Violin virtuoso at home in many musical worlds

Rachel Barton Pine

Rachel Barton Pine

The prospect of a heavy-metal headbanger going after Brahms' 1878 "Violin Concerto in D Major," Op. 77 sounds like a wild ride along the lines of Emerson Lake and Palmer's 1971 rock reincarnation of Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."

That is, until one understands the breadth and depth of the musical world of virtuoso violinist Rachel Barton Pine, who will play the Brahms concerto with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Jan. 14-15, at the Tennessee Theatre.

During a telephone conversation from her home in Chicago it was hard to get a question squeezed into her long, enthusiastic soliloquy about her love for everything musical.

It spanned from the rich history of her "ex-Soldat," 1742 Joseph Guarneri "del Gesu" violin that was personally selected by Brahms for his protege, Marie Soldat, and which has been loaned to Pine for her classical music performances; playing in her heavy metal, thrash/doom band Earthen Grave; her involvement with Mark O'Connor's fiddle camp; her foundation that is devoted to helping young people discover music; to ferreting out music by obscure 17th and 18th century German composers for her group Trio Settecento, in which she plays violin, along with cellist John Mark Rozendaal and harpsichordist David Schrader.

A stickler for authenticity, to get the tone of Trio Settecento's music right, when Pine works with the trio, she plays a rare, original condition 1770 Nicola Gagliano violin. For some pieces, Rozendaal replaces the cello with its early predecessor, a 1650 William Turner viola da gamba, and Schrader switches from the plucked harpsichord to a Gerrit Klop positiv organ, an early wind instrument, all of which is very important to Pine.

When Pine plays with Earthen Grave, whose music heavy metal critics have called "pure, head-banging bliss," she plays a Viper, an electric cousin of the violin.

"It's actually a Flying V guitar that has six strings that you play with a bow," Pine explained. "You don't hold it with your head, so you are free to head bang, which is very important to metal."

Oh, and by the way, with all this eclecticism, if Pine was stranded on a desert island with only one piece of music to her name, it would be the Brahms violin concerto.

"It's my favorite concerto," Pine said. "I have a long association with it."

It is the piece she most often played when she dazzled audiences with her vibrant interpretations during many of the violin competitions she has won.

But don't be surprised if Pine takes the stage this week wearing Madonna gloves, chains and black leather armbands with spikes.

"I don't know why music has to be separated into categories," she said. "We don't have to be segregated."

Pine was introduced to the violin at age 3 after hearing one at a church concert. It was love at first sight.

Even though her family's circumstances were such that they sometimes struggled to make ends meet, they made sure she continued her music lessons.

By the age of 10, she was a recognized prodigy and performed with the Chicago Symphony.

She was well on her way to international stardom, when, in 1994 at age 20, a train accident resulted in the amputation of one of her legs.

After what she describes as a near-death experience, she determined that music had too much to offer her to give up. Music fed her soul and sustained her.

Now, after more than 40 surgeries, she no longer needs assistance when she walks out on stage, although she still uses a stool for support while she plays.

So who can blame her if she wants to experience as many musical genres as her almost boundless energy and generous spirit has time for.

"I often invite my metal audiences to come to a classical concert," Pine said. "Classical music is such great stuff. If people will just try it, they will fall in love with it. There is no reason they should be left out."

Harold Duckett is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!

© 2010 Knoxville.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.