Charles Dancla (1817-1907) – Mazurka for Violin and Piano op.123, no.11
Article written by Fiona Vilnite
Originally published in an album of “Twenty Little Pieces” for easy violin, this characteristic mazurka-style piece is great for intermediate violinists. About grade 4 in standard, it explores the use of 1st and 3rd positions, chromatic fingerings and short (staccato) notes with bow retakes.
A pupil of the celebrated violinist and pedagogue Pierre Baillot (1771-1842), Charles Dancla is remembered worldwide for his compositions for student violinists. These works address aspects of violin technique in a logical manner within a musical setting that is still interesting and accessible in modern times. Interestingly, Dancla was also a prolific composer of over 150 large-form works, including 4 symphonies (see A. Mason Clarke A Biographical Dicionary of Fiddlers) – largely forgotten in modern times.
The form of this piece: A (A minor), B (F major ), A (A minor), plus CODA (A major).
Theme A:
Theme B:
CODA:
Practice tips:
Some Left-Hand Aspects
Whilst it is possible to play the beginning of the first theme in 1st position with an open E string, playing in 3rd position (2nd finger on A string) produces a rounder, more refined sound.
Try adding a little vibrato to the short notes in bar 1….
How does this change the sound quality?
Do you notice the difference in sound quality between these short notes with or without vibrato?
Aspects of intonation:
- Remember that good intontation requires a good understanding of the sound – or rather how it should sound. Listening to recordings of the work (see below) can help with gaining a general concept of this. Also, listening to the pitches that are being produced on the instrument whilst playing and changing them accordingly to match the pitches you actually know and have heard, can help in improving and maintaining intonation.
- Whilst a concept of tone quality and pitch is most the important in obtaining good intonation, it is also handy to know the geography of the notes on the instrument. In other words, it is useful to know where to find the notes on the instrument. Dancla’s composition requires the player to think especially about the placement of the first finger in first position on the A and E strings:
- To produce the note F natural on the E string in themes A and B, remember to place the first finger low, next to the nut on the E string. To produce the note B natural on the A string, the first finger needs to be placed in a “normal” (or higher) position. The difference (or space) between the two notes is physically located a semitone apart (between the strings):
- Remember that in the coda, the situation with the 1st finger is different – the F sharp on the E string requires the finger to be in a normal high place, and the first finger on the A string changes according to the note required – if it is an A sharp, the 1st finger needs to be in a low place next to the nut (since this effectively heightens the open string A). If the note is a B natural, the 1st finger needs to be placed a half-tone (semitone) higher on the same string.
Right-Hand Aspects
One of the main aspects of right-hand technique in this piece is the re-taking of the bow in the main theme. Remember to:
- Start the note from the string, especially after retaking the bow.
- Try retaking the bow in a circular manner, as if drawing a circle in the air with the right hand.
- The process of playing the note and retaking the bow can be split into 3 parts:
1. The bow is stopped on the string, 2. The bow plays the note, 3. retake the bow in a circular motion:
Starting the note from the string gives definition to the beginning of the note. Taking the bow off the string at the beginning of the retake in a circular motion allows the string to vibrate and resonate for longer than if the bow is stopped on the string before retaking. - Try doing the retakes in the rests between the notes:
- Remember to use enough bow on the longer notes (minims and dotted minims) and also the notes that precede the long notes in the places maked below:
- Practice along with the practice video on YouTube (see below).
Tips for practising with the video:
- If this is a completely new piece for you, listen to the piece first before playing along.
- If you already have some knowledge of this piece, select a comfortable tempo (the video includes 3 different tempos) and play along.
- Try playing first with the violin and piano version, then with the piano accompaniment. After this, you can choose a faster tempo.
- Try “playing” along with one of the violin and piano versions, but with the left hand only – without using the bow. Listen carefully to pitches on the video.
- Try “playing” along without the bow also in the piano accompaniment versions (without the recorded violin sound)…. Can you imgaine the sound of the violin part whilst doing this?
- Identify areas that are more difficult for you. Stop the video and repeat the video in these places, play along again as many times as needed. Try to become aware of your mistakes and also improvements. Did this help you in gaining accuracy? Experiment!
- Speed up and slow down the video as required (using YouTube’s settings) and repeat as many times as needed until fluent!
- Happy Practising!
Download the sheet music (violin part) here!