Books › An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925 › scan 228
Scan 228
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
25 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 200. See the scan on archive.org.
1CHAPTER XIV
2THE USE OF THE BOW
4The manner in which a violinist handles his bow at once betrays whether he is a musician or a mere amateur.
6The intelligent violinist will always have recourse to logic in order to give balance to his bow strokes; he will ground his bowing on fundamental principles, and will observe a strict line of conduct with regard to handling the bow.
8Among those who are most guilty, in so far as poor bowing is concerned, are the orchestral conductors, in nearly every case disrated pianists or violinists who, thanks to a fortunate combination of circumstances, have become distinguished orchestral leaders. Very often they are no more than petty musicians, placed at the head of large organizations. Hearing the blunders of which these persons are guilty, one can hardly believe one's ears.
10In Europe this evil is not half so pronounced, for if it were to run its whole course, the orchestral musicians would break all the bones in the bodies of these time beaters. In America, what is accomplished in this direction is past belief, and enough to make one die of laughter.
12The following are some of the bowings used by certain of the Symphony Orchestras:
14Scherzo – Symphony Eroica – Beethoven (1)
16It is in extreme bad taste to begin this Scherzo with a down-bow. Again we find:
18Scherzo – Symphony Eroica – Beethoven (2)
20The quality which lends this passage its strength and grandeur is inevitably transformed into a jig, for, the orchestral conductor indicating no rhythm, the instrumentalists who follow change the movement of the theme from 2/4 time to 6/8 time, as in the following example:
22as played
24Thus this splendid theme is turned into a species of cradle song.
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