An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin
Rohan Kriwaczek
'a kind of literary equivalent of a mockumentary.'
James Ley (Australian Literary Review)'Read as an amusing fable it's a lot of fun — but it also takes aim at the walled city of the the classical canon by positing the possibility of a popular form of classical music.'
Steven Carroll (Age)'The Art of the Funerary Violin is a fascinating work in its own right, an unorthodox alternative history novel filled with left-field characters and quirky details.'
Tim Howard (Sydney Morning Herald)It is only by staring Death in the face that you can truly say you have known Life; it is only by losing that which you hold most dear that you can truly say you have known Love; such is the Art of the Funerary Violinist.
From its origins in the Elizabethan Protestant Reformation, to its final extinction amidst the guns of the First World War, the art of Funerary Violin was characterised by many unique and frequently misunderstood qualities that set it apart from all other forms of music.
Despite its enormous influence on classical music generally and on the Romantic Movement in particular, this music has almost entirely vanished. In a series of ‘funerary purges’, the art of funerary violin was condemned as ‘the music of the devil’ and the Guild of Funerary Violinists driven into silence or clandestine activity.
This is the music that, despite all attempts at suppression, has haunted Europe’s collective unconscious for more than a century. Now Rohan Kriwaczek reveals its incredible history. Painstakingly pieced together from a handful of fragments and unsubstantiated and often unspoken rumours, and making use of a number of extraordinary recent discoveries, An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin celebrates a unique musical tradition that refuses to die.
'For anyone who has endured the dry, sanctimonious and often firmly pompous lectures by ardent musicologists or laboriously clambered through their densely worded tomes, Kriwaczek has invented the perfect antidote.'
Gillian Wills (Courier Mail)Rohan Kriwaczek
Long regarded as England’s foremost authority on the history and practice of Funerary Violin, Rohan Kriwaczek graduated first from the University of Sussex in 1972, and then from the Royal Academy of Music in 1974 with an Advanced Diploma in violin performance. Following a number of successful tours of Britain and Europe as a violinist, he became involved with the Guild of Funerary Violinists in 1975. After much active scholarship researching their archives, he was elected Acting Secretary in 1982, and Acting President in 2000. Over the last thirty years he has dedicated his academic life entirely to the fervent study and recreation of the lost history of Funerary Violin, presenting lectures and workshops all around Europe, and writing a number of books on the subject, recognised today as the standard works for all students of Funerary Violin.
As a Funerary Violinist himself, he was instrumental in establishing concert series in cemeteries in a number of major European cities and has been given many honours, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Federation of Funeral Directors (2004).
He has, over the years, held many posts at Universities and Colleges, but since 1999 has dedicated himself exclusively to the promotion, study, and performance of Funerary Violin, and his official duties as Acting President of the Guild of Funerary Violinists.
He lives in Brighton.
Buy from Readings
Extent: 224pp
Size: 225mm x 153mm
ISBN (13): 9781921215452
RRP: $29.95
Pub date: April 2007
ANZ and South-East Asia
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