograph certifying the
original. It is not until recently that the search for the original has begun.
Annotated Bibliography

Angela Fiore. 2023. “Giuseppe Tartini, L’arte Dell’arco.” Musica Docta 13 (December): 127–31.

doi:10.6092/issn.2039-9715/18635.

This source is a review of Tartini’s own work entitled The Art of the Bow. It

provides information on the authenticity of the sources Tartini used and serves as

a commentary of sorts on his work.

Berger, Robert W. 2012. “The Devil, the Violin, and Paganini: The Myth of the Violin as Satan’s

Instrument.” Religion and the Arts 16 (4): 305–27. doi:10.1163/156852912X651045.

Berger’s article details Tartini’s most famous work for the violin, infamously

named the Devil’s Trill Sonata and speaks of its nature as a work for the

instrument relevant to the time period and historic context.

Križnar, Franc. 2022. “GIUSEPPE TARTINI & MADDALENA LAURA LOMBARDINI.

(Italian).” Annales: Series Historia et Sociologia 32 (1): 161–63.

https://search-ebscohost-com.libproxy.calbaptist.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&A

N=158237896&site=eds-live&scope=site.

This work, translated via Google Translate, explains the relationship between

Tartini and his brightest pupil, a young woman named Maddalena Lombardini. He

taught her how to play violin as well as compose.

Lockey, Nicholas. 2024. “THE FIRST VOLUME IN BÄRENREITER’S COLLECTED

WORKS OF TARTINI Giuseppe Tartini.” Notes 80 (3): 568–72.

This is a second review of Tartini’s work The Art of Bowing, which is a

method-book style overview on how Tartini taught violin pedagogy. It details

Tartini’s life to better understand him as well as trace the different editions that
 began to pop up in various different places in Europe. There was never a single

autographed copy, so the hunt for the original is still underway. Only by studying

the composer can we hope to perform their music or understand their

interpretation of technique at the level to which they had it be.

Maruša Zupančič. 2022. “The Journeys of Violin Handbooks to the Slovenian Lands and Their

Interactions in the Eighteenth Century.” De Musica Disserenda 11 (1–2): 279–99.

doi:10.3986/dmd11.1-2.17.

Tartini’s own handbook for the violin became an important resource during the

1700s, and this source follows the trajectory of how his book disseminated and

became popular throughout Europe.

Portrait of Giuseppe Tartini (Piran, 1692-Padua, 1770), Italian Violinist and Composer, Painting

by Edoardo Dolbrano (1841-1915). 2014. Bridgeman.

This portrait shows an image of Giuseppe Tartini himself. It is a clear depiction of

him that helps us get our mind into who he was and what he looked like.

Scott, Marion M. “Maddalena Lombardini, Madame Syrmen.” Music & Letters, vol. 14, no. 2,

1933, pp. 149–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/728914. Accessed 11 Mar. 2024.

Sources

Giuseppe Tartini & Maddalena Laura Lombardini. - Google

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ASSESSMENTS REVIEWS REVIEWS

Duška Žitko (ed.): GIUSEPPE TARTINI & MADDALENA LAURA LOMBARDINI (Letter/La
lettera/The Letter/La lettre/Der Brief). Piran, Maritime Museum "Sergej Masera," 2021, 48 p. and
attachment: a facsimile copy of the letter, 4 p.

It is characteristic of the mentioned letter that, despite its relatively early date (Padua, March 5, 1760), it
still represents an example of Tartini's teaching. distance; of course with those and those of that time
(literate and postal) options. This is still a relevant correspondence schooling lesson that also serves as a
source of behavior about the development of music pedagogy at that time. After more than 250 years, it
still appeals to violinists from all over the world and reveals to them the secrets of the master archery with
a bow. How not and more than successfully, because "ours" was Giuseppe Tartini (Piran, April 8, 1692 –
Padua, February 26, 1770) both composer and violinist, pedagogue and scientist. He is so behind his own
technical and physical experiences and findings also in this case and with added musical examples,
explained (in the first case) the touch of the bow as concretely as possible and strings. That is why he
specifically used not only his own music, but among the first to quote and rely on the music of the famous
predecessor Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713) and builds one of his first theses of this kind on the example
of one of the composer's fugues. He advises the student to play at least one of them, the fugues, cleanly
everyday; by changing and quickening the pace will the student be able to reach dizzying virtuosity. Then
Tartini touches the leg and finishes this one of hers a lesson with consideration and playing of the trill.
Tartini likes that his correspondence school hour of this kind within his own the famous School of Nations
now serves concrete pupil, certainly the most famous of all, from Venice violinist Maddalena Laura
Lombardini (Venice, 9 December 1745 – 18 May 1818). At the time of creation of this letter she was only
14 years old, she was very talented even in childhood and later (as her teacher Tartini) became famous as
one of the best European violinists. But she was also a composer. Samples with your own it is more than
obvious to the teachers that they continue to drag on. Despite Sika 1: The first and last pages of the Letter
(orig. copy of rkp., Padua, March 15, 1760). to this, Tartini addresses her in a letter as "my very esteemed
Mrs. Maddalena," shouts and addresses her as Mrs. In the letter, he says goodbye to her: "Your
Eminence." Blessed/Most Devoted and Affectionate Servant /,/ Giuseppe Tartini.' So we now have a
rather distant time in front of the letter, facsimiles of the authorized transcript a student of M. L.
Lombardini, a valuable and worldwide cited archival document kept by the City Archives in Piran.
Besides the original in Italian, his proofread transcription and translations into as many as five languages,
among all these there are quite a few rarities, first publications. In 1727, Tartini founded his violin studio
in Padua, a school where he taught talented students from all over. His international fame earned him the
venerable title master of nations. In a year, two or more he had an annual no more than ten students, and
in all forty years of its existence, some 200 violinists and composers attended the school. They took these
to their lands Tartini's way of playing and composing, as well his pedagogical approach: eros and espri
and philosophical theoretical attitude to music. They went around Europe with them and also scattered the
works of Tartini in the original manuscripts and authorized transcripts. One of these is certainly the
aforementioned document, which is now emerging in front of us and is in several points of interest for
everyone - for laymen and professionals; for the former as a reference to the spirit of the time and place,
whence arises, and for others quite concretely, for "laws in music," who, despite his age and detachment
from luckily they still apply today. So in this case it is about some kind of small letters (only four pages
manuscript), on the other hand, for much more than just for a kind of formalism. Because baroque music,
where the majority of Tartini's oeuvre belongs, still rests on eternal and still current (technical and
musical) findings. He actually got them caught by "our" Mr. Tartini. Informal editor of the multilingual
presentation of this unique and more than meaningful editions on the occasion of the current and
universally proclaimed 330th anniversary in Slovenia Tartini in 2022, she is the curator of art history and
museum councilor of Pomorski of the museum "Sergej Mašera" in Piran Duška Žitko. The latter, the
Museum, is also the publisher of the mentioned monograph (for Franco Juri). Not alone, but together and
in cooperation with the Provincial Archives of Koper – Unit in Piran, which archived and authorized
transcript He also keeps Tartini's Letters. D. Žitko arrived Figure 2: The interior of Tartini's Letter (print;
Piran, 2021). vala also an introduction to the edition, a copy of the manuscript (the original is in Italian),
and the translation into Slovenian was provided by Ravel Kodrič (2016; on request and by order
Museum). He was there as a kind of consultant also our violin ace and one of the most credible
performers of Tartini's violin music, Črtomir Šišković. Already in the introduction, Žitkova is meticulous
and deeply outlined the entire framework of this letter of Tartini. Since this Slovenian edition is
multilingual, Slobodan Žmikić also participated as translators (Croatian language), Charles Burney
(English language), Antoine-Léonard Thomas (French language) and Johann Adam Hiller (German
language). Proofreading of translations Mirjana Kramarič Francé sang the above-mentioned texts into all
the languages mentioned, reading the German the translation was contributed by Marko Korošec. For
translations introductions to all the listed languages were provided by M. Francé Kramarič and M.
Korošec. For digitization Blanka Štibilj, the designer of the entire Duška Đukić, who was demanding and
artistically diverse, yet still had uniform images. We estimate that it is the entire edition is also extremely
beautiful (the quality of the paper and printing, colors, size in A4 format, etc.). It's work was printed in
Slovenia and was published in 300 copies.
Giuseppe Tartini - The Art of the Bow - Google

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Music Docta. Digital journal of music pedagogy and teaching, pp.

127-131https://musicadocta.unibo.itISSN 2039-9715© 2023 Angela Fiore –Creative Commons BY-SA
3.0DOI: https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2039-9715/18635GIUSEPPE TARTINI, The art of 'arco, edited by
Matteo Cossu, Kassel, Bärenreiter-Verlag(«Giuseppe Tartini - National edition of musical works», VI/1),
2022, XXII, 56 pp.
Musician with multiple interests and fortunate teacher, Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) exerted a great
influence on the evolution of violin technique throughout the eighteenth century and beyond. The Tartini
school, better known as the 'School of Nations', founded in Padua between 1727 and 1728, acquired fame
throughout Europe, thanks to the innovative teaching methods and the notable artistic level achieved by
the various students coming from various geographical areas. Many of his students in fact became famous
violinists and contributed to the spread of the technique and style promoted by the Piran master. The
effectiveness of Tartini's teaching methods was such that it induced Leopold Mozart himself to borrow
some precepts from the Traité des agrémens de la musique and insert them into his Violinschule, without
however citing the author. Although Tartini had great success between the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, his music has been relatively neglected by studies in modern times: the few surviving
autographs, the presence of false copies, the problems relating to dating make critical and philological
work impervious. To date, in fact, the dynamics that have determined the dispersion of the sources can
only be partially reconstructed. The recognition of Giuseppe Tartini's musical production began in 1935
with the cataloging by the Greek musicologist Minōs Dounias (Die Violinkonzerte Giuseppe Tartinis als
Ausdruck einer Künstlerpersönlichkeit und einer Kulturepoche, Wolfenbüttel, Kallmeyer, 1935). Few
other similar actions can be counted, including, in 1975, Paul Brainard's thematic catalog dedicated to
violin sonatas. The University of Padua deserves credit for having published, from the 1990s to today, a
series of degree and doctoral theses aimed at the study, edition and cataloging of some of Tartini's
compositions. Certainly these studies, conducted by the team of University of Padua, have formed a solid
basis for launching the national edition project of Giuseppe Tartini's musical works in 2017. Coordinated
by Sergio Durante, the project now involves the Department of Linguistic and Literary Studies of the
University of Padua, the University of Ljubljana, and also benefits from the patronage of the Ministry of
Culture and the contribution of the Cassa di Risparmio di Padova Foundation and Rovigo. Thanks to
careful philological work, the complete edition aims to reconstruct and make accessible Tartini's
diversified musical production through an editorial plan organized into eight series. The project is started
by the VI series dedicated to didactic works, the first volume of which, edited by Matteo Cossu, is
represented by The art of the bow, a collection of variations for violin and bass on the gavotte of the
Sonata n. 10 taken from Arcangelo Corelli's Op.V. It is an ingenious compendium for violin teaching,
which combines the multiplicity of bow strokes with the development of the skill of the left hand. Not yes
knows a certain date of composition of the collection: it is probable that the variations were produced in
the context of the School of Nations and therefore after 1728; however, it cannot be excluded, as the
curator himself underlines, that at least a part of them was composed previously. The collection could in
fact be considered as a draft of exercises that the Master used to implement during his personal study. The
volume reviewed here is conceived in bilingual form and opens with a brief presentation of the complete
edition project followed by the editorial criteria adopted in the series, therefore valid for each individual
volume of it. In the preface, the editorial committee clarifies the intentions of the project through three
short sections entitled Testimoni, Identification of the works and Form of the musical text. It is underlined
that the national edition is based on the collation of all known sources, even in the presence of the
autograph. In fact, authorized period editions or scores copied under the author's control can in some
cases represent a more reliable version of a work than an autograph manuscript written in a non-definitive
version. Finally, the committee explains that the identification of the compositions takes place through the
acronyms taken from the recent thematic catalog of the works of Giuseppe Tartini edited by Guido Viverit
(2020), currently available online (http://catalog.discovertartini.eu/; last accessed, 30.11.2023). The
general part is followed by a detailed introduction divided into four paragraphs. The first deals with
performance practice and focuses on Tartini's stylistic idea and didactic approach. The right hand
technique was in fact considered essential by the Piranese master for learning the violin. His interest in
the study of the bow began around 1716, when he listened to Francesco Maria Veracini on the violin in
Venice, at the Mocenigo house, and was particularly struck by his virtuosity. Following this episode,
Tartini decided to begin a period of intense improvement of the right hand. This also shows how this
particular attention was given to bow teaching is also evident in the testimonies of some students. In the
famous letter sent in 1760 to the violinist Maddalena Lombardini, some fundamental principles of violin
teaching are exposed and the centrality of the study of the bow is reiterated. The teacher recommends the
student to perform the same passage on different portions of the bow, to acquire the agility necessary for
good sound emission. Another significant demonstration cited by Cossu is that of an occasional student,
one Achilles Rhyner-Delon, who met the master in 1758. In a memoir he describes Tartini's modus
operandi, according to which possessing a complete bow technique gives the sound expressiveness and
cantability. The second paragraph is dedicated to the state of research on The art of the bow. In it, he
brings together the main musicological studies conducted to date (M.D'ANDREA, Tartini's L'arte
dell'arco: its History and Development, Degree thesis, Indiana University, 1979; C. Mastroianni,
L'edizione critica de 'L 'art of the bow', Degree thesis, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, 1993;
L.KLINE LAMAR, A Critical Edition of GIUSEPPE TARTINI, L'arte dell'arco129Musica Docta, XIII,
2023ISSN 2039-9715Giuseppe Tartini's 'The Art of Bowing'with Commentary, AnnArbor, 2004), and
synthetically addresses the problems relating to the reliability of the main sources, prints and manuscripts
used for the drafting of this critical edition. The first in chronological order is the Bovin edition which
appeared in Paris in 1748, edited by the Roman violinist Petronio Pinelli, a presumed pupil of Tartini. It is
a collection of violin exercises in which 17 variations on the theme of Corelli's gavotte are included,
attributed, as stated on the title page, to Tartini. As the curator clarifies, this testimony dates back to a
period in which the composer was probably already working on the variations and could therefore be
interpreted as a primordial stage of the collection. It is also significant to highlight that Pinelli's 17
variations, despite having several similarities with Tartini's best-known mutations, do not they appear in
none of the later versions. More famous in terms of diffusion is L'arte del arco ou l'art de l'archet,
published in Paris by Charles-Nicolas Le Clerc in 1757. In fact, the very name of L'arte dell'arco derives
from this publication, which cannot certainly be attributed to Tartini. Cossu explains that the 38 mutations
reported by Le Clerc represent the most accredited textual group to date, perhaps coming from a lost
source of the collection, which arrived in Paris through some pupil and published without Tartini's
knowledge. In 1788, in Naples, another edition edited by Luigi Marescalchi was published, one of the
most used versions by violinists, including 50 variations. Cossu hypothesizes that Marescalchi came into
possession of an example of the collection published by Le Clerc and decided to expand the number of
variations by inserting another 12. However, the most authoritative source of Tartini's collection, to which
the national edition refers, is instead a non-autograph manuscript preserved in Padua and copied in
Tartini's circle, entitled Variations of Signor Giuseppe Tartini. The frontispiece is in fact attributable to
Giovanni De Zotti, violinist of the Chapel of the Basilica of Sant'Antonio in Padua. This source contains
40 variations corresponding - albeit with some slight discrepancies in the numbering - to the 38 of the Le
Clerc edition, with the addition of two variations to date unknown. From this framework we can therefore
deduce the complexity of a historical-critical and philological work based on the comparison of witnesses
who hand down groups of different variations. The third paragraph entitled The art of the bow as an
artistic challenge briefly presents the complexity and experimentation present in the 'Opera; finally, in the
fourth and final part, Cossu illustrates the aspects relating to the history of the reception of Tartini's
collection. The curator explains how in the nineteenth century the variations were a valid didactic support
in learning the violin, being useful exercises for the bow and for articulation and technique of the left
hand. Ferdinand David (1810-1873), for example, ed. It is the most important and widespread of the
nineteenth-century revisions entitled Die Kunst der Bogenführung. 50 Variationen über eine Gavotte für
die Violine mit Begleitung eines Basso continuo composed by Giuseppe Tartini, published in 1880. The
David revision stands out for the accuracy of the phrasing and fingerings and allows the mutations to
become a preparatory exercise also for the violin literature of the mid-nineteenth century. A second aspect
of the reception that Cossu highlights concerns the use of the variations as concert pieces. These are
transcriptions of the Art of the bow by some violinists, such as Fritz Kreisler, Zino Francescatti, Mario
Corti, Eduard Melkus, designed not so much for didactic purposes , but with the aim of creating virtuosic
pieces to be performed perhaps at the end of a recital. These adaptations have certainly contributed to the
knowledge and circulation of the collection in a completely different form from the original didactic
purpose. Beyond the technical characteristics and historical problems linked to this specific Tartini work,
it would perhaps have made sense to include some reflections on the type of bow likely used in Tartini's
time. In fact, the The emission of the sound and the rendering of the variations, for the performers of
yesterday as well as for those of today, is also favored by the type of bow used. The period in which
Tartini lived represents a time of great changes and experiments in the construction of bows, of which the
same musician was interpreter. The bow of the early eighteenth century was certainly more agile than a
classic bow depending on its weight, therefore, more suitable for dealing with technical peculiarities
present in some variations of the collection, in which for example the bow needs to jump quickly. We also
remember that two important evidence of the “Tartini” bow; these are in fact two bows kept in the
Conservatory of Trieste and probably belonged to the Piran composer (P.DA COL-A.AIRENTI-F.
LOWENBERGER, The Tartini Violin Relics, «The Galpin Society Journal »64, 2011, pp.248-199). The
introductory section of the volume is followed by the critical edition of the 40 variations by Tartini.
Despite the uncertainty of the certain attribution to Tartini, the editor, for completeness, has decided to
also include Pinelli's 17 variations and Marescalchi's 12 in the appendix. Compared to the normalization
of some alterations, the solutions adopted by the editor regarding the signs of articulation and the
restitution of the ligatures make the edition easier for the performers. In fact, most of the editorial
interventions are integrated into the text, distinguished by the minor body. Triplets and irregular groups
are not reported by the witnesses are added in square brackets. Variations and additional notes are instead
reported in the apparatus. As already mentioned, one of the most important problems is the interpretation
of the ligatures, since the primary reference sources are imprecise in this regard. Also in this case, the
indications deriving from the autographs are taken as text, while the ligatures affixed by editorial choice
are hatched. The bass is given without realization, however a proposal for the continuation is integrated
both for the 40 variations and for leap appendices, edited by harpsichordist Roberto Loreggian. The result
is a clear and readable piece of music, certainly functional to a work that still has a strong didactic
purpose today. On pp. 49-55 we read the critical apparatus which presents the concise description of each
handwritten or printed witness. In addition to the sources mentioned above, two fragments were also used,
consisting of a single paper and today kept in the "Luciano Benincasa" municipal library of Ancona. The
first (Ms.T62E) is a fragment by an unknown hand and reports only the first six variations corresponding
to those handed down from the Paduan manuscript and the Le Clerc edition. The second (Ms. T62F)
instead reports the variations from 24 to 33, also in this case corresponding to the Padua manuscript and
the Le Clerc edition, probably by the hand of Francesco Melato, also a pupil of Tartini. Finally, the
printed sources also include two Parisian editions of 1798 and 1801 respectively by the French luthier and
publisher Decombe . The volume is completed with a list of variants. However, what is missing is a
detailed plan of the work from which the structure of the editorial plan, the planned series and the related
volumes can be clearly deduced. Considering the role played by Tartini in the evolution of violin teaching
and how much his contribution is also useful to today's violinists, this volume can be considered a more
than meritorious undertaking. The integral edition projectral of Tartini's musical corpus is, however, only
at the first stage. It is hoped that, despite the difficulties that national edition projects usually encounter in
their path, publication times can proceed quickly, in order to return to musicians and scholars a more
reliable version of the music of the "Master of the Nations".