Portamento, portamento |

Italian, from portare la voce – to transfer the voice; French port de voix

In playing bowed instruments, a way of playing a melody by slowly sliding a finger along a string from one position to another. Close to glissando; however, if the indication of glissando is given by the composer himself in the musical text, then the use of R., as a rule, is left to the discretion of the performer. R.’s use was determined primarily by the development of positional playing on the violin and the resulting need to achieve a smooth connection of sounds in the cantilena when moving from position to position. Therefore, the use of r. is inextricably linked with the fingering, the fingering thinking of the performer. In the 2nd floor. 19th century, with the development of virtuoso playing technique, increasing importance in instr. timbre music, R., in combination with vibrato, begins to play an increasingly important role, enabling the performer to diversify and vary the coloring of sounds. Expressed in a common way. game R. becomes only in the 20th century, acquiring a new meaning in the performer. practice of E. Isai and especially F. Kreisler. The latter was used in combination with intense vibrato, decomp. kind of accents of the bow and the reception of portato a wide and varied range of shades of R. In contrast to the classic. R., the meaning of which was reduced only to a smooth connection of sounds, in modern performance, R. has become one of the most important means of artistic interpretation.

The following are practically possible. types of R.:

In the first case, the slide is made with a finger that takes the initial sound, and the subsequent, higher one, is taken with another finger; in the second, sliding is performed mainly with a finger that takes a high sound; in the third, sliding and extracting the initial and subsequent sounds is carried out with the same finger. In arts. regarding the possibility of using diff. ways of performing R. is entirely determined by the interpretation of this music. excerpt, music phrases and the individual taste of the performer, as Each of the above methods of performing R. imparts a special coloration to the sound. Therefore, using one method or another, the performer can give decomp. the tone of the sound of the same music. phrase. Unjustified use of wok. and instr. R. leads to mannerisms of performance.

References: Yampolsky I., Fundamentals of violin fingering, M., 1955, p. 172-78.

I. M. Yampolsky