The Transcriptions and Editions of Luigi Silva and Their Influence on Cello Pedagogy and Performance with Three Recitals of Selected Works by Bach, Beethoven, Barber, Bridge, Haydn and Others

Virtually disregarded in contemporary discussions of cello performance and pedagogy is the name of Luigi Silva (1903-1961). Though he did not achieve fame as a performer to the same degree as his peers Leonard Rose (1918-1984), Emanuel Feuermann (1902-1942) or Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976), Silva had an internationally-acclaimed performing career. Owing to his formidable technique on the instrument, he was known as the "Paganini of the cello." Through Silva's unparalleled ability to analyze technical problems in his students' playing and assist his student have populated faculties of most of the major American post-secondary schools of music and many of the principal chairs in important symphony orchestras. Of even longer-lasting significance is his enormous contribution to the literature for cello of over 100 transcriptions and scholarly editions of standard cello repertoire. By combining his own incredible artistry on the instrument and his extraordinary enthusiasm for teaching with his transcriptions of such works as the 24 Paganini Caprices, Silva helped raise the standard of cello technique to an unprecedented level and has impacted in one way or another every cellist in the twentieth century. This dissertation document describes the influences Silva's transcriptions and editions have had on cello playing and teaching in the 20th-Century