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The Russian Violin School: The Legacy of Yuri Yankelevich. Translated and edited by Masha Lankovsky. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. [xvi, 257 p., 12 unnumbered pages of plates. ISBN 9780199917600 (hardback), $105; ISBN 9780199917624 (paperback), $31.95; ISBN 9780199917617 (e-book), varies.] Music examples, illustrations, bibliography, companion website, work lists, index.
The Russian Violin School: The Legacy of Yuri Yankelevich is highly recommended for anyone who works in violin performance and pedagogy. Originally published in Russian as Pedagogischeskoe nasledie (Moscow: Muzyka, 1983) and reprinted several times in a revised version (2nd ed. [Moscow: Postskriptum, 1993]; 3rd ed. [Moscow: Fond podderzhki molodyh rossiiskikh skripachei imeni I. I. Iankelvicha, 2002]; 4th ed. [Moscow: Muzyka, 2009]), it also appeared in French as Yuri Yankelevitch et l'ecole russe du violon (trans. Anna Kopylov [Fontenay-aux-Roses: Suoni e colori, 1999]). This first translation into English, by violinist Masha Lankovsky, is based on the fourth Russian edition, published in 2009.
Lankovsky's translation comprises several sections: an introduction with a brief biography of Yankelevich (established in the Library of Congress authority file as "IAnkelevich, IU. I. (IUrii Isaevich)"), his legacy, and methodological works. Her introduction also includes a discussion of the history and characteristics of the Russian Violin School. Following this introduction is the English translation of the original text, comprised of two methodological essays by Yankelevich; an essay on his teaching methods by Maya Glezarova, his assistant of over twenty years; and a lengthy essay by Vladimir Grigoryev detailing Yankele - vich's methodological system based on his seminars and lessons that Grigoryev attended. Appendices list Yankelevich's students and assistants, his methodological writings and lectures, and compositions he edited. The accompanying Web site provided by Oxford University Press includes video interviews with Yankelevich's students, audio excerpts of his classes, a roster of his students, and an additional essay by Gregory Zhislin, "Some Aesthetic Principles of Yuri Yankelevich" (www.oup.com/us / therussianviolinschool [accessed 13 February 2018]).
Lankovsky's brief introduction gives a satisfactory overview of Yankelevich's biography in the context of the characteristics and history of the Russian Violin School, describing in fairly broad strokes its significant features and characteristics. This...