The Violin Schools in eighteenth-century Europe
This workshop explores the development and significance of violin schools in eighteenth-century Europe, focusing on their role in shaping pedagogical practices, fostering professionalism, and establishing extensive musical networks. By examining key treatises, teaching methods, and the careers of prominent violinists, it highlights how institutions and traditions contributed to the standardization of violin technique and the dissemination of stylistic innovations across Europe. The interplay between local traditions and transnational influences reveals the violin schools as pivotal hubs of artistic exchange, laying the groundwork for the instrument's central position in Western classical music. The role that digital humanities play today in reconstructing violin schools will also be discussed, as well as how current techniques can help visualize networks and the mobility of musicians, printers, and patrons.