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May 2001 NewsletterWelcome to the May 2001 edition of our monthly electronic newsletter. Please read this introduction, as it contains new information, amongst other things about communicating with us. We are here to serve you! For your convenience, this newsletter has been sent to you in a very plain format. For your greater enjoyment, a nicer version of the same letter is available at www.gviolins.cc/200105newsletter.htm. If the latter version suits your software, please rather go there and read that version. Let us tell you immediately that our shop will be closed for most of July 2001. We will be off to Russia, in search of instruments by older as well as contemporary Russian makers FOR YOU! Therefore, teachers, schools, directors, etc, please get your orders for next year in NOW... please don't wait! August and September will be murder. We are preparing in advance to handle the avalanche and serve you well, but please help us by placing your orders or estimated orders NOW. Remember, we have the best rental program in the USA! We have rental customers as far as Colorado, California, North Dakota, New York, and Illinois. We'd like to invite your friends/students/teacher to subscribe to and participate in our monthly newsletter, too. Please tell them about it and ask them to go to www.gviolins.cc/newsletter.php and sign up. They (and you) may unsubscribe from this by visiting that same page. However, we rather hope that you will all enjoy this newsletter together with us. You can view the rest of our website at www.gviolins.cc. Our business phone number is (352) 372-8264 (between 1pm and 6pm weekdays, otherwise please leave a message). Our e-mail address is customercare@gviolins.cc. Our new fax number is (352) 374-4160. The main activities of Gainesville Violins are: How to make use of us? Just contact us... call, e-mail, write, or walk in! We will be honored to serve you. We deal in violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. How to reach us? Easily! Turn off on exit 77 off I-75 onto 39th Ave going east. Go four miles down 39th Ave until you get to NW 36 Terrace (the neighborhood is called "Wimberly Estates", you'll see it before reaching NW 34 St) and turn north at that intersection. The shop is in the last house on the right-hand side at the sidewalk sign of a violin. We frequently travel. This is in order to meet and serve our customers at venues convenient for them. You can check our website for our itinerary and dates... we might be coming your way soon. Please note, however, that plans may change at the last moment, so please check again before you travel to meet us, or (better still) please make a prior appointment via e-mail. Best wishes, *** INDEX *** 01. Itinerary Once again: Please check our website (www.gviolins.cc) for possible changes, especially last-minute changes. Remarks made by the famous conductor Eugene Ormandy and collected by the Philadelphia orchestra: "Who is sitting in that empty chair?" About Yo-Yo Ma. He is one of the finest and most versatile musicians of our times. He composes his own pieces and breaks the boundaries of Western Classical tradition. He is popular with the masses, yet he maintains the adoration of the most critical in the classical music industry. Sony Classical, his exclusive record label, can almost safely bet that his every new album gets snapped up quickly. His discography of nearly 50 albums including 13 Grammy Awards is nothing short of impressive. Yo-Yo Ma plays two instruments: a 1733 Montagnana cello from Venice (of which Gainesville Violins can supply copies) and the "Davidoff" Stradivarius, previously owned by Jacqueline Du Pré. Sometimes reading, especially sight-reading is a controversial matter. However, if one thinks through what Dr Suzuki teaches, many problems could be solved. The Suzuki analogy is learning and speech development in young children. By age 18 to 24 months, they speak (sometimes just somewhat). By age 4 to 5 years, they read. By age 6, they read well. Reading comes approximately 2 to 3 years after speaking. So it should be with music, first play by ear, then read. Or rather, soon read. In a valuable article, "Rapid Eye Movement", in The Strad May 2001 issue, Paul Harris provides tips for getting eye, ear, and fingers in harmony. Reading music is exceedingly important, and amongst other things releases the student from being under the teacher's total control. Total control is unhealthy developmentally, psycologically, musically, and ethically. Just as with reading words, reading music gives freedom. "Through sight-reading we are teaching them to become musically independent and consequently changing the very role that we as music teachers play." This is good. Amongst a multitude of other benefits, it prepares the students for what most of them will do: orchestra and/or smaller ensemble playing. "Bring sight-reading to the foreground in your teaching and you will find it has very beneficial consequences," Harris concludes. His article deserves to be read, studied, and applied. This section is already very long, but it contains only a small selection of letters that we have received since the March 2001 newsletter. The letters reveal an interesting spectrum of experiences. For an extensive account of a visit to Gainesville Violins that is too long to publish here, see http://fingerboard.maestronet.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/006747.html. Many thanks, dear customers, for being so warm, kind, generous, and encouraging! You are wonderful. We are honored to serve you. JM (Orange Park) wrote: DR (Jacksonville FL) wrote: RA (Monteverde, FL) wrote about a restoration done for T, his daughter: JS (Chattanooga, TN) wrote: BR (Ocala, FL) wrote: LP (Winter Haven) wrote: LW (Tallahassee) wrote: MW (Tallahassee) had an emergency with his viola which "imploded"
two days before he had to play before a Jury. He drove through to us,
arriving at 10 pm, and slept over after we had talked about the problem.
The next day he wrote: LAH (Sunrise FL) wrote: NG (Tallahassee, FL) wrote: AG (Brooksville, FL) wrote: FW wrote: DB (Tallahassee FL) wrote: TK (Fort Lauderdale FL) wrote: MC (Tampa), a very young person, wrote after we had sent a very old (1850's)
1/2-size "Johann Strauss Wien" violin to her, having kept it
for her for a year: [Comment: We stick to our customers. We have one of the best collections of antique violins in Florida and we keep adding to it. As stated above, this summer we'll be traveling in Russia. Last year we were in eastern Germany. We have already found the superb "Little Russian" 3/4 Guarneri del Gesu copy for SZ; we'll for sure get something great for N too.] RS (Gainesville) wrote after her virtuoso son's violin had received its
regular free maintenance service and adjustment: CM (Tallahassee) wrote: JP (Tampa) wrote: The Alachua County Youth Orchestra presented its Spring Concert on Sunday, April 29, at the University of Florida's Memorial Auditorium. It was splendid, exciting, and professional-sounding. It is clearly carrying on its 33-year-old tradition with distinction and aplomb. More than half of the string players were our customers. At the recent Florida State Music Teachers Association's prestigious "District III Student Day Honors Recital" in the Thomas Center in Gainesville, all the string players were our customers. At a recent Friends of Music youth chamber music recital in Gainesville, 21 out of 24 string players were our customers. At the Bernice Maskin Memorial Chamber Music Recital, nine of the eleven string players were our customers. "The Gainesville Sound" is indeed our sound. However, it goes further afield: At the Spring Concert of Howard Blake High School of the Arts in Tampa, the concert master played on a very old classic German violin obtained from us. Likewise, the soloist in Bloch's Suite Hebraica got his "Dix" viola (featured in our website) from us. We find that parents often buy a fine violin for their graduating son
or daughter. This month we suggest our stunning exact copy/replica of
the decorated 1679 "Hellier" Stradivarius, which, together with
a boxed luxury book on the violin (by Machold Fine Violins), sells at
a list price of $8,000. Our normal price is $6,000. We currently have
two of these fine concert instruments on special at $5,000 each available
on a first come, first served basis. We are also selling the famous carbon-graphite (with real horsehair) line of CodaBows at discount prices... see www.gviolins.cc and see www.codabow.com. From a new workshop we now have the "Johann Strauss II Vienna TM" range which includes very fine 7/8-sized violins. See our website for our own workshop's replica of the 1742 "Heifetz" Guarneri del Gesu - available only on special order. (We can supply 2 to 3 per year.) To celebrate Heifetz's 100th anniversary, we are offering this violin at 50% discount. Of course we also deal in expertly and ethically restored antique classic European instruments. We probably have the largest collection of such instruments in Florida. Ask us about them! Important: Let your instrument be serviced by us regularly, and especially well ahead of an important event. Reserve your spot in our busy timetable now! Call us at (352) 372-8264 between 1pm - 6pm to schedule an appointment. We guarantee substantial tonal improvement and an increase in ease of playability. Customers who bought/rented from us get free maintenance or adjustment service and pay only for new strings. Remember: We Sell Sound. Moreover, We Give Service With a Smile! This year is the hundredth Heifetz anniversary. Question: Name a violin concerto that was commissioned and recorded by Heifetz and state its composer. The winner gets a Heifetz CD, of course! (Winner is the sender of the first correct answer we receive by e-mail, please send your answer to jan@gviolins.cc.) Our question was: "Suppose you want to play 16th century music in an 'authentic' way - would you need an old or a new violin?" The first correct answer was to win a lovely poster, "Restoring that old violin." DR (Jacksonville, FL) won. He wrote: "To play 16th century music in an authentic way one would need a baroque style violin. However, it should be newly made as there were no 500-year old violins in the 1500's." Well and succinctly put! DR got the poster. Close was DM (Gainesville FL): "It could either be old or new, it doesn't matter. What matters is how it is set up and played." AWJ (a photographer who accidentally got our newsletter and read the quiz) wrote: "I have to admit I found the newsletter interesting. So are older violins better than new ones and if you were playing a 16th century piece which would you prefer to use? Now you got me curious!" For more reading regarding the New vs Old debate, go to http://www.fritz-reuter.com/~gunther/rin061.htm. How appropriate is the saying, "I've learned that to ignore the facts does not change the facts" (by Andy Rooney - a man who has the gift of saying so much with so few words). Heifetz hated nothing more than a perfect-but-dull performance. He would often admonish a student: "It was nicely done, but it was too careful, too safe. Play it with flair, with dash." Ayke Agus (in her book "Heifetz As I Knew Him," Amadeus Press 2001) wrote, "When Heifetz was about to demonstrate one [of the short pieces for which he was famous], a hush fell over the class and an electrifying tension of anticipation vibrated in the air. We all knew that what we were about to hear was something unique that only Heifetz could produce. It was magic indeed.... [H]e always knew how to create excitement within a few seconds." - How to package a violin for shipping (via UPS): - Information to be included whenever you ship or mail to us (like a
payment or an exchange instrument, for example): - How to prevent a bow from warping or losing its hair prematurely: On November 18th, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert New York City. Getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. When he sits down, he puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play. At this concert, soon after he started playing, one of the strings on his violin broke. He waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to resume playing. The orchestra began, and he played. No string change, no switched violin. He improvised to play on the remaining strings what he had to play on the popped string, with devices such as different fingerings, position shifts, and so on. When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then the people rose and cheered. It was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. All were on their feet, screaming and cheering. Afterwards, Itzhak Perlman simply said, "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left." Quite a powerful line. It kind of reminds one of another line, "In the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your year that counts." Here is a wonderful link that will tell you all about strings: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~leonid/violin_strings.htm. As for us, our normal price for a full set of Thomastik Dominant strings, expertly fitted to your violin by us, is $25 plus any applicable sales tax. A higher price would be outrageous. (How much did you pay last time you bought elsewhere? Say again? Huh?? WOW!!! You could have saved a lot if you had come to us.) In some cases we now offer a two-tier rental program. For instance, we have two violin rental outfits: Antonio Vivaldi at $20 per month and Fritz Kreisler at $25 per month. As always, all rental money paid will be credited towards a future purchase. We have an easy printable form in our website that makes renting an outfit a breeze. The same form can also be used for purchases. Teachers, schools, orchestras, and strings programs are jubilant... we have taken all administrative and financial worries off their shoulders. We are currently doing rentals and supporting Strings Programs at the University of Florida, the Alachua County Youth Orchestra, Talbot Elementary School, the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestras, Sacred Heart School in Jacksonville, Annunciation School in Jacksonville, Chocachatti Magnet School in Brooksville, and Pine Crest School in Boca Raton. We also work on campus at FSU in Tallahassee, at the Blanding Blvd Suzuki school in Orange Park, and at many private academies and schools. TG (a teacher in Fort Lauderdale, FL) wrote: "I have a new student who I'd like to switch to one of your violins. I want her to rent from you rather than the dreadful rental she has now. I just had a recital for my students. Several of them are playing your violins, and they sounded wonderful! Thank God for the two of you!" - That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs
a friend to act goofy with.
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