The Short

Ex. 14.16.Clinton, A School or Practical Instruction Book, 72
Speed and Intensity of Vibrato
VIBRATO 545
Ideas about how fast the pulsations of a vibrato were expected to be clearly varied from time to time, instrument to
instrument, and performer to performer. Evidence as firm as García's is exceptional; nevertheless, some tentative
conclusions about broad trends may be elicited from references to the technique in contemporary instruction books or
descriptions. It seems probable that in the eighteenth century most performers employed a fairly slow vibrato as a rule
and that in the nineteenth century a faster one was generally preferred. There were, of course, always faster and slower
vibrato effects, depending on the context, but a fair amount of evidence points towards a faster norm in the period
after 1800.