archeggio

[Murphy]

Any musicians online today?

The context is a violin class, the sentence is:
Solo con una padronanza dell'archeggio e del gioco delle dita (diteggiatura) si può arrivare a un sistema di autocontrollo tale che lasci che la vera musica venga fuori dal violino...

My question is: is there a technical term in English for "archeggio" other than "use of the bow"?

Thanks

 

[Nerino]

Dovrebbe essere "bowing". Ciao!

http://books.google.it/books?id=Wu7...esult&ct=result&resnum=6#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

[Murphy]

Thanks Nerino. I had wondered whether "bowing" existed in this context, but as I'm far from expert in the field of music, I wasn't sure.

By the way, this musical dictionary looks like it could be really useful for the translation I'm doing. Many thanks for finding it.

 

[Nerino]

Glad I have been of help, bye!

 

[elfa]

Any musicians online today?

The context is a violin class, the sentence is:
Solo con una padronanza dell'archeggio e del gioco delle dita (diteggiatura) si può arrivare a un sistema di autocontrollo tale che lasci che la vera musica venga fuori dal violino...

My question is: is there a technical term in English for "archeggio" other than "use of the bow"?

Thanks

Hi Murphy,

If the context refers to a particular instance, you could use "bow stroke". However, the original looks as though it's referring to playing in general. Both "bowing" and "use of the bow" are correct - but it depends how you are translating "padronanza".

 

[Murphy]

Hi elfa,
Thanks for that. This is my translation (open to suggestions):

Only with total mastery of the bow and of finger play (fingering) can one achieve such a level of self-control that the music is released from the violin...

In the end, I decided that in the particular context "bow" was probably sufficient to convey the meaning of the Italian sentence. What do you think? Do you think it's necessary to specify "bow stroke"?

Ps. I missed out the word "completa" before "padronanza" in my original post.

 

[elfa]

I think "mastery of the bow" is fine and total violin-speak.

However, "finger play" is a meaningless term in violin playing. I would prefer "play of the fingers". However, the correct term is "fingering" which, of course, you have in brackets. To be honest, I don't really understand the brackets. Was the writer of the sentence a non-musician, or the person taking the class? I.e. did he or she intend "gioco delle dita" to mean "fingering", thinking that lay people might not understand the term, or was there some other reason for putting "fingering" in brackets?

Again, if it's a musician writing this sentence, I might translate "autocontrollo" as "control", since "self-control" - giving the suggestion of controlling one's emotions rather than the control of technique necessary to play the violin well - gives the wrong kind of nuance.

Oh dear, am I further complicating things?

 

[Murphy]

However, "finger play" is a meaningless term in violin playing. I would prefer "play of the fingers". However, the correct term is "fingering" which, of course, you have in brackets. To be honest, I don't really understand the brackets.

Honestly, I think it probably works better in English without the brackets and with the use of the term "fingering" on its own, although "finger play" got me a few hits on google. I may well decide to amend that.

This text is actually the draft of a speech someone is going to give at a symposium, so I would imagine his audience will be filled with people who understand the terminology used in music. I suppose it's possible he believed that in Italian the term "diteggiatura" might not be immediately understood without some additional explanation...

I'm guessing that you, unlike me, are quite knowledgeable in the field of music. Thanks for your help.