Videos – L’Archet Révolutionnaire

The round-table discussion at Hinde Street Church, London

The Art of Bow Making in the 18th Century

Live filming from the round-table discussion on 31 October 2015, London. The participants (seated from left to right) are: Jean-François Raffin, Kai Koepp, Bernard Gaudfroy, Bernard Millant, Constance Frei, Christophe Coin, Jérôme Akoka and Pavlo Beznosiuk, with moderator Jason Price.

The discussion focuses on issues including changes in attitudes to 18th-century bows, varying bow models from the performer’s perspective both today and at the time, and the choice of bow as a political statement.

The Tourte Family of the 18th Century
Jean-François Raffin

The recent discovery of different bow models by the Tourte family sheds new light on their work. Tracing the evolution of bows by Nicolas Pierre, Nicolas Léonard and François Xavier Tourte, leading bow expert Jean-François Raffin analyses their different models using branded examples, presenting new research on the epoch’s most influential makers.

Bowed Instruments in Paintings; 16th-early 18th Century
Constance Frei

The abundance of bowed instruments in paintings from the 16th to early 18th centuries provides many clues to contemporary performance practice. Examining paintings by Fra Angelico, Ferrari and Cavallino, to engravings of Leopold Mozart and Paganini, among other artwork, Constance Frei analyses the musicians, instruments and bows, shedding light on Baroque bow techniques.

French or German Bows for Beethoven; A Political Choice
Kai Koepp

During Beethoven’s lifetime, the Tourte bow enjoyed growing acceptance, but there was a resistance to its use that is intrinsically tied up in the politics of the time. New studies reveal that outside the realm of French musical influence, string players continued to use their traditional bows and playing styles, particularly in countries that were at war with Napoleon. Native Viennese musicians of Beethoven’s day refused to use a ‘modern’ Tourte bow and bows identified today as Cramer models continued to be in use. For musicians in Beethoven’s time, the choice of bow was a matter of politics into which the concept of sound and articulation were intertwined.

Pavlo Beznosiuk discusses three early bows

Renowned Baroque violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk, leader of the Academy of Ancient Music, talks to Tarisio’s Jason Price about three contrasting bows to be exhibited in L’Archet Révolutionnaire – a typical Baroque pikehead bow by Nicolas Pierre Tourte, a Transitional model by Nicolas Léonard Tourte and an early Viotti style bow by John Dodd I.

Beznosiuk demonstrates how these bows reflect the rapidly changing repertoire of the period, from the ‘speaking stick’ of the high Baroque to the early 19th-century bows that could deliver the sustained lines of Romantic music.

The Art of Bow Making in the 18th Century

The Tourte Family of the 18th Century Jean-François Raffin

Bowed Instruments in Paintings; 16th-early 18th Century Constance Frei

French or German Bows for Beethoven; A Political Choice Kai Koepp

Pavlo Beznosiuk discusses three early bows

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The Tourte Family of the 18th Century
Jean-François Raffin

Bowed Instruments in Paintings; 16th-early 18th Century
Constance Frei

French or German Bows for Beethoven; A Political Choice
Kai Koepp