Violin excerpt · Audition repertoire
Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 (incidental music)
Scherzo
The benchmark test for a light, fast, controlled stroke. Fairy music at speed, played quietly, with total evenness.
At a glance
- Instrument
- Violin
- Composer
- Felix Mendelssohn
- Work
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 (incidental music)
- Movement
- Scherzo
- Era
- Romantic (c. 1820–1880)
- Clef
- Treble clef
- Level
- Audition, professional standard
- Audition list
- Yes, standard excerpt
How to practise it
The bow style, the trouble spots, and the stylistic decisions that come up most often on this excerpt.
Bowing
A sautillé or very light spiccato found near the balance point, the bounce comes from the stick, not from lifting the arm.
Where it goes wrong
Unevenness shows up immediately at this speed. Practising in dotted and reverse-dotted rhythms exposes which finger or bow change is late.
Style
Quiet and weightless. The excerpt is testing control, not power.
Tags
Work on the technique underneath
Arco's violin curriculum builds the bow strokes, positions, and clef reading this excerpt assumes, with recorded violin playback throughout.