News & features

worst things about playing the violin

The 10 worst things about playing the violin

broken e-string violin

This clip captures the sheer horror of an E-string snapping halfway through a live radio broadcast

Ava Pakiam

Your inspiration for the day: watch this 6 year old play Kreisler

Videos

paganini caprice on flute

Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 performed on FLUTE sounds utterly righteous

Paganini

Sarasate violin Hildegarde Fesneau

Virtuosic Sarasate violin music, played with a TINY bow

Winston Churchill cigar box violin rectangle

Violin made from Winston Churchill’s cigar box to be auctioned

Videos

worst things to happen to a classical musician

The 13 worst things to happen to a classical musician

Habanera ping pong

This violinist can play Habanera one-handed while bouncing a ping pong ball in time to the music

ysaye violin sonata 3

This frankly terrifying solo violin piece is surely one of the hardest ever written

Charles Barren violin at Dartington

Need some inspiration to keep playing? Here’s a 96-year-old violinist playing Massenet’s Méditation from Thaïs

Ivry Gitlis concert at 93

This 93-year-old violinist is proof that music never ages and never leaves you

violin drop

When your conductor gets a little too close to your priceless 17th century violin…

Fedor Rudin montreal competition

Competition violinist: ‘musicians should be competitive with themselves, not with other people’

Adrian Anantawan

This violinist plays one of the most virtuosic solo pieces - and he was born without a right hand

bow break kid

This girl’s reaction to her bow breaking is the sad-cutest thing to ever happen in 12 seconds

Violin

Mum offers reward for return of 19th century violin left on bus by schoolboy

blood on violin

This is what a violinist’s fingers look like after playing Shostakovich