In recent decades, curious musicians have become interested
in recreating the sounds of earlier eras. To get closer to bygone
composers, they play on the instruments of those times, using techniques
and styles the composers would have recognized. There are now established
"period" orchestras, as well as college and graduate programs
that specialize in historically informed performance. For readers
who want to get their feet wet with historical performance, here
is an explanation of the basic differences between Baroque and modern
stringed instruments and bows, as well as how to "Baroque"
an instrument and where to find ones ready to play.
The violin family appeared in Europe in the 16th century.
While the first violins had only three strings, by 1550 they sported
four, tuned as they are today. And by then the first of the illustrious
Cremonese instrument makers, Andrea Amati, had begun crafting violins.
Used initially in "violin bands" to accompany dances,
the violin family of instruments became invaluable to the emerging
musical genres of the 17th and 18th centuries: opera, concerto,
sonata, and symphony.
Although the fundamental appearance of the violin
and cello has not changed significantly in the ensuing centuries,
the sound has. Originally designed for small performance venues,
the instruments have been altered over the years to compete in today’s
larger concert halls. Any older violin you come across has most
likely been modernized to make it louder. This means that a newer
neck, longer and thinner, has been grafted on at a steeper angle
to the body of the violin. This sharper angling of the neck puts
more tension on the strings, making the instrument sound brighter
and bigger. In addition, the fittings, such as the bridge, fingerboard,
and bass bar, have become more substantial.
The most obvious changes to the sound over the centuries,
however, have to do with the materials of the strings and the development
of the modern bow. Until well into the 20th century, violin strings
were made primarily of sheep’s gut. Initially, all four strings
were made of pure gut, which meant that the lower strings were particularly
thick. A breakthrough came in the mid-17th century with the development
of covered strings, which had a core of gut fitted with windings
of metal. This allowed strings to be less cumbersome and quicker
speaking, and by the late 17th century, violists and cellists used
covered G and C strings, and violinists had switched to covered
G strings. Plain gut E, A, and D strings persisted well into the
20th century, but eventually the commercial manufacturing of metal
strings made them practically obsolete.
If you are used to the ease and reliability of metal
strings, it may take a bit of adjustment to get accustomed to gut
strings. Gut strings produce a sweet, rich, intimate sound and are
very responsive, but they are also sensitive to variations in pressure
and placement of the bow on the string. If you bear down too forcefully
with the bow or play too close to the fingerboard or bridge, you
may get an unwelcome squawk from a gut string. They are also sensitive
to changes in temperature and humidity and may require frequent
tuning (but don’t bother with fine tuners—they don’t work well with
gut strings). The thinner E and A strings wear out more rapidly
than metal strings, and need to be changed more frequently.
Bows have been modified through the centuries as well.
At first there was little standardization; bows varied by function
and locale until François Tourte developed the modern bow
in the late 18th century. In general, early bow sticks curved outward,
echoing the curve of the bridge and looking more like actual arrow-shooting
bows. The first dance-band bows were very short and light, and had
clip-in frogs. Later bows tended to be somewhat longer and featured
a screw mechanism to tighten and loosen the bow hair, which was
developed by 1700. Baroque bows had less hair and less tension then
their modern counterparts. They were also weighted quite differently.
As a result, they did not have the sustaining capabilities of today’s
bows, and the sound naturally decreased when the bow was drawn from
frog to tip. However, Baroque bows were perfectly suited to making
quick, short strokes and allowed for a great variety in articulation.
Bows are neither as hardy as violins nor as adaptable.
Although an old violin can be modernized, a Baroque bow cannot.
Original Baroque bows are rarely found in playing condition; the
few that survive are in museums. You may occasionally run across
a "transitional" bow, particularly at auctions—these are
the result of mid–18th–century makers’ experiments with new bow
styles. They curve inward and resemble modern bows more than Baroque
ones. Although they still do not have as much hair as their modern
counterparts, they produce a more even sound from frog to tip than
Baroque bows, and they bounce easily. These bows are perfect for
the music of Haydn, Mozart, and their contemporaries.
You may have noticed that there was little uniformity
early on. This is partially because people and places were somewhat
more isolated than today. Bow holds were no exception: in 17th-
and 18th-century France, violinists could place their thumbs on
the hair, on the frog, or under the frog. The Italian hold placed
the thumb on the stick. The way violinists held their instruments
varied widely as well.
Renaissance and Baroque paintings that portray musicians
show various violin positions: some musicians hold their instruments
on their chests, while others rest them on their collarbones. Cellists
did not have the advantage of the modern endpin; they were pictured
resting the cello on their legs, or occasionally on a box or on
the floor. You’ll also notice that there were no aids for holding
up the violins; chin rests and shoulder rests are much later inventions.
Today’s performers on Baroque-style violins also vary their holds
considerably. Many use a soft cloth, like a chamois, to tuck around
the violin, for neck comfort and to keep the instrument from slipping.
Some violinists rest their chins on one side or the other of the
tailpiece; others prefer to rest directly on it. Still others go
"chinless," and many players of very early violin music
rest their instruments on their chests.
If you try to play without chin and shoulder rests,
you will find that your left hand has more of a role in holding
up the violin. It can be a challenge to shift—particularly to shift
down from an upper position. You may find the violin slipping away
from you as your hand shifts down. In this case, it is best to keep
the thumb in place, while moving your fingers to the new position.
Once you have reached the new position, your thumb can follow the
fingers. Without the hardware, you’ll find it much harder to vibrate;
not to worry, though, since vibrato was used sparingly as a kind
of ornament for special effects.
Pitch today is much the same everywhere; an "A"
is uniformly recognized to be 440 hz. Before the 20th century, there
was no standard; pitch varied from city to city—even within a town.
An "A" could be as high as 465 hz., or as low as 392 hz.,
more like a G to modern ears. (We know this from fixed-pitch instruments
such as organs and wind instruments.) While string instruments were
more adaptable, their players also had to be flexible and became
quite adept at transposition. Today, some performers on early instruments
vary their basic pitch depending on the repertoire. For practical
reasons, though, most of the larger groups have agreed on a standard
pitch for Baroque-era music of 415 hz. for A. This sounds like a
G<#> to modern ears. For Classical-era music, the standard
is an A at 430 hz.
If you want to get a sense of what it’s like to play
a Baroque instrument, put gut strings on yours and try out a Baroque
bow. Tune the instrument down a half-step as well. The lower tension
of the gut strings tuned down, as well as the bow, can teach you
a great deal about the style. With gut strings, you will find that
you can’t bear down very much; you really have to coax the sound
out by pulling to the side. One instrument maker told me that the
strings and the bow account for as much as 90 percent of the difference
in sound between Baroque and modern instruments.
If you are interested in pursuing Baroque playing
further, you will find that there are many excellent instrument
and bow makers who specialize in modern copies of early instruments.
If you have an older violin that you want to have "re-Baroqued,"
take it to an instrument maker who works with such instruments.
You will find that it needs a shorter, straighter neck, a shorter,
lighter fingerboard, and a thinner bridge, bass-bar, and tailpiece.
But you won’t need your chin rest, shoulder rest, or endpin!
Click
here to see the photo essay.
To see some wonderful examples of Baroque violins made by Daniel
Larson, the photographer of this series, visit www.daniellarson.com.
