Vibrato- A Bone Of Contention In Classical MUsic
There are few topics and classical music that are as controversial today as vibrato, especially with all the musicians who use the old-fashioned or "period instruments " and musicologists and critics who advocate their use.
Basically, vibrato is a variation or oscillation in pitch, used either by instrumentalists or singers to increase expressivity and make for a more beautiful sound. If the variation is too wide, the vibration is often called a "wobble", and this can be disconcerting and annoying particularly with singers. In the 20th century, string vibrato supposedly became the norm, and became constant rather than periodically applied for expressive effect, or so we are told. But it's not that simple. The well-known but controversial English conductor Roger Norrington, who conducts both period instrument and modern orchestras, claims that vibrato became the norm only recently, and was introduced by the famous Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962 ), whose recordings can still be heard today. Norrington insists on vibratoless string playing with the music of Wagner, Brahms, Schubert etc when he conducts modern orchestras. To those accustomed to string vibrato, including me, it sounds thin,glassy and inexpressive; others like it.
To my ears it's the aural equivalent of flat champagne. We drink it for the bubbles. But many others have pointed out that vibrato WAS used in the past. What many objected to was excessive vibrato, not the use of it per se. Leopold Mozart, father of the immortal Wolfgang Amadeus, was a well-known and respected violinist, teacher, and composer. He taught his son everything from childhood on. In his famous treatise on violin playing, he criticizes some string players of the day for using excessive vibrato ! So perhaps all these supposedly authentic performances and recordings we have been hearing are not what they claim to be.
Norrinton is currently recording the Mahler symphonies with the Stuttgart Radio symphony, of which he is currently conductor, and these performances avoid string vibrato. I heard a radio broadcast of one symphony, and it really sounded odd. But it's been pointed out that Mahler, when conducting his symphonies as music director of the New York Philharmonic circa 1908, asked for a great deal of vibrato in rehearsals !
Vibrato is also used by flutists, oboists, and bassoonists, but for some reason it is not as common with clarinettists. French hornists in Russia, France and the Czech republic have used it too, and even some German hornists. The kind of wide vibrato used by Russian horn players sounds positively grotesque in Wagner, Brahms, Mahler and Bruckner. Czech horn players use a much more delicate and subtle vibrato, and it adds a lot of character to their performances. Recent recordings of Russian orchestras show the traditional Russian horn vibrato to be disappearing.
Different people have a wide variety of preferences when it comes to the use of vibrato; it makes for endless and fascinating discussion.