An Incomplete History Of The Art Of Funerary Violin

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.