A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.
The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.
A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.
In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.
Here are some inspiring clips featuring the great Russian violinist, Maxim Vengerov.
In the first video, Vengerov performs the Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). The Chicago Symphony accompanies, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The concerto is followed by two encores: The Sarabanda from J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin (0:35:31) and Eugene Ysaye’s Ballad (0:40:06).
Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880) contributed greatly to the development of the violin. Here, Vengerov talks about Wieniawski and plays the dazzling Variations, Op. 15:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9vkzqSc4fA
The final clip is a movie entitled Playing by Heart that features Vengerov’s life as a concert violinist. At 4:20 you will briefly hear some of the Vivaldi A Minor Concerto from Suzuki Book 4:
A few years ago an enthusiastic audience member approached me after a concert.
“I used to play a little clarinet in high school,” she said. “How do I get into the Richmond Symphony?”
I explained the long, hard road I had traveled to become a professional musician. Then, with a look of confusion she said, “But you can’t actually make a living doing this, can you?”
Conversations like this reveal the disconnect between real life in a professional orchestra and popular perception. Dabbling in science does not qualify someone to be a cancer researcher and playing high school sports does not automatically lead to a career in the NBA. Similarly, no one who has won a job in a professional orchestra plays their instrument “a little.”
Preparing for a professional career begins long before senior year in high school. As a teenager I practiced many hours a day and, although I did well in school, the violin became my highest priority. I knew that I would face intense competition at the audition to get into a top music conservatory such as the Eastman School of Music.
During my six years in music school I began spending hours each day working on the orchestral excerpts that would be required for orchestra auditions. It’s not uncommon for over a hundred applicants from across the country to show up to audition for one position. Auditions are held behind a screen so the committee (made up of members of the orchestra and the Music Director) cannot tell the identity of the applicant. Applicants are assigned a number and at the end of each round only a few players are selected to continue. In order to be competitive, musicians must be able to perform well under stress. A significant investment in a good instrument is also important. This article offers a closer look at the audition experience.
Most of the time professional musicians make their jobs look easy and many people assume that they are having “fun.” Jeremy Mastrangelo and Holly Mulcahy have written excellent articles that shatter this myth by offering a glimpse at the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.
While amateurs and students have weeks to prepare a concert, professionals often have one or more programs to prepare each week. Rehearsals (which usually last two and a half hours with a fifteen minute break and always begin and end on time to the second) are only part of the professional musician’s work day. The other part involves hours of personal practice and preparation at home. Long hours of playing each day put musicians at risk of developing injuries like tendonitis and create other physical stress. Similar to athletes, professional musicians often structure their day to ensure that they will be at their best at concert time.
The polished sound of a professional orchestra does not happen by accident. It’s the result of years of hard work on the part of its members. As a professional orchestra musician I consider myself lucky to do something that I find so gratifying. At the same time, there is no part of playing professionally that is “fun” in a recreational sense. It’s still a job.
What is the role of music and the arts in education? Unlike the arts-centered education of ancient Athens, modern American public education has increasingly moved towards jobs training. In this commodified world of standardized tests, the arts are often pushed to the periphery so that students will be “prepared for college” or “competitive in a global economy.”
Does the current system teach students what to think instead of how to think? In his book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle, Chris Hedges writes:
“We’ve bought into the idea that education is about training and “success,” defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and to challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers. A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death.”
Advocates of music education often cite studies that document the effects of music on academic performance. The Mozart Effect, this study about music’s effect on learning and the nervous system and this study which links playing music from an early age and brain health after age 60 are only a few examples.
While many of these studies have merit, they obscure the real value of music education. Music is fundamental to the human experience. There is speculation that music predated language, with the discovery of flutes carved out of animal bones by the Neanderthals 53,000 years ago. Music expresses something deep in humanity and conveys a sense of meaning that cannot be put into words.
In his Philosophy of Music Education Larry Judd, a music educator of 36 years writes:
“Music is an expressive, aural art…It is a means of emotional fulfillment, an explanation of existence. Through its creative nature, music aids the search for self-realization and identity. Music is an active, personal art which demands emotional and physical participation.
A study of music based upon an active, creative involvement insures the gaining of immediate enjoyment and satisfaction. It is such that allows man to develop aesthetic sensitivity to the beauty around him and enables him to enjoy a richer, more meaningful life.”
“The greatest scientists are artists as well.” said Albert Einstein, an amateur violinist and pianist. In this article Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein suggest that it was through entering the unique, creative world of music that Einstein gained his greatest insights into physics. “I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music…. I get most joy in life out of music.” Einstein told Dr. Shinichi Suzuki that “The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music is the driving force behind this intuition.” Stressing the importance of intuition, Einstein stated that “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
In his book, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, Ray Kurzweil suggests that, with the exponential growth of technology, artificial intelligence will one day surpass human intelligence. Kurzweil paints a somewhat optimistic view of this new world, but would the essence of humanity, so mysteriously captured in our experience of music, survive? Would we enter a new and sterile reality? Perhaps there has never been a better time to hang onto those things which make us fully human.
August 6 marked the passing of one of the twentieth century’s greatest violinists, Ruggiero Ricci. Ricci’s playing was notable for its fire, brilliance and daredevil virtuosity. Like Yehudi Menuhin, Ruggiero Ricci was a child prodigy and a student of the legendary teacher Louis Persinger. Ricci’s long career provided a link between the world of Ysaye, Kreisler and Heifetz and the present.
Go to NPR and Slipped Disk for video of Ruggiero Ricci’s playing and more on his life. You might also want to read this interview.
French impressionist composer Maurice Ravel might have been surprised to know that Bolero, which premiered as a ballet score in 1928, would endure as one of the most popular pieces of twentieth century music. Ravel was a master of orchestration and he considered this piece to be “an experiment in a very special and limited direction” and “orchestral tissue without music.” Orchestration refers to the combination of instruments that a composer chooses to use. If you’re interested in learning more about this aspect of composition, watch Leonard Bernstein’s What is Orchestration?from the Young People’s Concerts (Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 where he talks about how Bolero is put together).
In the early decades of the century, amid a rapidly changing world, composers such as Ravel and Claude Debussy began looking beyond the long dominant Germanic musical tradition, instead finding inspiration in Eastern music and the arrival of Jazz. The result was music that unfolded in a shockingly different way and often resembled the hazy, dreamlike qualities of impressionist painting.
When you sit down to listen, invest about twenty minutes and give the music your full attention. The piece starts incredibly softly with a snare drum tapping out the rhythm that forms the bedrock of the whole piece. Listen to the reverberant pizzicatos in the violas and cellos, and later in the harp that forms the next rhythmic layer.A bolero is a slow Spanish dance with three beats per measure; you will hear this feeling of three in the pizzicato.
Listen to Ravel’s simple but suave melody. First it appears in single instruments, like the flute and clarinet. Then Ravel begins mixing instruments and timbres together like a painter mixing colors. Notice how each instrument has its own unique color and distinctive personality. Listen to the way a combination of two or more instruments creates a sound that is completely new and unexpected. Here is a list of all the instruments used at each given moment in Bolero.
As the music unfolds, notice that while the tempo and melody remain the same, there is a gradual transformation taking place. What’s happening and how is Ravel achieving it? Is the music altering your perception of time in any way? Does Ravel have a surprise up his sleeve at the end of the piece and can you tell what it is?
Enjoy the music and, if you feel inspired, leave a comment with your thoughts.
Tonalization is “the ability to produce and recognize a beautiful, ringing tone.” Dr. Suzuki observed that singers cultivate their voices daily through “vocalization” exercises. He believed that instrumentalists should approach tone in a similar way. Great musicians make their instruments “sing”, developing a concept of tone that is inspired by the natural expression of the human voice.
Tonalization starts when the beginner first draws the bow across the string. Through continuous, careful repetitions of the first “Twinkle” rhythm, the tone, and the physical feeling of creating tone begin to take shape. Throughout Book 1, Suzuki offers scales and Tonalization exercises in the keys of A, D and G. More advanced students and professionals work on tone with three octave scales, arpeggios, thirds, sixths, octaves and more. The quest for the most resonant tone possible never ends. Daily attention to Tonalization leads to improved tone for everything else you play.
Here are a few ideas to keep in mind as you work on Tonalization:
Listen. In order to achieve your best tone, start by listening carefully. Consider each note “guilty until proven innocent.” Don’t ever be completely satisfied. Always assume that an even better tone is around the corner. Dr. Suzuki asks students to pluck the strings and listen as they ring. He considers this to be the string’s most fundamental and natural sound. As you bow, keep this ringing sound in mind. Play the open strings and try to get the same resonance. Next, challenge yourself to get the same ring on fingered tones, even though these will have a slightly different timbre (or tone color). Stop the bow on the string and listen to how long the ring lasts. Over time, try to increase the length of ring.
Notice that each tone has a beginning, a middle and an end. The bow connects and pulls, articulating and then releasing, allowing the string to ring (“Tow”). Make sure the volume stays even as a single note is played, or throughout the “Twinkle” rhythm (“Tuck-ah, Tuck-ah, Tuck..ah”).
Consider what the bow has to do. The bow can be pressed into the string, cutting off it’s ability to vibrate, or it can slip around on the surface, never really catching the string. Instead, connect the bow to the string and allow the arm to drop with a springy feeling. Relaxed weight from the shoulder transfers into the elbow, wrist, fingers and into the string. Now pull the bow and continue to feel the shoulder. Imagine the arm pulling and pushing in a slight arc, rather than a straight line. Notice that the wood of the bow itself is shaped like an arc.
Placement of the bow in relation to the bridge is important. This is called the sounding point. The closer the bow gets to the bridge, the more weight is needed. This is accompanied by slower bow speed. As the bow is placed farther from the bridge, less weight and faster bow speed are required. This is something players get a natural feel for over time. Placing the bow near the bridge creates a louder sound with more overtones. As the bow drifts to the fingerboard, the tone gets softer and more velvety. The beginner starts with the bow placed directly in between the bridge and fingerboard. Suzuki called this the Kreisler Highway because it’s where the legendary violinist Fritz Kreisler played most of the time. Kreisler is still remembered for the singing quality of his tone.
Consider what the left hand has to do. Playing in tune is essential for tonalization. Find that one place on the fingerboard where the tone rings. Move your finger slightly higher and lower to see if you can get more ring. Once you find the correct place, pick your finger up and try to find it again. Your finger will begin to remember where it needs to go, especially if it is kept close to the fingerboard.
Make sure your fingers are up on their tips and are not touching nearby strings. You want the other strings to be ringing sympathetically with the string you’re playing. If you are playing G on the D string (third finger in first position) you should be able to see the G string vibrate as the D string is played.
Keep a cushiony, relaxed feeling in your hand. Tension will limit resonance.
Develop a visual image of the tone. Allow the string to ring like a bell. Feel the string under the bow and imagine that the tone has a strong and intense center that is focused like a laser beam. Around this focused center is a fluffy, soft layer of “ring”. Imagine that you are drawing the sound out of the box of the violin.
Turn on the energy. How you feel inside will impact the way the bow pulls across the string. Practice turning on an attitude of inner energy and vitality. Don’t try to change anything you’re doing technically. Just turn on the energy and it will affect what comes out.
Play the room. This is how the unique sounds of the world’s greatest orchestras are developed over time. Listen to how the sound is coming back to you in the room. Treat the room like another musical instrument that you are playing.
As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Suzuki was deeply influenced by the tone of the great Austrian violinist, Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962). Now that we have considered the fundamentals of Tonalization, listen to this old recording of Kreisler playing his composition, Liebesleid, which translates as “Love’s Sorrow”:
Last month I recommended an exciting new recording of Bach violin concertos, just released by Anne Akiko Meyers. Now, let’s listen to a much older performance of the Bach Double Concerto featuring two of the twentieth century’s greatest violinists, Yehudi Menuhin and David Oistrakh.
This music was written around 1730 when Bach was working in Leipzig. Bach’s main instrument was the organ, but he was also a fine violinist and he was influenced by Vivaldi’s concertos.*
As you listen, pay attention to the way the two solo violin parts interact with each other and with the orchestra. You’ll notice that they constantly trade off between taking the spotlight and having a supporting role.
Listen to the beginning of the first movement and see if you can keep track of the main motive as it appears in different voices, first in the second violins, then the first violins (0:15) then the lower strings (0:29) then the second violins again (0:41) and finally returning to the first violins (0:51). This may remind you of what you heard when we listened to the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.
As the second movement unfolds, moving into ever changing musical landscapes, notice the repeating “heart beat” in the orchestra. Do you get the sense that the music is searching for its ultimate goal?
Compare the second movement’s sense of musical “heart beat” to the feel of the third movement. Are there moments here where your sense of the downbeat is dangerously and excitingly less predictable?
Concerto for Two Violins, Strings and Continuo in D Minor, BWV 1043…J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Vivace Largo ma non tanto Allegro
Now that you’ve heard the Double Concerto more or less as Bach intended, you might enjoy this comedy sketch that the legendary Jack Benny did with violinist Isaac Stern. Also, check out this impressive jazz fiddle adaptation performed by the group, Time For Three:
*Great Masters of the Violin, Boris Schwarz (pg. 110)
On Valentine’s Day this past February, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers released her newest CD, “Air” The Bach Album, featuring Bach’s A minor and E major Concertos, as well as the “Double” Concerto, accompanied by Steven Mercurio and the English Chamber Orchestra. This recording, which I highly recommend, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Charts and has been a best seller on iTunes and Amazon. It follows on the heels of other excellent Bach violin concerto discs by Hilary Hahn, Julia Fischer and Elmar Oliveira that have come out over the last ten years.
This CD will be especially enjoyable for Suzuki violin students of all levels and their parents. Dr. Suzuki returns to the music of Bach throughout his repertoire, starting with the three Minuets in Book 1. Suzuki includes the first movement of the Concerto for Two Violins, Strings and Continuo in D minor (BWV 1043), known as the “Bach Double” in Book 4. The rhythm of the first “Twinkle” Variation is actually identical to the opening rhythm of the “Double” Concerto. Later, the entire Concerto No. 1 in A minor (BWV 1041) is found in Suzuki Book 7. Even the youngest child who is not close to studying these pieces will benefit from hearing this recording regularly.
Meyers recorded both parts of the “Double” Concerto in two different locations using two different Stradivarius violins. While this isn’t the first time a violinist has recorded both parts, as you can hear in this clip of Jascha Heifetz, it may be the first time different violins have been used by the same player. Meyers talks about the two violins, Bach’s music, and the process of making the recording in an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered, in this interview from Violinist.com and here:
Three smaller works round out the CD. They are transcriptions of the “Air” from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major (BWV 1068), the “Largo” from Concerto for Harpsichord in F minor (BWV 1056) and the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria which is based on Prelude No. 1 from Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier. Here is a clip of Meyers playing the “Air” in a recital performance:
Anne Akiko Meyers dedicates the CD to her 96 year old grandmother and to the legendary luthier, Rene Morel who died late last year. I was lucky enough to have Morel adjust my own violin, and I couldn’t help but think of his special gifts as I listened to the richness of the two Strads featured on the CD.
Next month I’ll post some older performances of this music, as well as some background. For now, enjoy the wildly exhilarating last movement of the A minor concerto from Meyers’s CD:
