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CHAPTER 6

GENETICS, EVOLUTION, AND PERSONALITY

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Determining Genetic Influence on Personality


Twin Study Method
Adoption Research
What Personality Qualities are Genetically Influenced?
Temperaments: Activity, Sociability, and Emotionality
More Recent Views of Temperaments
Inheritance of Traits
Temperaments and the Five-Factor Model
Genetics of Other Qualities: How Distinct Are They?
Environmental Influences
New Approaches to Genetics and Personality
Correlations Between Genetic and Environmental Influences
Gene-by-Environment Interactions
Environmental Effects on Gene Expression
Molecular Genetics
Evolution and Human Behavior
Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology
Genetic Similarity and Attraction
Mate Selection and Competition for Mates
Mate Retention and Other Issues
Aggression and the Young Male Syndrome
Assessment
Problems in Behavior, and Behavior Change
Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Substance Use and Antisocial Behavior
Evolution and Problems in Behavior
Behavior Change: How Much Is Possible?
Genetics and Evolution: Problems and Prospects
Summary

CHAPTER SUMMARY

The approach to personality rooted in inheritance and evolution has two facets. One of them emphasizes
that your personality is tied to the biological body you inherit. This idea goes far back in history, but today’s
version of the idea is quite different, emphasizing the role of genes.
Behavior genetics provides ways to find out whether personality differences are inherited. In twin studies,
correlations among identical twins are compared with correlations among fraternal twins; in adoption studies,
children are compared with their biological and adoptive families. Studies of identical twins raised apart provide
yet a different look at the effects of inheritance and environment.
Twin research has been used to look at genetic contributions to a variety of dispositions, starting with
temperaments: broad inherited traits that appear early in life. Evidence supports genetic influences on activity
level, emotionality, and sociability. Other temperaments have been suggested, including temperaments for
approach, avoidance, and effortful control. There also is evidence of genetic influence in the big five supertraits
and other variables. It’s unclear whether the big five derive from (or duplicate) the temperaments studied under
other names. It is also unclear whether hereditary influences on other variables depend on associations between
the other variable and a temperament. Recent developments in molecular genetics provide a new tool in the

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Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
search for genetic influences on personality. Now there is evidence of specific genes playing roles in traits,
including novelty seeking and neuroticism.
The idea that dispositions are genetically influenced can be extended a step further, to the suggestion
that many aspects of human social behavior are products of evolution. This idea is behind an area of work termed
sociobiology or evolutionary psychology. Sociobiologists propose ways to account for various aspects of human
behavior, even behavior that on the face of it seems not to provide an evolutionary advantage. Altruism, for
example, is understood as people acting for the benefit of their family groups, so that the family’s genes are more
likely to be continued (kin selection). This idea has been extended to the notion that people are attracted to other
people who share their genetic makeup.
The evolutionary view also has implications concerning mate selection, including the idea that males and
females use different strategies. The male strategy is to mate whenever possible, and males are drawn to signs of
reproductive capability. The female strategy is to seek the best male available, and females are drawn to signs of
resources. People use the relevant strategies and act in ways that make them seem better candidates as mates.
Mating pressures also may lead to aggression among young men. Theory suggests that violence is most likely
among men of reproductive age who are in poor reproductive circumstances. Evidence seems to bear this out,
along with the idea that much violence concerns conflicts over status.
The genetic approach to personality says little about assessment except to suggest what dispositions are
particularly important to assess—those that have biological links. Assessment directly from genes seems unlikely
soon, due to the probable involvement of many genes in any given trait. With regard to problems in behavior,
there is substantial evidence that schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder are affected by heredity, as are
substance abuse tendencies and antisocial tendencies. As elsewhere, this area is beginning to use the tools of
molecular biology to search for genetic influences.
With regard to therapeutic behavior change, this approach raises a question on the basis of studies of
temperament: How much can people be expected to change, even with therapy, in directions that deviate from
their biological makeup?

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Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
KEY TERMS

Adoption study: A study of resemblances between children and their adoptive and biological parents.

Allele: Some version of a particular gene.

Approach temperament: Temperamental tendency to approach rewards.

Assortative mating: Mating based on choice of specific characteristics rather than random.

Avoidance temperament: Temperamental tendency to avoid threats.

Behavioral genetics: The study of inheritance of behavioral qualities.

Candidate gene strategy: Testing specific genes because evidence links them to particular biological
processes and theory links those processes to personality.

Concordance: Agreement on some characteristic between a twin and a co-twin.

Directional selection: Evolution in which one extreme of a dimension is more adaptive than the other.

Dizygotic (DZ) twins: Fraternal twins (overlapping genetically 50%, on average).

Ectomorphy: A tendency toward frail thinness.

Effortful control: A tendency to be focused, restrained, and planful.

Endomorphy: A tendency toward obesity.

Epigenetic: An effect that is not on DNA but affects DNA functioning and can be inherited.

Gene expression: Activity in which the gene engages in the processes that create a protein.

Genetic similarity theory: The idea that people work toward reproducing genes similar to their own.

Genome: The sequence of the genes contained in the full complement of chromosomes.

Genomics: See molecular genetics.

Genome-wide association study (GWAS): Study in which all genes are tested at once.

Genotype: The particular version of a gene that a given person or group has.

GxE: Gene by environment interaction, in which the environment produces different outcomes depending on
genetic composition.

Heritability: An estimate of how much variance of some characteristic is accounted for by inheritance.

Inclusive fitness: The passing on of genes through the survival of relatives.

Mesomorphy: A tendency toward muscularity.

Methylation: The attachment of methyl chemical groups to a gene or surrounding material.

Molecular genetics: The study of how alleles of specific genes relate to other observed differences.

Monozygotic (MZ) twins: Identical twins (overlapping genetically 100%).

Nonshared environment effect: Effect of the environment that makes twins differ.

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Polymorphism: The characteristic of having more than one allele for a given gene.

Reciprocal altruism: Helping others with the expectation the help will be returned.

Siblings: Brothers and sisters.

Sociobiology The study of the evolutionary basis for social behavior.

Stabilizing selection: Evolution in which intermediate values of a dimension are most adaptive.

Temperaments: Inherited traits that appear early in life.

Twin study: A study comparing similarity between MZ twins against similarity between DZ twins.

Quantitative genetics: The study of how much variance in a characteristic is attributable to genetics versus environment.

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Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
TEST ITEMS

Multiple Choice

(a/112) 1. Hippocrates proposed _________ personality types.

a. 4
b. 6
c. 8
d. 10

(d/112) 2. Galen added to Hippocrates' four personality types the idea that:

a. there were two additional types.


b. the personality types could be combined.
c. the personality types could not be combined.
d. each type reflect an excess of some bodily fluid.

(b/112) 3. In the first half of the twentieth century, physical makeup referred to _________,
whereas now it refers to _________.

a. genes, physique
b. physique, genes
c. genes, brain processes
d. brain processes, genes

(c/113 4. Kretschmer examined the relationship between physique and:


Box 6.1)
a. body type.
b. physical sensitivity.
c. psychological disorders.
d. bodily humors.

(b/113 5. Compared to Kretschmer's theory, Sheldon's theory concentrates more on:


Box 6.1)
a. early childhood vulnerabilities.
b. normal qualities of personality.
c. gender differences in body type and personality.
d. skeletal and muscular differences.

(a/113 6. According to Sheldon, each body characteristic reflects:


Box 6.1)
a. an overemphasis on one of the layers of the embryo.
b. the interaction between genetically-determined physiology and environmental
pressure.
c. brain-wave activity.
d. hormone level fluctuations.

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(c/113) 7. When twins have no more in common than other siblings, they are said to be
_________ twins.

a. monozygotic
b. identical
c. dizygotic
d. congenital

(a/113) 8. Dizygotic twins:

a. share the same amount of genetic material as a pair of brothers/sisters.


b. are the result of an unusual occurrence shortly after conception.
c. develop from one fertilized egg.
d. all of the above

(d/114) 9. Twin studies are based on the assumption that:

a. fraternal twins raised together are exposed to much the same life experiences.
b. fraternal twins raised together are treated differently because of their differing
physical characteristics.
c. identical twins raised together are treated differently because of their differing
personalities.
d. both identical and fraternal twins raised together are exposed to much the same life
experiences.

(b/114) 10. If dizygotic twins think they are monozygotic twins:

a. they are more resentful of their siblings.


b. they are less resentful of their siblings.
c. they are more like their siblings.
d. they are less like their siblings.

(c/114) 11. If the correlation for a given personality trait in a set of same-sex fraternal twins is
.25 and the correlation for that same personality trait is .75 in a set of identical
twins, we can assume the heritability estimate is approximately:

a. .50
b. .25
c. 1.00
d. none of the above

(d/114) 12. In an adoption study, resemblances are measured between the adopted child and:

a. the biological parent.


b. the biological parent and siblings (if any).
c. the adoptive parent and siblings (if any).
d. both biological parent and adoptive parent.

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(b/115) 13. If heredity is REALLY important, then:

a. fraternal twins should be more similar than identical twins if they have been raised
apart.
b. identical twins raised apart should be nearly as similar as identical twins raised
together.
c. fraternal twins raised apart should be more similar than identical twins raised together.
d. there should be no differences between identical twins and fraternal twins raised
together.

(d/115) 14. According to Buss and Plomin, temperaments include:

a. activity level.
b. sociability.
c. emotionality.
d. all of the above

(a/115) 15. The two aspects of activity level are:

a. vigor and tempo.


b. vigor and arousal.
c. tempo and arousal.
d. arousal and responsiveness.

(c/115) 16. Emotionality is defined by Buss and Plomin as the:

a. tendency to experience positive emotion.


b. tendency to experience disgust.
c. tendency to become aroused easily.
d. all of the above

(c/115) 17. Parent ratings of Buss’s and Plomin’s temperaments for their twins are:

a. weakly correlated for both monozygotic and dizygotic twins.


b. strongly correlated for both monozygotic and dizygotic twins.
c. strongly correlated for monozygotic twins, but virtually uncorrelated for dizygotic
twins.
d. weakly correlated for monozygotic twins, but virtually uncorrelated for dizygotic twins.

(d/116) 18. A recent developmental approach to understanding temperaments suggests which of


these?

a. approach
b. avoidance
c. effortful control
d. all of the above

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(b/116) 19. When researchers examine whether the five basic factors of personality are genetically
influenced, they have found:

a. no evidence for a genetic influence.


b. self-report evidence suggests that they are but observer reports are inconclusive.
c. self-report and observer reports both suggest that they are, but research has not been done
cross-culturally.
d. self-report, observer report, and cross-cultural research all suggest that they are.

(a/116) 20. Neuroticism is highly similar to the temperaments of:

a. emotionality and avoidance.


b. emotionality and need for intimacy.
c. emotionality and dependence.
d. none of the above

(c/116) 21. According to Eysenck, the big-five trait of extraversion may be a blend of which of the
following temperaments?

a. emotionality and sociability


b. activity and emotionality
c. activity and sociability
d. none of the above

(b/116) 22. The concept of emotionality is most similar to the big five trait of:

a. extraversion.
b. neuroticism.
c. openness.
d. agreeableness.

(b/117) 23. Recent evidence suggests that _________ has all the characteristics Buss and Plomin
use to define temperaments.

a. hostility
b. intelligence
c. conscientiousness
d. greediness

(b/118) 24. The environment tends to affect twins:

a. by making them more similar.


b. by making them more different.
c. by making dizygotic twins more similar.
d. not at all in terms of similarity/difference.

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(c/119) 25. Which of the following is true about what psychologists have thought about the
interplay between genes and environment?

a. It was originally assumed these influences are distinct, and that has been supported by
the evidence.
b. It was originally assumed these influences are distinct, and that has turned out to be
overly simplified.
c. It was originally assumed these influences are independent, and that has been
supported by the evidence.
d. It was originally assumed these influences are independent, and that has turned out to
be overly simplified.

(d/120) 26. Methylation:

a. affects gene expression.


b. can be affected by stress.
c. can be affected by diet.
d. all of the above

(c/121) 27. When different patterns of genetic differences can occur at a particular location, they
are called:

a. polymorphisms.
b mutations.
c. alleles.
d. genomes.

(b/121) 28. The attempt to relate differences in gene locations with other differences in persons
is called:

a. quantitative genetics.
b. molecular genetics.
c. bio-behavioral genetics.
d. none of the above

(d/122) 29. Single-gene discoveries have found genetic influences for:

a. novelty-seeking.
b. neuroticism.
c. agreeableness.
d. all of the above

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(d/123 30. There is evidence that higher levels of disease prevalence in a given environment
Box 6.2) is associated with:

a. more neuroticism.
b. less neuroticism.
c. more openness to experience.
d. less openness to experience.

(c/123 31. _________ is a process in which one version of a characteristic (or one end of
Box 6.2) a dimension) is represented in the next generation to either a greater or lesser
degree.

a. Extremity selection
b. Allele selection
c. Directional selection
d. Stabilizing selection

(d/123 32. _________ is a process in which the intermediate value of some characteristic
Box 6.2) is more adaptive than is the value at either end of the distribution.

a. Adaptive selection
b. Allelel selection
c. Directional selection
d. Stabilizing selection

(b/124) 33. Sociobiologists explain altruism by invoking the concept of:

a. docility.
b. inclusive fitness.
c. imprinting.
d. moral exclusivity.

(c/124) 34.There is evidence that _________ explains the effect of genetic relatedness on
altruism.

a. similar upbringing.
b. parental directives.
c. emotional closeness.
d. all of the above

(a/125) 35. Rushton’s genetic similarity theory suggests that:

a. people will be more attracted to those who resemble them genetically.


b. same-sex pairs do not contribute to gene reproduction.
c. altruism toward one's kinship group is maladaptive.
d. opposites attract.

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(c/125) 36. Recent research on sexually involved couples indicated that genetically similar couples:

a. were less likely to get divorced.


b. were more likely to get married.
c. were more likely to have reproduced.
d. all of the above

(b/126) 37. The idea that people choose mates on the basis of particular characteristics is called:

a. directional selection.
b. assortative mating.
c. selective mating.
d. intuitive mating.

(d/127) 38. In the competition for mates, Buss found that women tend to:

a. play hard to get.


b. enhance their physical appearance.
c. are drawn to cues regarding availability of resources.
d. all of the above

(c/128) 39. Both men and women view the following qualities as necessities in a potential mate:

a. attractiveness and status


b. intelligence and status
c. intelligence and kindness
d. attractiveness and kindness

(d/128) 40. Compared to women, men are:

a. less selective in their critieria for one-night stands.


b. more interested in casual sex.
c. more easily excited by visual erotica.
d. all of the above

(a/129) 41. Compared to women, men are:

a. more concerned about thoughts of sexual infidelity.


b. more concerned about thoughts of emotional infidelity.
c. equally concerned about sexual and emotional infidelity.
d. none of the above

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(a/129) 42. According to the evolutionary perspective on sex differences in mating tendencies,
women are most jealous of _________ whereas men are most jealous of _________.

a. emotional infidelity, sexual infidelity


b. sexual infidelity, emotional infidelity
c. emotional infidelity, emotional infidelity
d. sexual infidelity, sexual infidelity

(c/129) 43. Men tend to _________ cues from potential mates in terms of implying sexual
interest; women tend to _________ cues from potential mates in terms of
commitment levels.

a. overinterpret, overinterpret
b. underinterpret, underinterpret
c. underinterpret, overinterpret
d. overinterpret, underinterpret

(c/130) 44. The young male syndrome refers to the fact that:

a. when given a choice most parents would rather adopt a young male.
b. young men often father unwanted children.
c. young males may have evolved to behave violently when confronted with scarce
resources.
d. none of the above

(c/130) 45. The current sociobiological view is that aggression:

a. is part of human nature, expressed indiscriminately.


b. is both a male and a female phenomenon.
c. results from sexual selection pressures.
d. all of the above

(a/131 46.Which of the following is NOT a valid concern about mapping the human
Box 6.3) genome?

a. It will take many more years to complete.


b. It could lead to discrimination against people with certain genetic profiles.
c. It could lead to so-called "designer babies."
d. All of the above are valid criticisms.

(c/132) 47. In terms of assessment, the biological orientation to personality is most similar to the:

a. psychodynamic perspective.
b. learning perspective.
c. trait perspective.
d. phenomenological perspective.

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(d/132) 48. Molecular genetics researchers suggest that, in terms of genes contributing to
personality, effects are likely due to:

a. single genes exerting large effects.


b. multiple genes, each exerting large effects.
c. singles genes exerting small effects.
d. singles genes, each exerting small effects.

(b/132) 49. The majority of behavioral genetics research on problem behavior has focused on:

a. alcoholism and schizophrenia.


b. schizophrenia and biplar disorder.
c. depression and alcoholism.
d. bipolar disorder and alcoholism.

(d/133) 50. The interaction between genetic susceptibility for schizophrenia and an environmental
context that touches it off resembles the _________ model.

a. cross-over
b. inclusive fitness
c. heritability
d. diathesis-stress

(c/ 51. The concordance rate for schizophrenia among identical twins is _________; among
132-133) fraternal twins, it is _________.

a. 20%, 12%
b. 35%, 35%
c. 50%, 9%
d. 75%, 20%

(c/133) 52. The long allele on DRD4, a gene related to measures of reward seeking, has been linked
to:

a. alcoholism but not heroin addition.


b. heroin addition but not alcoholoism.
c. both alocholism and heroin addition.
d. none of the above, it is only related to schizophrenia

(c/134) 53. According to Barash, behavior problems reflect the fact that:

a. biological evolution has progressed faster than cultural evolution.


b. there is more biological variability in the present than ever before.
c. cultural evolution has progressed faster than biological evolution.
d. none of the above

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(b/136) 54. Both sociobiology and evolutionary psychology have been criticized because:

a. they are not theoretically grounded.


b. their statements have disturbing political overtones.
c. there are no data to support either of them.
d. all of the above

(a/ 55. Which of the following is NOT a valid criticism of the sociobiology and
135-136) evolutionary psychology approaches?

a. Early arguments were derived from evidence but provided no theoretical interpretation.
b. Some of the ideas are not falsifiable.
c. Some of the ideas are not testable.
d. All of the above are valid criticisms.

True and False

(T/112) 1. In discussing physical makeup, psychologists early in the last century meant physique
whereas now they mean genetics.

(F/112) 2. Hippocrates proposed that there were 12 different personality types.

(T/112) 3. Galen added to Hippocrates’ ideas by arguing that each personality "type" reflects an
excess of some bodily fluid.

(T/112) 4. Behavioral genetics is the study of genetic influences on behavioral expression.

(F/112) 5. Behavioral genetics examines genetic influences on behavior but not personality.

(F/112) 6. Identical twins are the result of two eggs being fertilized at the same time.

(T/112) 7. Monozygotic twins are 100% alike genetically.

(F/113) 8. Identical twins are known as dizygotic twins.

(T/113) 9. Opposite-sex twins are, by definition, dizygotic.

(T/113) 10. Genetically, dizygotic twins are like any other pair of brothers, pair of sisters, or brother and sister.

(F/113) 11. If two eggs are released from the mother’s ovary and both are fertilized and develop
simultaneously, the result is monozygotic twins.

(T/ 12. Kretschmer believed that people with different body types were susceptible to
Box 6.1) different kinds of disorders.

(T/113 13. Sheldon believed that each somatotype reflected an overemphasis, during
Box 6.1) development, of one of the layers of the embryo.

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Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
(F/113 14. Endomorphy reflects predominance of the skin and nervous system.
Box 6.1)
(F/113 15. Viscerotonia is a temperament characterized by apprehensiveness, avoidance of
Box 6.1) social interaction, and physical and emotional restraint.

(T/114) 16. The basic assumption of twin studies is that both identical and fraternal twins who are
raised together are exposed to essentially the same life experiences.

(F/114) 17. Adoption studies are a means of studying the effects of adoption on a child’s
psychological characteristics such as self-esteem.

(T/115) 18. Activity level consists of two aspects, vigor and tempo.

(T/115) 19. Emotionality is the tendency to become aroused easily.

(F/115) 20. Buss and Plomin proposed the three basic temperaments of neuroticism, sociability,
and emotionality.

(F/115) 21. Research has found that parent ratings of the temperaments were strongly correlated
for both monozygotic and dizygotic twins.

(T/115) 22. In addition to research using parent ratings, adoption research has also supported the
notion that temperaments are genetically influenced.

(T/116) 23. Mary Rothbart and colleagues proposed three different temperaments: approach,
avoidance, and effortful control.

(T/116) 24. Effortful control involves attentional management in addition to the ability to suppress
behavior when situationally inappropriate.

(F/116) 25. There's not much evidence for the heritability of personality factors in general.

(T/116) 26. There are a number of similarities between the five-factor model of personality and
biologically-based temperaments.

(T/116) 27. Evidence for the heritability of the five personality dimensions is consistent across all
of the traits.

(F/116) 28. Although there is good evidence for the heritability of the five personality dimensions
in the West, there is no evidence that this holds cross-culturally.

(F/116) 29. When researchers tried to videotape behavior and have people who didn’t know
participants code their behavior, they did not find evidence for genetic influences on
traits.

(T/116) 30. Eysenck has suggested that extraversion may be a blend of sociability and activity.

(T/117) 31. Intelligence has the qualities that Buss and Plomin use to define temperaments.

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(F/117) 32. Heredity does not appear to influence how much social support people have.

(T/117) 33. Risk of divorce is related to heredity.

(T/118) 34. The environment affects twins’ personality primarily by making them different from
one another.

(F/119) 35. According to Dickens and Flynn, researchers have a clear understanding of the
correlations between genetic and environmental influences on the same outcome.

(T/120) 36. Gene expression is the term used to describe the process of genes creating protein.

(F/121) 37. Twin research is referred to as molecular genetics.

(T/122) 38. Researchers have suggested that most genetic influences involve small contributions
from many genes.

(F/123 39. Directional selection occurs when an intermediate value of some characteristic is
Box 6.2) more adaptive than the value at either end of the distribution.

(T/124) 40. According to sociobiologists, inclusive fitness explains why human beings are altruistic.

(T/126) 41. The general idea that people choose mates on the basis of particular
characteristics is called assortative mating.

(F/126) 42. In the competition for mates, Buss reports clear cultural differences in what attracts
males and females.

(T/127) 43. The mere presence of women tends to lead men to flex their muscles, brag about
earning capacity, and display expensive items.

(F/128) 44. Exposure to a dominant man does nothing to affect women’s commitment if they are
already in a relationship.

(F/129) 45. There's little difference between men and women in the circumstances that elicit
jealousy.

(T/129) 46. According to Buss, married men try to retain their wives by spending money on them
and by giving in to their wives’ wishes.

(F/129) 47. Men and women have very similar needs in communication.

(T/130) 48. The young male syndrome is more likely to appear among unmarried, unemployed
men.

(F/131) 49. Genetic competition does not play a role in violence within families.

(T/132) 50. Research has shown that there is a genetic component to schizophrenia.

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(T/133) 51. Fifty percent of identical twins of people diagnosed with schizophrenia also have
schizophrenia.

(F/133) 52. Researchers have not yet found a genetic component to bipolar disorder.

(T/133) 53. Research has identified a particular gene that is associated with alcohol cravings after
consuming a small amount.

(T/133) 54. Eysenck has found high concordance rates in identical twins for alcoholism.

(T/134) 55. Barash has argued that the speed of cultural evolution relative to biological evolution
has contributed to behavior problems.

(F/135) 56. Sociobiology has been criticized for not having enough theory to explain relevant data.

(T/136) 57. Evolutionary psychology has been criticized for some of its political and social
implications.

Short Essay

(113
Box 6.1) 1. Briefly describe the three temperaments that Sheldon proposed and their
corresponding somatotype.

VISCEROTONIA: relaxation, tolerance, sociability, love of comfort, and easygoingness. Corresponds to


endomorphy (plumpness).
SOMATOTONIA: courage, energetic assertiveness, and desire for adventure, risk, and physical activity.
Corresponds to mesomorphy (muscularity).
CEREBRATONIA: mental overintensity, inhibition and avoidance of social interaction, physical and emotional
restraint, and tendency toward privacy. Corresponds to ectomorphy (thinness).

(112-114) 2. Briefly explain the steps involved in conducting twin studies.

(1) Pairs of identical twins are compared with each other on a particular characteristic, as are pairs of (same-sex)
fraternal twins; (2) these two correlations are compared with each other. If identical twins are more similar to
each other than fraternal twins, it must be due to the differences in genetic similarity. (This conclusion could not
be drawn if parents treated fraternal twins differently from identical twins.)

(113-114) 3. Briefly explain what a heritability estimate represents.

The heritability estimate represents the amount of variance in a trait that is accounted for by inheritance. It can be
considered an index of the genetic influence on a personality trait. The higher the heritability estimate, the
stronger the evidence that genes matter.

91
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
(115) 4. Define and briefly describe Buss and Plomin's concepts of activity level, sociability, and
emotionality.

ACTIVITY LEVEL: Refers to overall output of energy or behavior. It has two intercorrelated aspects: (1) vigor,
i.e., intensity/amplitude of behavior; (2) tempo, i.e., speed of activities.
SOCIABILITY: The tendency to prefer being with others rather than being alone. Involves the desire for other
people's attention, to share activities and for the responsiveness and stimulation that are part of social interaction.
To be sociable is to intrinsically value the interaction process.
EMOTIONALITY: The tendency to become autonomically (physically) aroused in upsetting situations. Only
pertains to three emotions (distress, anger, and fear).

(116-117) 5. Choose two traits from the five-factor model of personality and describe how they
relate to the different temperament categories.

NEUROTICISM: same concept as the temperament of emotionality.


EXTRAVERSION: linked to sociability and activity level.
AGREEABLENESS: has overtones of sociability
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS: partly defined by lack of impulsiveness.
OPENNESS or INTELLECT: linked with intelligence.

(124) 6. How would a sociobiologist account for the existence of altruism?

The process of evolution is not really a matter of individual survival. What matters is a gene "pool," distributed
across a population. If one group survives and reproduces at a high rate, its genes move on to subsequent
generations more than other groups' genes do. In addition to individual reproduction, genes are carried forward to
the next generation by anything that helps your part of the gene pool reproduce (inclusive fitness). If you do an
altruistic deed for a relative, it helps the relative survive. If an altruistic act (in which you die) saves a great many
of your relatives, it helps aspects of your genetic makeup to be passed on, because your relatives are genetically
similar to you, i.e., "kin selection." Thus, the tendency to be altruistic may be genetically based.

(128-129) 7. Explain the different circumstances for which men and women experience
jealousy. Why do these differences exist (from an evolutionary psychology
viewpoint)?

Men are more jealous about acts of sexual infidelity because it is evolutionarily important for men to be concerned
about paternity so that they are not supporting someone else's children. Women are more jealous about acts of
emotional infidelity because women are theoretically more concerned with whether the man will be there to
support her and her children.

92
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
(130) 8. Briefly describe the young male syndrome and its evolutionary pressures/roots.

"When there is competition for scarce resources (females), the result is confrontational behavior and potentially
serious violence." This pattern is known as the young male syndrome. It may partly be the consequence of long-
ago evolutionary pressures and partly a response to situational demands. Although the pattern of behavior may
be coded in every man's makeup, it is likely to appear among men whose present situations predict reproductive
failure, e.g., unmarried and unemployed males.

(131) 9. What are the implications of mapping the human genome for dealing with disease?

Having a map of the human genome will make it easier to locate the genes that cause a specific disorder. People
could be warned if they carry a gene for a disorder they might pass on to a child. Extensive "gene therapy" could
actually alter genetic instructions to eliminate defects. In addition, by permitting identification of a person's genetic
weaknesses, a map of the genome will usher in a new era of preventive medicine, which will dramatically change
the way we deal with disease.

93
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TEST YOURSELF 6-1

Source: Buss, A. H., & Plomin, R. (1984). Temperament: Early developing personality traits. Hillsdale, N.J.:
Erlbaum.

Description of Scale: This book presents items from the EAS Temperament Survey for adults (Buss & Plomin,
1984). The EAS provides scores on five separate dimensions--sociability, activity level, distress, fear, and anger.
These last three dimensions--distress, fear, and anger--are all measures of components of emotionality. Students
respond to each item by using a five-point scale to indicate the extent to which each statement is typical of
themselves (ranging from 1 [not at all typical] to 5 [very typical]). Sample items include "I like to be with people"
(sociability) or "My life is fast-paced" (activity level).

The personality traits measured by this instrument are temperaments--biologically based dispositional tendencies
that are inherited. The three basic qualities measured by these scales--i.e., sociability, activity level, and
emotionality--are characteristics that are very pervasive in their influence. They affect what people do (e.g.,
engaging in solitary versus group activities). They also affect how people do virtually everything they do (e.g.,
quickly and with a lot of vigor, versus slowly and casually). Indeed, these qualities of temperament may be at the
heart of all of personality, in the sense that other personality dispositions may be built on them as a foundation.

PRIMARY SOURCES

Buss, A. H., & Plomin, R. (1984). Temperament: Early developing personality traits. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Buss, D. M. (1991). Evolutionary personality psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 42, 459-492.

Buss, D. M. (1994). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. New York: Basic Books.

Buss, D. M. (1995). Evolutionary psychology: A new paradigm for psychological science. Psychological Inquiry,
6, 1-30.

Plomin, R., DeFries, J. C., & McClearn, G. E. (1980). Behavioral genetics: A primer. San Francisco: Freeman.

Halverson, C. F., Jr., Kohnstamm, G. A., & Martin, R. P. (Eds.) (1994). The developing structure of
temperament and personality from infancy to adulthood. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Kagan, J. (1994). Galen's prophecy: Temperament in human nature. New York: Basic Books.

Wilson, E. O. (1975). Sociobiology: The new synthesis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

94
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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Pierre Rode (1774-1830) was the greatest of the players of this
period. He was for two years a pupil of Viotti, and when he made his
initial public appearance in 1790 at the Théâtre de Monsieur he
played Viotti’s thirteenth concerto in such a way as to win instantly
the admiration of all musical Paris. Considering that he was then but
a boy of sixteen, and that Paris was accustomed to the playing of
Kreutzer, Viotti, Gaviniés and other violinists of undisputed
greatness, one can have little doubt that Rode had the power of true
genius. This is further borne out by the fact that when he passed
through Brunswick on a concert tour to Poland in 1803, Spohr heard
him and was so struck with admiration for his style that he
determined to train himself with the ideal of Rode in his mind. Later
his playing fell off sadly and even in Paris he finally ceased to hold
the favor of the public.

Like Kreutzer he came into contact with Beethoven. Beethoven’s


sonata for violin in G major (opus 96) was completed for Rode, and
was apparently performed for the first time (1812) by Rode and
Beethoven’s pupil, the Archduke Rudolph. Even then, however,
Rode’s playing was faulty, and, according to Thayer, Beethoven sent
a copy of the violin part to him that he might study it before
attempting a second performance.

Like Kreutzer’s, Rode’s compositions, with the exception of twenty-


five caprices written as exercises, have been nearly forgotten. And
yet, though Rode was without conspicuous musicianship, he had a
gift for melody which made his compositions widely popular in their
day. Of his thirteen concertos two, the first, in D minor, the eleventh,
in A minor, were in the repertory of Paganini, who, moreover,
professed a high admiration for Rode. And among the earliest of his
compositions was a theme in G major, with variations, which won
such broad success that it was transposed and arranged for the
voice, and sung again and again on the stages of Paris.[51] Perhaps
only Paganini’s variations on the ‘Carnival of Venice’ have been so
popular.
Pierre Marie François de Sales Baillot (1771-1842) was the last of
the great French violinists of this time. Though as a mere boy he was
an accomplished player, and though he spent some years in Italy as
a pupil of Pollani (who was a disciple of Nardini’s), he seems not to
have decided to take up the profession of music until 1795. At this
time, according to Fétis, he first became thoroughly acquainted with
the masterpieces of the Italian classical composers, Corelli, Tartini,
and others, and the enthusiasm they stirred in him settled the future
course of his career. Upon the founding of the Conservatoire he was
appointed professor of violin playing, with Kreutzer and Gaviniés.
Subsequently he was active as a teacher, and not only as a solo
player but as a quartet leader. His was the greatest share in the
preparation of the Méthode which has already been mentioned. He
was a friend of Mendelssohn and of Ferdinand Hiller, and was much
admired by them for his qualities both as a player and as a leader.
His compositions, including fifteen trios for two violins and bass,
various studies, nine concertos, and a series of twenty-four preludes
for violin in all keys, have suffered the fate that has overtaken the
music of his friends and colleagues, Kreutzer and Rode. But his
instruction book, L’art du violin, is still worthy of most careful study,
not only for the technical advantages of its many exercises, but for
his own remarks on the condition of violin music in his day. These
offer to the student the best analysis of the qualities of the Paris
school of violin music, and of the relations of that school to the past.

II
The French school of classic violin music, represented by Rode and
Baillot, may be said to have come to an end at least partly by the
influence of Paganini. This greatest of all virtuosos made his first
appearance in Paris on March 9, 1831, after having astonished
Austria and Germany. His success was here as elsewhere
instantaneous and practically unbounded; and the examples his
playing offered of extraordinary technical effects became the model
for subsequent French violinists.
There are three virtuosos of the violin whose names stand out
conspicuously in the history of violin music: Locatelli, Lolli, and
Paganini. Each of these men is noted for special and in many ways
overstretched efforts to bring out of the instrument sounds and
combinations of sounds which, in that they can have little true
musical significance and are indeed often of questionable beauty,
are considered rather a sign of charlatanism than of true genius. This
really means that the men are not geniuses as musicians, but as
performers. Their intelligence is concentrated upon a discovery of
the unusual. They adopt any means to the end of astonishing the
multitude, such as altering the conventional tuning of the instrument,
and employing kinds of strings which are serviceable only in the
production of certain effects.

Of Locatelli some mention has already been made. He was a pupil of


Corelli and the serious traditions of his master have found a worthy
expression in many of his own works. On the other hand, his twenty-
four caprices, in the L’arte del Violino (1733), and the Caprices
enigmatiques in the L’arte di nuova modulazione, are sheer virtuoso
music and little more. They are the prototypes for many of the
studies and caprices of Paganini, who apparently devoted himself
almost with frenzy to the study of these caprices during the year
1804.

But Locatelli was a thorough musician as well as an astonishing


virtuoso. The type of empty-headed virtuoso who has apparently
nothing in his musical equipment but tricks, is represented by
Antonio Lolli (1730-1802). Here was a man who won unprecedented
success in most of the capitals of Europe, yet who, by all accounts,
knew little or nothing about music. Indeed, there is something
pathetic in his frank admission that he was an ass. ‘How can I play
anything serious?’ he is reported to have asked when requested to
play a simple adagio. Apparently he could neither keep time nor read
even easy music at sight. Yet he could so fiddle that many a man
believed he heard, not the violin, but voices, oboes, and flutes. And
some cried out that he must have ten fingers on the left hand and
five bows in the right. And at least two of his pupils, Woldemar
(1750-1816) and Jarnowick (1745-1804), were famous for no greater
accomplishments. But in the main the ‘tone’ of violin playing was set,
at the end of the century, by the great Italian, Viotti, and his
followers. This endured, as we have said, until the advent of
Paganini in the world of music.

Paganini’s early life in Italy (1784-1828) was at first not free from
hardship, but after 1805, at least, it was brilliantly successful. The
only lessons of importance in his training were received from
Alessandro Rolla (1757-1804). His prodigious skill was almost wholly
due to his own ingenuity, and to his indefatigable industry. There is
every reason to believe that he practiced hour after hour until he was
so exhausted that he fell upon the ground.

During the years between 1801 and 1804 he lived in retirement


under the protection of a lady of high rank, and during these years
gave up his violin and devoted himself almost wholly to the guitar.
This is among the first of his eccentricities, which every now and
then during his triumphant career cropped out to the amazement of
the public of all Europe. He was in fact so unaccountable in many
ways that a whole cycle of fables grew up about him, through which
he loomed up, now as a murderer who had acquired his skill during
long years of imprisonment, now as a man more than half spectre,
who had bought at some hideous price the intimate, and it must be
said wholly serviceable, coöperation of the devil. How many of these
stories were originated and purposely circulated by Paganini himself,
who knew how to cast a spell over the public in more ways than one,
cannot be definitely answered. On more than one occasion he
openly denied them and complained of them not without bitterness,
all with the greatest of plausibleness; and yet one cannot but suspect
that he knew the value of them in attracting the crowd out of a
fearsome curiosity.

After his extended tour over Europe (1827-1834), which brought him
a fame and a fortune hardly achieved since by any performer, he
retired into a semi-private life at his Villa Gaiona, not far from Parma.
From time to time he came again before the public. The more or less
scandalous affair of the ‘Casino Paganini’ in Paris (1836) took a slice
out of his fortune and perhaps seriously impaired his health. He died
on May 27, 1840.

There can be no doubt that whatever the so-called serious musical


value of his playing may have been, it took hold of the whole world
and left a mark upon it. His technique was at once colossal and
special. He built it up with the idea of playing before huge audiences,
and Spohr has remarked that in small surroundings he did not show
to good advantage. He had, of course, an incredible swiftness of
fingering, an amazing skill with the bow, particularly in staccato
passages, which he played, not in the classic manner of Rode, with
a movement of the wrist for each separate note, but by allowing the
bow to spring upon the strings. His intonation was faultless, in runs,
in double-stops and in octaves. Though he used oftenest light strings
in order to secure special effects in harmonics, and these precluded
a full, rich tone in the playing of melodies, yet he could play simple
passages with great sweetness and charm.

So far, however, his technique could hardly have exceeded that of


Rode. It was in the realm of special effects that he proved himself
little less than a wizard. Of these at least three are now within the
command of all the great players of the present day. One was the
combination of the left-hand pizzicato with notes played by the bow;
another the playing of ‘harmonics,’ particularly double-harmonics; the
third the playing of long and difficult movements upon a single string.
Musicians were in that day so baffled by these amazing sounds, of
which Paganini alone seemed to be master, that for years they
attributed to him a special secret power. There was no end of
speculation about Paganini’s secret, which, by the way, he was said
to have imparted to but one man, his pupil Sivori. Now, however, it is
all revealed. In playing pieces upon a single string he was
accustomed to raise the pitch of the string, and to go into the highest
registers by means of harmonics. He changed the tuning of his violin
also in playing his concertos and some of his caprices, and he made
a frequent practice of sliding his fingers, and was not above imitating
sobs, cries, laughter, and on one occasion, of which he has left an
account, somewhat maliciously the braying of donkeys in Ferrara!
Caricature of Paganini.

Statuette by J. P. Dantan (1832).


Still, though the secrets of his mechanism are now clear as day, and
within the control of many even mediocre players, his music,
wherewith he literally set half Europe crazy, has fully responded to
no fingers but his own. This may be because his tricks have become
known and familiar; but more likely his success drew from more than
these tricks, and the secret of it was in his astounding appearance
and uncanny personal magnetism. Tall, lank, gaunt, dark, with
blazing eyes and fingers like a skeleton, he may well have brought
with him a sulphurous halo when he glided like a spectre upon the
stage. He was indeed more a magician than a musician, a sorcerer
too inspired to be called a charlatan.

The effect of his playing upon all branches of music was


instantaneous. His name became the synonym for the highest
perfection in playing and singing of all kinds. In the opinion of
Chopin, Mlle. Sontag is as perfect as Paganini; and in that of
Mendelssohn Chopin upon the piano rivals Paganini upon the violin.
Schumann sets about transcribing the caprices of Paganini for the
piano. Liszt makes of himself a second wonder of the world by
imitating Paganini; and not only that, but expands the technique of
his own instrument to unheard of dimensions.

Paganini’s compositions are for the most part without conspicuous


value, except for the purely technical extravagances which they
display. Relatively few were published during his lifetime. These
include the universally famous twenty-four caprices for solo violin,
opus 1, two sets of sonatas for violin and guitar, and three quartets
for violin, viola, guitar and 'cello. After his death a host of spurious
works appeared; but Fétis gives as genuine two concertos, one in E-
flat, one in B minor, the latter of which contains the Rondo à la
clochette, which was one of his most successful pieces; two sets of
variations, one on an air by S. Mayer, known as Le Stregghe
(‘Witch’s Dance’), one on the immortal air Le carnaval de Venise,
both of which were almost invariably on his programs; and the
Allegro de concerto in perpetual motion.
III
Paganini’s success was hardly less brilliant in Germany than it was
elsewhere in Europe. At least Schumann and Mendelssohn
submitted to the fascination of his incomparable skill. Yet on the
whole violin playing in Germany remained less influenced by
Paganini than it proved to be in France, Belgium and England. This
was not only because of the influence of the great German classics,
nor because the tendency of the German violinists was rather away
from solo virtuosity and toward orchestral and quartet playing; but
largely also because of the firm leadership of Ludwig Spohr,
practically the one man about whom a definite German school of
violin playing of international importance centres.

Spohr was born in the same year as Paganini (1784). His training on
the violin was received from Franz Eck, a descendant of the famous
Mannheim school. But according to his own account, the example of
Rode, whom he heard in 1803, was of great importance in finally
determining his style of playing. His numerous activities took him
considerably beyond the field of playing and composing for the violin.
He was famous as a conductor in Vienna, in Dresden and Berlin,
and in London, whither he was frequently called to undertake the
conducting of his own works. As a composer he was famous for his
symphonies, his oratorios, and his operas. Yet he was not, in a
sense, a great musician; and the only part of his great number of
works which now seems at all likely to endure much longer in
anything but name is made up of the compositions, chiefly the
concertos, for violin.

Of these concertos there are seventeen in all. Among them the


seventh, eighth, and ninth are often singled out as the best; and
indeed these may be said to be the best of all his works. The eighth
was written on the way to a concert tour in Italy, and was intended
especially to please the Italians, and written in a confessedly
dramatic style, in modo d’una scena cantante. None of the concertos
is, strictly speaking, virtuoso music. Naturally all reveal an intimate
knowledge of the peculiarities of the violin; but these hardly over-rule
the claim of the music itself. He calls for a sort of solid playing, for a
particularly broad, deep tone in the cantilena passages, for a heavy,
rather than a light and piquant, bow. He was a big man in stature,
and his hands were powerful and broad. Evidently he was more than
usually confined within the limits of his own individuality; and his
treatment of the violin in the concertos is peculiar to him in its
demand for strength and for unusually wide stretches. Even the
passage work, which, it must be said, is far more original than that
with which even Rode and Viotti were willing to be content, hardly
ever exhibits the quality of grace. He is at times sweet and pure, but
he is almost never bewitching.

A great many will say of him that he deliberately avoids brilliant


display, and they will say it with contentment and pride. But it may be
asked if the avoidance of brilliancy for its own sake is a virtue in a
great musician. This sort of musical chastity becomes perilously like
a convenient apology in the hands of the prejudiced admirer. In the
case of Brahms, for example, it daily becomes more so. And now we
read of Spohr’s unlimited skill as a player and of the dignified
restraint manifested in his compositions for the violin. But by all
tokens the concertos are being reluctantly left behind.

Among his other works for violin the duets have enjoyed a wide
popularity, greater probably than that once enjoyed by Viotti’s. His
Violinschule, published in 1831, has remained one of the standard
books on violin playing. Its remarks and historical comments are,
however, now of greater significance than the exercises and
examples for practice. These, indeed, are like everything Spohr
touched, only a reflection of his own personality; so much so that the
entire series hardly serves as more than a preparation for playing
Spohr’s own works.

Spohr was typically German in his fondness for conducting, and for
the string quartet. As quite a young man he was the very first to bring
out Beethoven’s quartets opus 18, in Leipzig and Berlin. Paganini is
said to have made a favorite of Beethoven’s quartet in F, the first of
opus 59; but Spohr was positively dissatisfied with Beethoven’s work
of this period. Yet Paganini was in no way a great quartet player, and
Spohr was. We cannot but wonder which of these two great fiddlers
will in fifty years be judged the more significant in the history of the
art.

Certainly Spohr was hard and fast conservative, in spite of the fact
that he recognized the greatness of Wagner, and brought out the
‘Flying Dutchman’ and Tannhäuser at the court of Cassel. And what
can we point to now that has sprung from him? On the other hand,
Paganini was a wizard in his day, half-charlatan, perhaps, but never
found out. With the exception of Corelli and Vivaldi he is the only
violinist who, specialist as he was, exerted a powerful influence upon
the whole course of music. For he was like a charge of dynamite set
off under an art that was in need of expanding, and his influence ran
like a flame across the prairie, kindling on every hand. Look at
Schumann and Liszt, at Chopin and even at Brahms. Stop for a
moment to think of what Berlioz demanded of the orchestra, and
then of what Liszt and Wagner demanded. All of music became
virtuoso music, in a sense. It all sprang into life with a new glory of
color. And who but Paganini let loose the foxes to run in the corn of
the Philistines?

Among Spohr’s pupils Ferdinand David (1810-1873) was


undoubtedly the greatest. He was an excellent performer, uniting
with the solidity of Spohr’s style something of the more occasional
fervor of the modern school, following the example of Paganini. His
friendship with Mendelssohn has been perpetuated in music by the
latter’s concerto for the violin, in E minor, which David not only
performed for the first time in March, 1845, but every measure of
which was submitted to his inspection and correction while the work
was in process of being composed.

David has also won a place for himself in the esteem and gratitude
of future generations by his painstaking editing of the works of the
old Italian masters. Few of the great works for the violin but have
passed through his discriminating touch for the benefit of the student
and the public. And as a teacher his fame will live long in that of his
two most famous pupils: Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) and August
Wilhelmj (1845-1908).

IV
How great an influence the group of French violinists exercised upon
violin music and playing in the first quarter of the nineteenth century
is revealed in the training and the characteristics of the famous
Viennese players of the time. Vienna had always proved fertile
ground for the growth of Italian ideas, and the French style
recommended itself to the Viennese not only by the prevalence of
French ideas in the city, owing to political conditions, but also
because this style was in no small measure a continuance of the
Italian style of Viotti.

Among the Viennese violinists may be mentioned Franz Clement


(1780-1842), who, even as a boy of eleven, was making successful
concert tours over Europe. In the years 1791 and 1792 he played in
London in concerts directed by Haydn and Salomon. Here as
elsewhere his playing was admired for its delicacy as well as for its
sureness and clarity, qualities which ever recalled to the public of
that day the playing of Viotti and Rode. He was not above the tricks
of the virtuoso; yet there can be no better proof that he knew how to
use his great technique with the worthiest aim than that Beethoven
dedicated to him his concerto for violin. He was a thorough musician.
They told a story in Vienna, according to Spohr, of how, after hearing
Haydn’s ‘Creation’ only a few times, he was able, using only the text-
book alone, to arrange all the music for the pianoforte so completely
and so accurately that when he showed his copy to old Haydn the
master thought his score must have been stolen and copied. Another
proof of his musicianship is that he was appointed the first
konzertmeister at the Theater an der Wien.

Schuppanzigh’s pupil, Joseph Mayseder (1789-1864), was among


the brilliant and pleasing players of the time. In spite of the fact that
he was at one time a member of his master’s famous quartet, his
tastes seem to have run to a light and more or less frivolous style of
music. The tendency showed itself not only in his playing, but in his
compositions. These included concertos and brilliant salon pieces;
and also string quartets and quintets and other pieces of chamber
music, all now quite out of date.

Perhaps the two most influential of the Viennese violinists were


Joseph Boehm and Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. Boehm (1798-1867) was
a pupil of Rode, whose acquaintance he made in Poland. Later he
visited Italy, and afterwards was appointed a teacher of the violin in
the Conservatory at Vienna. Though he was famous in his day as a
player who possessed the necessary skill in fingering and bowing,
he was above all a teacher. The list of his pupils includes Ernst, G.
Hellmesberger (b. 1800), Joachim, Ludwig Strauss (b. 1835),
Rappoldi (b. 1831) and Grün. Also Reményi, at one time an
associate with Brahms on concert tours, belongs among them.

Ernst was less a teacher than a virtuoso, whose skill was so


extraordinary as to pique Paganini. It is even said that he used to
follow the astounding Italian on his concert tours that he might
discover some of the secrets of his playing. His own variations on
the ‘Carnival of Venice’ are a brilliant imitation of the style of
Paganini. He spent most of his life in concert tours; and, though he
was known to be a fine, if not a deep, musician, the virtuoso shows
in most of his compositions, which are of little more than secondary
merit. He died on October 8, 1865, having enjoyed a fame as a
player second only to that of Paganini and de Bériot.

The Bohemians Johann Wenzelaus Kalliwoda (1801-1866) and


Joseph Slawjk (1806-1833), both achieved considerable fame.
Chopin spoke of Slawjk with greatest admiration, wrote that with the
exception of Paganini he had never heard a violinist like him. The
two became friends and conceived the project of writing together a
work for piano and violin. If Slawjk had lived longer he might well
have rivalled Paganini, whose playing he, like Ernst, strove to match.

The star of Paganini exercised over every nation of musicians its


irresistible attraction. Besides famous players of Austria and
Bohemia mention must be made of C. J. Lipinski, the Pole. Lipinski
remained in Poland up to the time (1817) when rumors came out of
Italy of the astonishing performances of the Genoese. Then he went
to Italy determined to hear the wonder himself. In Piacenza he heard
him, and later became his friend and associate. It is even said that
Paganini proposed to him a joint concert trip through the large Italian
cities; but Lipinski had been too long away from his native land and
felt unable to remain away longer. His playing was characterized by
an especially strong stroke of the bow, an art he possibly acquired
from a year’s hard work on the 'cello. His compositions, few of which
are generally heard today, are said by Wasielewski to show fine
musicianship and considerable subjective warmth. The best of them
is the so-called ‘Military’ concerto in D major. His ability as an editor
is proved by his work with Klengel on an edition of Bach’s sonatas
for violin and harpsichord, published by Peters. Lipinski died at
Urlow, near Lemberg, in December, 1861.

V
The most brilliant offshoots of the French school, to the formation of
whose style the influence of Paganini contributed, were the Belgians
de Bériot and Henri Vieuxtemps, who stand together as
representative of a Belgian school of violin playing. But before
considering them a few names in the long and distinguished list of
the pupils of Kreutzer, Rode, and Baillot may be touched upon.
Among those of Kreutzer Joseph Massart was perhaps the most
influential. He was born in Belgium in 1811, but went early in life to
Paris to complete with Kreutzer the work begun with his countryman
Lambert. Here he remained, and from 1843 was a professor of the
violin at the Conservatoire. At least one of his pupils, Henri
Wieniawski, won a world-wide fame as a virtuoso.

Among Rode’s pupils Charles Philippi Lafont (1781-1839) stands out


prominently. Lafont had also been a pupil of Kreutzer’s. His playing
was, according to Spohr, full of energy and grace, perfect in
intonation, and fine of tone, but rather mannered. His compositions,
including duos written with Kalkbrenner, Henri Herz and other
virtuoso pianists, and more than two hundred Romances, are of no
genuine value. The seven concertos are quite forgotten.

F. H. Habeneck (1781-1841), one of the most influential of French


musicians, was a pupil of Baillot. He and his two brothers, Joseph
and Corentin, were excellent violinists. But though he held a place of
honor among virtuosi of that day, and though he wrote a number of
works for the violin, he is remembered today chiefly as the founder of
the Société des concerts du Conservatoire. These were instituted by
his energy in 1828, and for twenty years he remained conductor of
them. By him the symphonies of Beethoven were introduced into
France. He was for many years teacher of the violin at the
Conservatoire. Alard (b. 1815), the teacher of Sarasate, was his
most famous pupil.

Massart, Alard, and Léonard (b. 1819), another pupil of Habeneck,


were all Belgians; but all remained in Paris as teachers in the
Conservatoire. Hence they are considered as representative of a
Franco-Belgian school of violin playing. Charles Auguste de Bériot
(1802-1870), though studying for many years in Paris under the
advice at least of Viotti and Baillot, and though familiar to all Europe
as one of the most brilliant of the world’s virtuosos, was for nine
years (1843-52) professor of violin playing at the Brussels
Conservatory, and may therefore be considered to have brought to
Brussels that fame as a centre of brilliant violinists which she has
enjoyed without interruption down to the present day.

In de Bériot’s playing as well as in his numerous compositions the


influence of Paganini rises clearly into sight above that of the older
classical traditions of which Paris was the guardian during the first
quarter of the century. He was a master of the Paganini effects, of
the mysterious harmonics, the dazzling runs and arpeggios, the
sparkling pizzicatos; and they are thickly sown over his music. Yet
there was in both his playing and his compositions a genuine
musical charm. Especially in melodiousness. His wife was Maria
Malibran, and through her inimitable singing he heard at their best
the graceful melodies of the Italians Bellini and Donizetti, and of the
Frenchman Auber, which undoubtedly greatly affected his own
compositions. These, once widely popular, included seven
concertos, several airs variés, and duos for piano and violin, written
in conjunction with such virtuosos as Thalberg.

Among his pupils the most famous was Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-
1881), one of the few great virtuosos of the violin whose fame as a
player has not outlasted in memory his compositions. Vieuxtemps’
five concertos, his Ballade et Polonaise, and even his Fantaisie-
Caprice are still in the repertory of most violinists and have not yet
lost their favor with the public.

His life is a series of long and enormously successful tours, which


took him not only over most of Europe, even Russia, but thrice to the
United States.
Great Violinists. From top left to bottom right: Charles
Auguste de Bériot, Henri Wieniawski (his brother Joseph
at the Piano),
Joseph Joachim, Henri Vieuxtemps.
These tours were undertaken now alone, now in the company of
some other virtuoso such as Thalberg. He made the acquaintance of
almost all the distinguished musicians of his age, among them
Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner; his repertory was wide and
varied, including even Beethoven’s concerto, which was not during
the early years of his life frequently performed by any but the
German violinists.

As to his playing Paul David wrote in an article for Grove’s


Dictionary: ‘He had all the great qualities of technique so
characteristic of the modern French school. His intonation was
perfect; his command of the bow unsurpassed. An astonishing
staccato—in up and down bow—was a specialty of his; and in
addition he had a tone of such breadth and power as is not generally
found with French violinists. His style of playing (Vortrag) was
characteristically French. He was fond of strong dramatic accents
and contrasts, and generally speaking his style was better adapted
to his own compositions and those of other French composers than
to the works of the great classical masters. At the same time it
should be said that he gained some of his greatest successes in the
concertos of Beethoven and Mendelssohn, and was by no means
unsuccessful as a quartet player, even in Germany.’

VI
Excepting Spohr, there are few of the violinist-composers of the
second half of the century with whom fate has dealt so kindly as with
Vieuxtemps. Most have been forgotten as composers, a fact which
may be taken to prove that their compositions had little musical
vitality except that which their own playing infused into them. Those
few who have been remembered in fact as well as in name owe the
permanence of their reputations to one or two pieces in the nature of
successful salon music. Among these should be mentioned Henri
Wieniawski (1835-1880), undoubtedly one of the finest players of the
century. In the early part of his life he wandered from land to land,
coming in company with his friend Anton Rubinstein, the great
pianist, even as far as the United States. He was after this (1874) for
a few years professor of the violin at the Conservatory in Brussels,
filling the place left vacant by Vieuxtemps; and then once more
resumed his life of wandering. His compositions were numerous,
including two concertos as well as a number of studies and
transcriptions, or fantasias, of opera airs. Now perhaps only the
Légende is still familiar to a general public, though the Fantasia on
airs from ‘Faust,’ empty as it is of all save brilliance, holds a place on
the programs of the virtuosi of the present day.

Bernhard Molique (1803-69), a violinist of considerable repute about


the middle of the century, composed five concertos, as well as
numerous smaller pieces, an acquaintance with which today is a
privilege in the main reserved to the student. The concertos are
without genuine musical vitality. Most of his life, after 1849, was
spent in England, where he surrounded himself with many pupils.

Joseph Joachim, one of the most admired violinists and musicians to


be found in the history of the art, was a thoughtful composer. His
relations with Brahms have elsewhere been mentioned in this series.
But Joachim’s compositions are for the most part likely to be
forgotten, with the possible exception of the Hungarian Concerto,
opus 11, the second of his three compositions in this form. However,
few if any other virtuosi have ever so united in themselves the
highest qualities of man and musician, and probably no other player
ever exerted just the sort of moderate and wholly salutary influence
which sprang from Joachim. Among the many signs of the high
esteem in which he was held may be mentioned only the four
honorary degrees conferred upon him by the universities of
Cambridge, Glasgow, Oxford and Göttingen.

In the course of his long life (1831-1907) Joachim became intimately


associated with various circles of musical activity. During the six
years between 1843 and 1849 he was in Leipzig, then enjoying the
enthusiastic efforts of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Again we find

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