This volume investigates the evolution of violin performance techniques and their intrinsic relationship to the development of the instrument and its repertoire from its origins through 1761. David D. Boyden, a noted musicologist, synthesizes historical treatises, iconography, and musical scores to reconstruct the technical standards of early violinists. He argues that understanding the physical mechanics of past performance is necessary to interpret the musical intent of composers from the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

Experts and musicologists regard this work as a foundational text for the study of historical performance practice. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the meticulous nature of the research presented throughout the volume.