The notation I've indicated in the red box in the attached image, what does it really mean in music context?
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Your excerpt comes from a Russian edition with piano accompaniment. The symbols ф-п are simply the Russian letters for f-p, that is, fortepiano, their word for pianoforte. The violin part starts at con sordino, which is why fingering is not given in the earlier bars.
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Why would con sordino and allegro vivace still be in Italian rather than Russian? I can also see a nf down the bottom, what does that mean? – marcellothearcane May 1 '18 at 19:01
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1It is mf for mezzo forte down the bottom. con sordino and allegro vivace are standard directions that are not typically translated. Typically, they are not translated into English, either. – user48353 May 2 '18 at 0:22
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1Good thinking on your part. It may seem so, but there is actually no evidence that f-p was translated, or equivalently, that it was originally present in another language. Russian editions were often illegal photographic copies of Western originals. Text desired to be inserted or replaced would simply be overlaid. – user48353 May 3 '18 at 0:27
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Well, it is not the dynamics forte piano which is meant. It is the instrument "piano" which originally was called fortepiano. So it is just a note telling what the piano plays in those two bars. Note the whole note rests in those two bars; they are for the violin player. – Lars Peter Schultz Dec 2 '18 at 19:15
