THE INTERACTION OF BOWS, BOW STROKES, AND COMPOSITIONAL STYLES IN SELECTED VIOLIN CONCERTOS OF THE CLASSICAL AND THE ROMANTIC PERIODS by Qiao Chen Solomon (Under the Direction of David Haas and Levon Ambartsumian) ABSTRACT This study presents a historical and stylistic approach to issues of bowing and style in three major violin concertos from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The works to be analyzed are: Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 4 in D major, K.218 (representing the Early Classical repertoire), Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op.61 (Late Classical/Early Romantic), and Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op.77 (Romantic). The commentaries on the interpretation of these works will be based on information of bow types and bow strokes from different historical periods in relation to basic principles of present-day pedagogy for sound production. INDEX WORDS: Violin bow, Sound production, Bow stroke, Bowing, Mozart violin concerto, Beethoven violin concerto, Brahms violin concerto THE INTERACTION OF BOWS, BOW STROKES, AND COMPOSITIONAL STYLES IN SELECTED VIOLIN CONCERTOS OF THE CLASSICAL AND THE ROMANTIC PERIODS by Qiao Chen Solomon B.M. Capital Normal University (P.R. China), 2001 M.M. University of Limerick (Ireland), 2002 A Document Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS Athens, Georgia 2007 THE INTERACTION OF BOWS, BOW STROKES, AND COMPOSITIONAL STYLES IN SELECTED VIOLIN CONCERTOS OF THE CLASSICAL AND THE ROMANTIC PERIODS by Qiao Chen Solomon Major Professors: Levon Ambartsumian, David Haas Committee: Leonard V. Ball, Jr. Milton Masciadri Mark Neumann Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2007 © 2007 Qiao Chen Solomon All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my violin professor, Dr. Levon Ambartsumian, because of whom I came to the University of Georgia to study violin, and who inspired me to explore this topic through his outstanding teaching. Special thanks goes to Dr. David Haas, who put countless hours reading through my document drafts and providing thoughtful suggestions. He kindly provided his strong support, encouragement, and extremely hard work during the dissertation writing process. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee members: Dr. Leonard Ball, Dr. Mark Neumann, and Dr. Milton Masciadri for their helpful suggestions and hard work in this project. I want to thank my great friend Heidi Lucas for helping me with editing while she was so very busy writing her own document. I am tremendously grateful for her generous help with editing and her warm friendship. Finally, I want to send my deepest love and thanks to my husband Jason Solomon, my parents-in-law, Larry Solomon and Becky Solomon, my parents, JingZhong Chen and SongMei Yang, and our dog, Spoony. Jason is one of the most hardworking people I have ever known on this planet. We were both writing our dissertation at the same time, and his hard working spirit is truly an inspiration and motivation for me. His love and encouragement helped me to believe in myself while completing this project. My parents-in-law are some of the most wonderful people I have ever known—they are so supportive and inspiring. Because of our busy schedule, their place became a weekly doggy-care for our dog, Spooner. My parents, who live in China, are the most selfless and generous people I have known: they gave me their great moral support during iv the writing progress. As the only child of my parents, they graciously supported me traveling across the globe to study abroad and fulfill my musical dreams in the United States. Our little dog Spoony is a great entertainer and a sweet boy who brought us a lot of joy and comfort while we were so stressed out from writing. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………………..iv LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………………..viii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES……………………………………………………………….ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….………….….1 Literature Review.........................................................................................3 Methodology................................................................................................5 Chapter Organization...................................................................................6 2 SURVEY OF DEVELOPMENTS IN VIOLIN BOW CONSTRUCTION AND PLAYING TECHNIQUE FROM THE SEVENTEENTH THROUGH THE NINETEENTH CENTURIES........................................8 Violin Bow Construction and Playing Technique in the Seventeenth Century.............................................................................................8 Violin Bow Construction and Playing Technique Prior to the Tourte Bow (1790)...................................................................15 The François Tourte Bow Construction and Playing Technique from 1790 to the Present................................................................23 3 MECHANICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL, AND CONCEPTUAL FACTORS OF SOUND PRODUCTION...........................................................................36 vi The Mechanical Factor in Sound Production.............................................37 Physiological Factor in Sound Production.................................................41 Conceptual Factor in Sound Production....................................................45 4 PRODUCING THE STYLISTIC SOUND OF A GIVEN HISTORICAL PERIOD OF MUSIC: FROM MOZART TO BRHAMS..........................49 The Transitional Bow and Mozart’s Violin Concerto in D major, K. 218.............................................................................................50 The Early Tourte Bow and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61.............................................................................................63 The Mature Tourte Bow and Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77.............................................................................................79 BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................94 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Violin bow from Mersenne’s ‘Harmonie Universelle’ (1636-7)..............…...................9 Figure 2: Bow dated 1694 ………………………………………………………..….…………..10 Figure 3: ‘Stradivari’ bow (c.1700)…………………………………………….….…………….11 Figure 4: Violinist playing in French style. Lithograph of a painting by Gerard Dou, dated 1665……………………………………………………….…………………….…12 Figure 5: A sketch by Lodovico Caracci (1555-1619), showing the Italian bow grip…………..13 Figure 6: Violin Bows c.1700-c.1820 preserved in the Hill Collection of musical Instruments in the Ashmolean Museum, Ozford…………………………….....16 Figure 7: Fetis’s illustrations of 17th-18th century bows…………...…………………………….18 Figure 8: Violin bows (from top) by Tourte pére, Paris c. 1770; François Tourte, Paris c. 1790; François Tourte, Paris c. 1820………………………………………………….26 Figure 9: The older German manner…..……………………………….………………………...27 Figure 10: The newer Franco-Belgian manner…………………………………….…………….27 Figure 11: The newest Russian manner………………………………………………………….28 Figure 12: Bow divisions by Baillot……………………………………………………………..29 Figure 13: Views of the Galamian bow hold…………………………………………………….43 Figure 14: A portrait painted by Carmontelle of Leopold Mozart with a violin………………...52 viii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Page Example 2.1: Brisure…………………………………………………………………………….20 Example 2.2: Batterie……………………………………………………………………………………..21 Example 2.3: Leopold Mozart’s staccato marking…..…………………………………………..22 Example 2.4: Repeated portato notes……………………………………………………………23 Example 2.5: Grand Détaché bow stroke………………………………………………………..30 Example 2.6: Martéle bow stroke………………………………………………………………..31 Example 2.7: Staccato bow stroke…………………………………………………………….....31 Example 2.8: Viotti Violin Concerto No.24 in B minor, I, 284-85……………………………...32 Example 2.9: Haydn String Quartet in D Major, IV, mm.1-4…………………………………...32 Example 2.10: Paisiello, Judicabit. Allegro non troppo, mm 184-96………………………...…33 Example 2.11: R. Kreutzer, Violin Concerto No.10 in D Major, I, mm.371-376……………….33 Example 2.12: Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64, III, mm. 129-132…………...34 Example 2.13: Rode, Caprice, Op.22, No.8 mm.1-4…………………………………………….34 Example 2.14: Boccherini, Quintet in E-flat Major for 2 Violins, Viola, and 2 Cellos, G Major, II, mm.21-24. Violin I…………………………………………………………35 Example 3.1: The playing of two quarter notes using a whole bow……………………………..38 Example 3.2: The playing of a dotted quarter note and a eighth note using a whole bow……....38 Example 3.3: The playing of a dotted half note and a quarter note in two separate two bows….38 ix Example 4.1: The autograph of Mozart’s String Quartet in D, K 575, Menuetto, bar 44-7………………………………………………………………………54 Example 4.2: Mozart Violin Concerto in D major, I, mm 1-14………………………………….58 Example 4.3: Mozart Violin Concerto in D major, III, mm. 212-216…………………………...58 Example 4.4: Mozart Violin Concerto in D major, I, mm. 71-77………………………………..61 Example 4.5: Mozart Violin Concerto in D major, I, mm. 82-93………………………………..62 Example 4.6: Mozart Violin Concerto in D major, II, mm.31-35……………………………….62 Example 4.7: Broken Octaves in Viotti’s Concerto No.1 (1782)………………………………..66 Example 4.8: Broken Octaves in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (1806)…………………………67 Example 4.9: Borken Octaves in Kreutzer’s Concerto No.6 (1790)…………………………….67 Example 4.10: Broken