Estudo de portamenti em gravações do início do século XX e sua aplicabilidade na obra de Nicolau Medina Ribas

Abstract

This research focused on the interpretation of works for the violin by Nicolau Medina Ribas, a Spanish violinist who lived in Porto during the nineteenth century, addressing the interpretive styles of that period. There are no extant recordings by Nicolau Ribas or his students. Recordings by early twentieth-century violinists were analyzed in order to assess specific aspects that could be applied to Ribas’ work, in particular the use of portamenti. Portamento, as an expressive resource, was a key element of the violin technique since the mid-nineteenth century to the first decades of the twentieth century. This research related the different types of portamenti, their context and frequency in recordings from the early twentieth century, with Ribas’ implicit performance style, as registered in the scores.