Walter Meyer <[log in to unmask]> wrote

Gilbert Chang wrote:

>There has been a discussion about Hungarian conductors recently, which made
>me think of another question: Why are nearly all the greatest violinists,
>in the past 150 years or so, of Jewish origin? I can hardly think of a
>great master violinist that was not a Jew: ...

Popular wisdon was that Eastern European Jews played the violin because if
they were expelled from their homes and had to leave in a hurry, a violin
was easier to transport than a piano.

Of course that doesn't explain why so many gifted violinists now seem to be
young Asians of the female persuasion.

Walter's quip is facetious; but one should point out that similar
claims about the portability of violins in difficult political times have
been made by PR-Chinese musicians (particularly during the period of the
Cultural Revolution).  One should also note the importance of traditions of
popular fiddle music, into which nervous classical violinists could vanish
into...  a vanishing which was as common in the PRC as it was in Eastern
Europe.

(The degree to which this explains the phenomenon of Asian female violists
is debateable, of course...)

Pianos, on the other hand, tend to be:

a) annoyingly non-portable; &
b) a dangerously clear sign of wealth;

so pianos & their owners tend to have a low survivability quotient when
things turn nasty....

All the best,

Robert Clements <[log in to unmask]>
<http://www.ausnet.net.au/~clemensr/welcome.htm>