# Questions on the History of Vibrato for String Instruments.



## MozartEarlySymphonies (Nov 29, 2013)

I have a couple of questions regarding the history of vibrato.

1. About what year did vibrato start?
2. If it was around in the Baroque or Classical eras, was it popular, occasional to be used, hated or none of the above?
3. About when did vibrato became part of the modern technique for string instruments?


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

I don't understand your first question. Are you asking when vibrato was invented as an instrumental technique? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it's as old as stringed instruments.

It's my understanding that the second two questions are a matter of considerable debate. Leopold Mozart complains in one of his books about “performers who tremble consistently on each note as if they had the permanent fever”, so at least some violinists used vibrato all the time around the end of the baroque period and at least one person was irritated by this.


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

In general, vibrato was not used until the baroque. The reason is that the fretted viols of the earlier ages did not lend themselves to it. During the baroque there was a great deal of controversy about the use of vibrato, not just in strings but in voice as well. If you listen to the original instrument recordings, you will see that there is a big difference in the vibrato of baroque as opposed to modern works


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