Exposition

The evolution of the violin bow in the 18th century: a process of adaptation and creativity (2023)

Begoña Hernández Gallardo
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open exposition

About this exposition

The violin bow has undergone many changes since its creation, from its first shape, similar to a hunting bow, to the tool that violinists use nowadays. Despite its long history, most of the modifications that were made to the bow happened in the 18th century, especially in the second half, until its characteristics became standardized with the model developed by the French bowmaker François-Xavier Tourte at the end of this century. This Research Exposition looks back at the history of the bow, from the short bows of the late 17th century to the longer and heavier Tourte model, with the intention of understanding its evolution and the historical and musical context that motivated it. I sought to enrich my artistic perspective by conducting a literature review of the relevant secondary sources, together with interviews with historically informed bowmakers, and my own use of copies of 18th century bows. The evolution of the bow has not been a race to reach perfection but a journey of adaptation and creation, in which every bow can be seen as being perfectly valid to perform the music of its own time. Considering the journey that the bow has had, never failing to adapt to the musical environment, this project will also reflect on the fact that the bow has not changed in a very significant way since the Tourte model, despite music and the ideal of sound has changed a lot since the 18th century.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsbow, bow making, 18th century, Tourte
date16/02/2023
published19/07/2023
last modified19/07/2023
statuslimited publication
share statusprivate
copyrightBegoña Hernández Gallardo
licenseCC BY-NC-ND
languageBritish English
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1954070/1954071
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue3. Internal publication


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id name copyright license
1954357 Basic text Begoña Public domain
1954413 arco de caza cambridge dictionary Cambridge Dictionary Public domain
1954420 Basic footnote illus. Begoña Public domain
1954454 Angel playing a rebec, detail from Virgin among Virgins, Gerard David, ca. 1509, Museé de beaux arts de Rouen Begoña Hernández Public domain
1954498 Basic footnote text Begoña Public domain
1954550 Tabla de Fétis, p. 116 y 117 antoine stradivari luthier celebre David Boyden Public domain
1954569 Tabla Woldemar Seletsky Robert Seletsky Public domain
1954585 Duchaine firmado, les archets français después de p. 228, foto 4 Etienne Vatelot Public domain
1954672 Snakewood bow Richard Gwilt Public domain
1954676 Snakewood bow Richard Gwilt Public domain
1966476 Ilustraciones pike-head y swan-bill head st george p 35 Henry St George Public domain
1966485 santa-cecilia-guido-reni Begoña Hernández Public domain
1966525 Arco con con curva añadida en la punta, pdf evolución arco pág 33 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1966602 clip in frog stephen marvin pág web que pasó walter Stephen Marvin Public domain
1966675 Captura de pantalla (87) Richard Gwilt Public domain
1966937 crémaillère seletsky 288 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1966954 mecanismo clip in bow st george 31 Henry St George Public domain
1966959 mecanismo tornillo arco moderno the strad Begoña Hernández Public domain
1966977 Dario Castello Sonata Prima (Venice, 1629); Elizabeth Blumenstock with Voices of Music Voices of Music Public domain
1966988 Daria Spiridinova Daria Spiridinova Public domain
1966990 Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, Violin sonata n.1 d moll, Daria Spiridonova Daria Spiridinova Public domain
1966993 fluted bow tourte father, tarisio nicholas pierre tourte Tarisio Public domain
1967017 arco mozart violinschule p 76 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967025 Leopold Mozart and his children - watercolour probably 1763-4 by Louis Carrogis de Carmontelle - London, British Museum Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967032 battle-axe Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967039 hatchet Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967051 unfluted pernambuco bow nicholas pierre tourte Tarisio nicholas pierre Tarisio Public domain
1967069 Captura de pantalla (90) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967083 Captura de pantalla (91) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967093 IMG_20230220_191327 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967250 Captura de pantalla (92) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967281 IMG_20230220_201248 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967290 Hole in the nut to attach the hair, tarisio L'archet révolutionnaire Tarisio Public domain
1967304 IMG_20230202_132842 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967310 IMG_20230202_132528 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967324 IMG_20230202_132842 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967333 IMG_20230202_132626 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967346 IMG_20230202_132528 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967354 IMG_20230202_132721 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967381 Captura de pantalla (93) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967404 Captura de pantalla (94) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967445 Captura de pantalla (73) Tarisio Public domain
1967451 Captura de pantalla (74) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967459 Cramer bow John Dodd bridgewood and neitzert (2) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967467 Dodd bow stamped Forster, Dodd Tarisio Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967482 Captura de pantalla (95) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967491 fluted bow tourte father, tarisio nicholas pierre tourte Tarisio Public domain
1967528 unfluted pernambuco bow nicholas pierre tourte Tarisio nicholas pierre Tarisio Public domain
1967544 IMG_20230220_210158 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967559 Captura de pantalla (96) Tarisio Public domain
1967562 Captura de pantalla (97) Tarisio Public domain
1967575 Captura de pantalla (72) Tarisio Public domain
1967577 Captura de pantalla (73) Tarisio Public domain
1967584 Arco francés 1780 con cuerdecita l'archet vol 1 p 206 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967595 A Tourte bow made by François Xavier, les archets français p 919 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967607 Tabla de Fétis, p. 116 y 117 antoine stradivari luthier celebre Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967613 Tabla Woldemar Seletsky Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967620 Grand-Adam bow p. 54 les archets français primera parte Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967624 Arco lefèvre entre 1763 y 1789 les archets français volumen 1 p. 540 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967626 Lupot metal piece Tarisio lupot II Tarisio Public domain
1967635 Emil Telmanyi playing Bachs Chaconne by Vega bow Emil Telmanyi Public domain
1967640 tip vega bow Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967648 frog vega bow Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967652 Captura de pantalla (98) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1967657 Baillot, Quadruple Stops for One Violin, Adagio (1834), Anna McMichael, violin Anna McMichael Public domain
1967669 vuillaume fixed frog roda 54 Joseph Roda Public domain
1967906 footnote illus Begoña Public domain
1967926 Captura de pantalla (99) Tarisio Public domain
1967937 Captura de pantalla (100) Tarisio Public domain
1968142 Captura de pantalla (101) Tarisio Public domain
1968242 IMG_20230221_004601 David Boyden Public domain
1968320 Captura de pantalla (102) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1968337 Violin-viola bow of beechwood, Germany ca. 1790-1820. Pdf german bows p. 4 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1968342 Meauchand bow, flat frog attachment, marvin web page Stephen Marvin Public domain
1968346 Leopold Mozart and his children - watercolour probably 1763-4 by Louis Carrogis de Carmontelle - London, British Museum Begoña Hernández Public domain
1969777 Cramer with un poquito de bow Begoña Hernández Public domain
1969847 duchaine cramer bow Begoña Hernández Public domain
1969881 domenico-gabbiani-the-musicians-of-prince-ferdinando-de-medici-c1685-domenico-gabbiani Begoña Hernández Public domain
1969920 IMG-20221105-WA0022 Begoña Hernández Public domain
1969976 IMG_20230221_130924 (1) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1970005 Captura de pantalla (104) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1970010 Captura de pantalla (103) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1973894 Captura de pantalla (105) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1975864 Captura de pantalla (57) Begoña Hernández Public domain
1975882 Captura de pantalla (57) Begoña Hernández Public domain

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