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This is from the manuscript of an unpublished trumpet concerto by Leon Stekke, written in 1937, that I'm trying to get in playable condition again. On the right, I'm pretty sure that's "quasi chitarra" (like a guitar), but on the left I have no idea. The best I have is "La violon sans la bras et avec la ____", but I'm not familiar enough with the anatomy of string instruments to know what that last word is supposed to be or what "bras" might be referring to. Any ideas?

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    Avec la peuce, perhaps? With the thumb? Bras seems to mean arm.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Nov 4 at 0:58
  • "to know ... what 'bras' might be referring to": there are dozens of French-English dictionaries and machine translation services available online. A favorite resource of mine is Wiktionary.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 4 at 7:34
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    @phoog Sorry, I should've mentioned in the original question that I knew "bras" meant "arm," but I wasn't sure if that was referring to some part of the violin/bow or your actual, physical arm.
    – Calvin Godfrey
    Commented Nov 4 at 14:10
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    @AndyBonner I added that identifying information; there's a recording of the transcription for trumpet and piano, but none with full orchestra
    – Calvin Godfrey
    Commented Nov 4 at 14:10
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    Aha that makes more sense, thanks. I was a bit baffled!
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 4 at 16:21

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I think it's "Le violon sous le bras et avec le pouce": "violin under the arm and with the thumb", that is, hold the violin in front of you and strum it like a guitar.

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    Sounds like a reasonable guess! I'll leave it open for a few more hours, then accept this if no one has any other suggestions
    – Calvin Godfrey
    Commented Nov 4 at 1:46
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    Oh "sous" makes so much more sense than "sans". Without the arm?
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Nov 4 at 3:42
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    @CalvinGodfrey Yes, that's "Le violon sous le bras et avec le pouce". (French native here). Just like in the well-known portrait of Rameau: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Philippe_Rameau
    – Jean-Armand Moroni
    Commented Nov 4 at 15:54
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    @Jean-ArmandMoroni Thanks for confirming! And finding an illustration, too. I knew playing the violin this way is a thing (seen someone do it... in fact that guy went full on strumming a rhythm up and down with his fingernails), but I neither play the violin myself nor speak much of French, and on top of that, I don't exactly find the handwriting very readily legible (without context I couldn't really tell if that's "sans" or "sous" or "tous" or "tons" or what), so I wasn't too sure of my answer and just hoped I wouldn't mislead the asker with a wrong guess.
    – Divizna
    Commented Nov 4 at 16:47
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    That fits perfectly with the ‘quasi chitarra’ — both held and played like a guitar!  (I think I've heard that called ‘banjo position’, which may be a slightly more accurate description, but it's clearly the same thing.)
    – gidds
    Commented Nov 4 at 18:50

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