Liebesfreud (Love’s Joy) is a very nice show piece that has some terribly tricky parts including double stops and intricate bowings. It is typically paired with Liebesleid. Both pieces are very expressive.
The following technique must be addressed:
- Double dotted rhythm and bowing – To practice this, you may assign an etude such as Kayser #23 or Wohlfahrt Foundation Studies Book 2, #34 and use a doubled dotted variation to get the bow snap.
- Up Bow Staccato – Up bow staccato may be practiced with an etude, such as Kayser #33, Kreutzer #4, or any variation of similar etudes.
- Second Position & Fourth Positions – The student should play a few etudes or small pieces in second and fourth to review before playing this piece. There are several in the Second and Fourth Position String Builder by Applebaum. Surprisingly, this book is still in print.
- Spiccato – Can be practiced using any etude. It should include string crossings.
- Double Stops including sixths, fifths, fourths and thirds – Several pieces from Melodious Double Stops by Josephone Trott may be selected. Most importantly any scale with thirds should be played in a variety of ways. One of the most troubling parts about the thirds is that they move parallel to a neighbor tone a half step below and back up. They alternate between major thirds and minor thirds, also, making it even more challenging. On top of that, shifting makes finding finger spacing for these thirds even more difficult. Dounis finger exercises from the Daily Dozen may be used for this.
Liebesfrued can be found in The Fritz Kreisler Collection published by Carl Fischer.