Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · section 16 of 100

Melody in stringed instruments

Instances of the melodic use of stringed instruments are innumerable. The reader will find many examples in the present treatise. With the exception of the double basses,—dull in tone and of little flexibility, chiefly employed in unison or in octaves with the violoncellos,—each of the other stringed instruments, taken independently, is qualified to assume full responsibility for the melodic line.