french bow exhibition

french bow exhibition
©Linda Lespets
The performance and pedagogy of bowed string
instruments Sydney Conservatorium
March 16th-17th, 2012
In collaboration with Lespets & Camden Fine Violins
www.lespetscamdenviolins.com.au
presenting leading international bow expert Pierre
Guillaume
Foreword
The art of musical performance receives its life through a marriage
of imagination and knowledge. A serious performer or teacher
must seek the knowledge of the masters who build their bows and
instruments. A master artisan must heed the imagination of the
artist whose inspiration points the way. Bringing together musicians
and makers in a place of learning, to share knowledge and to
collaborate in making this unique bow exhibition and conference
possible is central to the purpose of a University that includes a
Conservatorium of Music among its faculties. I am very pleased to
welcome you to this exhibition and to this search for the perfect
bow, a search which will increase knowledge and must expand
imagination.
Goetz Richter, Sydney Conservatorium
“In the performance of music on the violin and the instruments similar
to it, the bow stroke is of chief importance.
Through it the sound is drawn from the instrument well or poorly, the
notes receive their life, the Piano and Forte are expressed, the passions
are aroused, and the melancholy is distinguished from the gay, the serious from the jocular, the sublime from the flattering, the modest from
the bold.
In a word, like the chest, tongue and lips on the flute, the bow-stroke
provides the means for achieving the musical articulation and for
varying a single idea in diverse ways. That the fingers must also
contribute their share, and that you must have a good instrument and
true strings, is self-evident. But since, even with all of these things, the
execution may still be every defective, no matter how accurately and
truly you stop the strings, how well the instrument sounds, or how
good the strings are, it naturally follows that, with regard to execution,
the bow-stroke is of central importance.”
Johann Joachim QUANTZ, Versuch..(Berlin 1752).
Translated by E.R. Reilly
Pierre Guillaume
Pierre Guillaume learnt his
craft following world-class
masters, BAZIN, MORIZOT,
OUCHARD and others,
who passed on to him
techniques reaching back
several centuries.
For his bows he uses only
the best pernambuco and
has been making periodic
trips to Brazil since 1982 to
select it in person.
He has now accumulated
a very large stock of wood
enough to last him thirty
years from which he can
choose the most suitable for
each bow.
He is an active member of the IPCI, an association of professionals that strives to protect and
promote sustainable use of pernambuco, the
best wood for bow-making.
Today, the name Guillaume is widely recognised as standing for commitment, bow-making
of unequalled quality and authoritative appraisals
of old bows.
a short history of the modern bow
The modern bow first developed in France thanks
to the genius of the Tourte family working in Paris
during the second half of the 18th Century.
The “Parisian bow” as it was called did not become
well known in Germany and Austria until the first
great concert tours given by French violinists after
the Revolution.
During the 18th Century, bows were often considered simply accessories, violin makers having them
made by their employees, but by the end of the
century when the stick had taken the form and dimensions it still has today the bows were attributed
to the craftsmen who made them.
The evolution of the bow can be seen in this illustration, initially convex, as in the Corelli bow the stick
was straightened for Tartini, the tip was modernised
for Cramer while for Viotti the camber is made
concave.
We cannot talk about
Tourte’s bow innovations
without saying a few words
about the violinist JeanBaptiste Viotti. Viotti was
welcomed to Paris in 1782
now the capital of the
violin, admired for his
Francois Tourte
virtuoso playing and the
quality of his compositions. The concave bow that Viotti used –was
apparently a novelty, it was of equal height at
the frog and the point and allowed the same
intense yet supple style over the whole length of
the bow.
Francois Tourte born 1748, a clock maker by
trade turned bow maker, modified the bow to
satisfy the demands of Viotti, adjusted the camber, determined the length of the bow, designed
the metallic ring adapted to the heel, spread
the hair of the bow flat and used exclusively
pernambuco wood, all this to adapt to Viotti’s
brand new playing style. With these innovations
it is therefore attributed to Francois Tourte the
creation of the modern bow and as is fitting, with
the imput of Jean-Baptist Viotti the founder of the
modern school of violin playing.
Francois(1748-1835)
Xavier TOURTE
Younger son of Nicolas Pierre TOURTE, brother of Nicolas
Léonard TOURTE, Francois Xavier TOURTE is widely referred
as the French “Stradivarius of the bow”, whose work is
highly sought after in the musical world by the greatest
professional performers and all knowledgeable collectors. From his close collaboration with violin virtuosi named
Jean-Baptiste Viotti, he developed the ideas which would
culminate in the creation of the modern bow, raised bow
making to a new technical and artistic level, which, while it
may have been equalled, has never been surpassed. François TOURTE’s bow remains the obligatory reference, and
the standard for bow makers of the present and the future.
Dominique
Peccatte
(1810-1847)
Was born in Mirecourt in 1810. At the age of 16, he left
Mirecourt to be apprenticed in the workshop of JeanBaptiste Vuillaume in Paris. In 1838 he took over the workshop of Francois Lupot.
PECCATTE’s work is marked with intuition and spontaneity although no two of his bow are the same they are recognisable by the same dexterity , rapidity and strength
in character, it is extremely rare to hear that a PECCATTE
bow does not play well.
His very extensive production is much sought after in our
time. Through the new and powerful style which made
him famous Dominique PECCATTE was a major influence
on French bow making as early as 1840. The very mention of his name inspires thoughts of beauty and playing
security in the minds of artists, thus both soloists and collectors are pleased to possess an example of the work of
this celebrated man.
Francois (1833-1885)
- Nicolas VOIRIN
F.N. VOIRIN started working for his cousin J.-B. Vuillaume
when he was twenty years old, first as a piece worker.
He then went on to become a leader of a generation
of bow makers whose work was the perfect transition
between the Peccatte school, with its square, powerful
model, occasionally a little heavy, and the Vuillaume
school, of the second half of the 19th century, with its
more “feminine” models. The precision and the quality
of his work, as well as the elegance of his style, which
he gradually refined until he reached the remarkable
elegance, and grace of his most famous gold-mounted
models, were legendary. The whole of his work is highly
appreciated by artists, and sought after by collectors.
Eugene Sartory
(1871-1946)
Eugene Nicolas SARTORY, son of Eustache Sartory bow
maker, was born in 1871 in Mirecourt. After a short apprenticeship with his father, he left for Paris to perfect his art
under Charles Peccatte. From early on he was known for his
rapidity and steady hand and at the very young age of 18
set up his own workshop in Paris.
SARTORY’s bows were always very well balanced and are
usually of the ideal weight. SARTORY is considered as one
of the greatest bow makers of the 20th century ; his work is
highly appreciated by artists, violin and bow makers and
collectors.
In 1929, Queen Elizabeth of Belgium personally wrote to Sartory to commission a bow for one of the greatest Belgium
violinists Eugene Ysaye; this gold and tortoiseshell bow with
special inscription from the Queen to Ysaye, is one of his
most beautiful masterpiece. This bow features in this French
Bow Exhibition along with a copy of the letter sent by the
Queen to SARTORY.
Etienne Pajeot
(1791-1849)
Born in Mirecourt in 1791, son of Louis Simon Pajeot,
Bow maker, he was first apprenticed in his fathers
workshop.
Although ambitious he never worked in Paris but he
presented his work there as an exhibition in 1891. His
business flourished and he employed several workers
in his workshop including the celebrated bowmakers
Nicolas Maire and Claude-Joseph Fonclause.
Being very careful of the quality of his wood, his sticks
are sometimes thin but react well and have excellent sound quality.
Etienne PAJEOT is recognised as one of those who
did some of the most beautiful work of his time, and
far from the great masters as he was, it remains a
mystery as to where he drew his inspiration. He was
perhaps a genius.
Joseph
HENRY
(1823 – 1870)
Joseph HENRY first started working for Georges
Chanot firm before joining Dominique Peccatte,
with whom he perfected his skill, and where his
bows may first be distinguished, although he often
worked in collaboration with his employer. In 1851,
he set up his own workshop, 5 numbers away from
Vuillaume’s building, this is when he made his most
beautiful bows, mainly in pernambuco and mounted in silver, but there are some mounted in ivory or
tortoiseshell and gold, which are truly magnificent.
It was probably at this time that HENRY worked for
Vuillaume, and made some of his most remarkable
creations for him. HENRY’s bows are much sought
after by musicians for their playing qualities, and
some of them are appreciated as much as those
by D. Peccatte.
Nicolas
Rémy MAIRE
(1800-1878)
MAIRE worked for Étiennne Pajeot, he used very similar
models to Pajeot. MAIRE produced a great many well
made bows of good quality. They are much sought after
today by musicians and collectors, who sometimes associate them with the work of some great craftsmen of
the 19th century.
Jean-Baptiste
VUILLAUME
(1798-1875)
Known as one of the greatest French violin maker, J.-B.
VUILLAUME enjoyed a close friendship with Paganini. VUILLAUME also ran a successful business where he employed
some of the greatest French bow makers of his time: Jean
Pierre Marie Persoit, Dominique Peccatte, Claude-Joseph
Fonclause, Nicolas Maline, Jean Grand-Adam, Pierre
Simon, Franςois Peccatte, Nicolas Maire, François Nicolas Voirin, Charles Peccatte, Jean Joseph Martin, Charles
Claude Husson and many others.
J.-B. VUILLAUME must have dominated the whole of the
French market to attract to his workshop all the great
Masters of the time, whom he directed, guided and advised. In 1835, VUILLAUME took out a patent for the selfrehairing bow, which was a useful invention for musicians
who travelled a lot. From 1845, VUILLAUME wanted to
take absolute control, and created the frog known as the
“Vuillaume”frog, with rounded ferrule, these frogs are often
decorated with the world’s first micro-photos (1mm by
0.5mm), with three different portraits of J.-B.V. or of performers like Paganini, Alard or Sarasate. They are placed in
the centre of the pearl eyes, on either side of the frog.
reference: “L’Archet” B. Millant, J.-F. Raffin, B. Gaudfroy, L. Le Canu, L’ARCHET EDITIONS Paris, 2000
the exhibition of bows will continue at
Lespets & Camden Fine Violins,
private appointments available, please
contact us on
02 9663 4938 M 0400 6880308
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