This article examines the interplay of performing technique and compositional structure in the works of four violinist-composers from late 17th-century German-speaking lands: Johann Jakob Walther, Johann Paul von Westhoff, Heinrich Biber and Johann Georg Pisendel. Focusing on these musicians’ complex polyphonic writing, the article argues that the physical techniques necessary to perform their works—specifically, those developed as a corrective to the challenges of pre-chinrest shifting—are associated with a particular way of conceptualizing and imagining counterpoint on the violin. The article goes on to trace the legacy of violinistic counterpoint in the music of later composers, including in Johann Sebastian Bach’s unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Trio, op.9 no.1. Along the way, the article speculates as to whether the musical imaginations of past composers, performers and listeners are accessible to modern-day enquiry. It concludes by arguing that a lack of explicit documentary evidence need not be an impediment in the investigation of historical practices, providing an alternative to the ‘positivistic’ approach often criticized in recent discussions of historically informed performance.

中文翻译：

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17 世纪德国土地上的小提琴技巧和对位想象

本文探讨了 17 世纪晚期德语国家四位小提琴家兼作曲家的作品中演奏技巧和作曲结构的相互作用：约翰·雅各布·瓦尔特、约翰·保罗·冯·韦斯特霍夫、海因里希·比伯和约翰·乔治·皮森德尔。本文着眼于这些音乐家复杂的复调写作，认为表演他们的作品所必需的物理技术——特别是那些为纠正下巴前移位挑战而开发的技术——与一种特定的概念化和想象对位的方式有关小提琴。这篇文章继续追溯了后来作曲家音乐中小提琴对位的遗产，包括约翰·塞巴斯蒂安·巴赫的无伴奏奏鸣曲和帕提​​塔，以及路德维希·范·贝多芬的弦乐三重奏，op.9 no.1。一路上，这篇文章推测了过去作曲家、表演者和听众的音乐想象力是否可以被现代调查所利用。它的结论是，缺乏明确的书面证据不一定会成为研究历史实践的障碍，它提供了一种替代“实证主义”方法的替代方案，这种方法在最近关于历史知情绩效的讨论中经常受到批评。