How do you "Boroque bowing" ?????

[fatgoogle]

Today at oprchestra we were handed out a new piece of music Suiter no1 form the Water music.

Now this was just as it ended as it was something to get ready for next week, and i was told by the conductor that i would need to hold my bow in the boroque style, to get the right sound etc.

Now after a search on google i can find nothing on how to actually hold my bow in that style.

Is it more of something to do like the bows from vienna or something.

Thanks
Sam H

[OutToPlayJazz]

In the baroque era the bass didn't actually exist and the violone (bass viol) would have been the instrument in use at the time. Obviously in this period they couldn't manufacture metal screw threads, so there was no tensioner on the bow. The bow (narrow like a french style bow) would have had little tension of the hair, so would have been held in a German style about a third of the way up the stick, using the fingers to tension the hair. If you use a German bow there's not a lot you can do as the bow is so thick, but a French bow can do this if the hair is set relatively slack. I've not heard of people using this technique except with gambas and violones.

Have a look at this...

Edited March 6, 2010 by OutToPlayJazz

[Pete1967]

I agree with Rich - the modern bow isn't designed to be tensioned by hand. For one thing Baroque bows tended to have a convex curve (where modern bows have a concave curve) and I've not seen the hand tensioning this done with modern bows. There's also a school of thought that you shouldn't touch the face of the hair with your hand because it transfers oils from the skin and can cause the bow to 'skid'. If I were you I'd use your normal technique and concentrate on the stylistic elements of playing Baroque music - slightly staccato and metronomically accurate rhythm. Listen to a recording by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHphPq4Vnzg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHphPq4Vnzg[/url]

[fatgoogle]

Ok thanks, would a german bow maybe work a bit better for this style.

[Wil]

I think there was very little in the way of vibrato used in the baroque period, too. Loads of trills and turnarounds instead.

This is a cello concertio with a prominent solo cello part from 1.10 which is absolutely beautiful. It encapsulates baroque music to me, so you might find it inspiring.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Wil

[OutToPlayJazz]

Also, you might want to try playing very measured bows (similar length bows for all crotchets and the same again for quavers.) Play dotted rhythms double dotted with a breath or slight spacing between the long and short notes. Use a stylistically pronounced contrast between motor rhythm notes (very smooth quaver passages) and more detached/accented crotchets. This is basically due to the fact that baroque music is written "vertically" from the bass upwards & it pays to give separation to the crotchets where the chords change. Listen to someone playing to the Bach cello suites and you'll spot this very quickly. You may also like to leave a breath or space between the penultimate and last notes of sections. This shows the audience that you are finishing the section and that we're either ending the piece or something different is about to happen.

As mentioned earlier, you'll not find any vibrato in baroque music and not much in the way of dynamics - Contrasts were created via articulation in the bowing & with ornamentation on repeated sections, such as trills (starting on the upper note in this period), turns, appogiaturas, acciccaturas & mordents.

Have fun. There's a lot to learn in the Baroque period

[PedalB]

Hi,
Give your bass and bow to the conductor - ask him to demonstrate! . Unless you play in an ensemble that uses 'origional' instruments (ie voila da Gamba etc) to create the origional sound then apart from keeping your playing all 'neat and tidy' in the Baroque style there's little else you can do. Also if your conductor is so keen for the origional sound,
ask him/her if the boat is organised to float you all down the Thames whilst you perform!.