Curved bow
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The curved bow for string instruments enables string players to play one, two, three and four strings simultaneously and to change easily among these possibilities. The high arch of the bow allows full, sustained chords to be played and there is a lever mechanism that affects the tension and release of the bow hairs. The tension of the hairs on the curved bow can be controlled flexibly and precisely, permitting heretofore unknown sound qualities on one or more strings in both monophonic and polyphonic textures.
Although one might think of the curved bow as, somehow, emblematic of string playing, the fascinating world of polyphonic performance and evidence from former times are still open to investigation.
The practice of polyphonic playing using such kinds of bows is documented by the Renaissance era lira da braccio virtuoso Alessandro Striggio (1540-92); the organist, violonist, and gambist Nikolaus Bruhns (1665-97); the German violinist and contemporary of J.S.Bach Johann Paul von Westhoff (1656-1705), who developed a unique notation for polyphonic playing; and last, but not least, Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), whose polyphonic daredevilry, in some of his works for violin and viola, was studied and documented by Philippe Borer [1].
Ever since the publication in 1905 of Albert Schweitzer's ground-breaking book about J.S.Bach [2], the question of the curved bow has been widely debated, even among the experts. For Schweitzer, however, use of the curved bow was essential in performing Bach’s string works. Asked to write something for the Bach year in 1950 (Bach-Gedenkschrift), fifty years after his original study, Schweitzer still focused on his ideas about the curved bow [3]; clearly this remained central to his ideas about Bach interpretation.
Certain musicologists (D.Boyden, for example) have questioned the use of the curved bow, but their notions seem to be based more on theory than actual use of the bow itself. Two texts, on the other hand, clearly document use of the curved bow: Rudolf Gaehler’s book Der Rundbogen für Violine - ein Phantom? (The Curved Bow for Violin - a Phantom?) [4], and Michael Bach’s article on the Suites for Cello of J.S.Bach, published in the German magazine Das Orchester [5]. Both these studies are supported by the considerable research and concert experience of their authors.
In 1990, the German cellist Michael Bach had invented a curved bow for cello, violin, viola and bass [6]. He named it "BACH.Bogen" (BACH.Bow). During the years 1997 and 2001, Mstislav Rostropovich was intimately involved in the development and testing of the BACH.Bogen [7]. He invited Michael Bach to present his curved bow on the occasion of the 7ème Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch in Paris 2001 [8].
John Cage, Dieter Schnebel, Walter Zimmermann and Hans Zender have written works for the curved bow which explore the new perspectives and potential of it.
Literature
- MUSICAGE, pages 246-290 and 296, Editor: Joan Retallack, Wesleyan University Press, Hanover 1996, ISBN 0-8195-5285-2
- Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Centennial Edition, Vol. 1, pages 173/174, Editors: Nicolas Slonimsky and Laura Kuhn, New York 2001
- Jeremy Barlow: The Bach Bow, in: Early music today, London 2003
- ^ Philippe Borer, The Twenty-Four Caprices of Niccolò Paganini, Zürich 1997
- ^ Albert Schweitzer, Johann Sebastian Bach - XVII. Kammer- und Orchesterwerke, Die Sonaten für Solovioline, Seite 337-343, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 1954
- ^ Albert Schweitzer: Der für Bachs Werke für Violine solo erforderte Geigenbogen. in: Bach-Gedenkschrift, Seite 75-83, Zürich 1950
- ^ Rudolf Gaehler: Der Rundbogen für die Violine - ein Phantom? ConBrio-Fachbuch, Band 5, ConBrio Verlagsgesellschaft Regensburg 1997, ISBN 3-930079-58-5
- ^ Michael Bach: Die Suiten für Violoncello von Johann Sebastian Bach. in: Das Orchester, Mainz 7-8/1997
- ^ Michael Bach: Fingerboards & Overtones, Pictures, Basics and Model for a New Way of Cello Playing edition spangenberg, München 1991, ISBN 3-89409-063-4
- ^ http://bach.bogen.pagespro-orange.fr/html/mstislav_rostropovich.htm
- ^ http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/bachbogen/bachbogen.htm