The fiddled violin

the clamor of forgotten voices from the Brazilian rabecas and “other violins”

Authors

  • Luiz Henrique Fiaminghi State University of Campinas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2009.54507

Keywords:

brazilian fiddle, baroque violin, performance practices, HIP (Historically Informed Performance)

Abstract

The representation of the violin as a hegemonic musical instrument is an undisputed fact, regarding its presence within the widest scope of Western musical performance. The last decades have witnessed, however, the emergency of some dissonant voices: the Historically Informed Performance (HIP) practice has rediscovered the baroque violin and all its technical apparatus; the Brazilian fiddle rabeca claimed to be heard through its own voice, despite the neglectful approach from the mainstream scholars and musicians. Departing from the intersection between popular and erudite culture that characterizes most of Brazilian José Eduardo Gramani’s music written for rabeca, this article raises reflections about violin teaching in a multi-cultural society, according to the concepts of Walter Benjamin’s Über den Begriff der Geshichte. It discusses the standardization of performance practice imposed by the cultural industry.

Author Biography

  • Luiz Henrique Fiaminghi, State University of Campinas

    Luiz Henrique Fiaminghi studied violin with Paulo Bosísio and Ayrton Pinto (UNESP/SP). He holds a bachelor's degree in Composition and Conducting from UNICAMP/SP. He was a violinist with the Campinas Symphony Orchestra. In 1987, he received a CNPq specialization scholarship to study Baroque violin and Baroque music interpretation in the Netherlands, where he studied at the Rotterdam Conservatory (with Prof. Marie Leonhardt) and the Utrecht Conservatory (with Prof. Alda Stuurop). In 1995, he wrote a thesis titled “Violin and Rhetoric” under the guidance of Prof. Dr. João A. Hansen in the specialization course in “Baroque Art and Culture” at UFOP, MG. From 1993 to 1995, he was a violin professor at UDESC. He is the founder of Trio Carcoarco. Since 1996, he has been a member of the group Anima, with which he has recorded and produced 5 CDs and has undertaken various tours in Brazil and abroad, receiving the “APCA” (1998) and “Carlos Gomes” (2000) awards for Best Chamber Music Group. He completed his doctorate in music at UNICAMP with the thesis: “Orpheus’s Hell: Rabeca, Hybridism, and Methodological Deviations in Contemporary Interpretative Practices – Tradition and Innovation in José Eduardo Gramani,” supervised by Prof. Dr. Esdras Rodrigues.

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Published

2025-03-26

Issue

No. 20 (2009): General Topics

Section

Articles in Portuguese/Spanish

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How to Cite

“The Fiddled Violin: The Clamor of Forgotten Voices from the Brazilian Rabecas and ‘other violins’”. 2025. Per Musi, no. 20 (March): 16-21. https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2009.54507.