Chats To 'Cello Students Part 3

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 14_a_)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 15)]

Short detached crotchets may be played with the upper half of the bow.

The stroke must be made smartly, without any real gap between the notes.

The bow should seem to pa.s.s quickly and smoothly over the strings, the tone being produced by friction, rather than any pressure which the first finger may exert. The scales in crotchets may be played with _martele_ bowing, using whole bow-strokes as previously explained in the remarks on early exercises.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 16)]

Short detached quavers should be played with the upper third of the bow.

There are numerous examples of this kind of bowing in the studies for violoncello, by k.u.mmer, Dotzauer, etc.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 17)]

This is an exceedingly difficult kind of bowing, but if well executed has a very brilliant effect. To produce the sforzando note with the up stroke, the bow should be lifted and thrown on the string with force, care being taken to do this close to the point, or instead of a sforzando note, a series of bounces will result. The balance is preserved with the fourth finger, which also a.s.sists in raising the bow from the string for the next sforzando note; the quaver with the down stroke should be played smartly. It would be unwise to use a gold mounted Tourte, in the first attempts at this bowing, as it is possible to seriously damage the bow if not executed with skill.

MIXED BOWINGS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 18)]

This bowing is performed by commencing at the middle of the bow; with a smart, light stroke, draw the bow to the point, the three quavers played very smoothly take the bow back to the middle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 19)]

The bowing in Ex. 19 has the phrasing just reversed, this bowing gives a very beautiful effect if nicely executed. For the three tied quavers commence at the middle of the bow, draw it smoothly to the point, then relaxing the tension of the muscles in the right hand, carry the bow smartly over the string, back to the middle. This light up-bow should be done without any pressure, and with the bow well under control.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 20)]

In Ex. 20 the first quaver receives a smart down stroke at the point of the bow. The slurred quavers should all be of equal length, and on no account must the second slurred quaver receive any emphasis. If an accompanying part preserves the original accent, the effect is very pleasing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 21)]

A large variety of mixed bowings may be invented by the student, after the style of Ex. 21. The chief object in practising such, should be to obtain a facility in using the various parts of the bow. Where groups containing the same quant.i.ty of slurred notes are separated by two, four, six, or any even number of detached notes, the slurred groups are played alternately with a down and an up bow-stroke, the detached notes being played first at the point, then at the middle or near the heel (as in Ex. 21), according to the length of bow-stroke required for the slur. If the slurs are separated by one, three, five or any odd number of detached notes, the bowing will be so arranged that the slur has always to be taken with the same kind of bow stroke: to allow this the necessary quant.i.ty of bow must be gained on one of the detached notes, this may be accomplished as in Ex. 22.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 22)]

The slurs are always taken with a down-stroke, using the upper third of the bow. The bow should be carried back, on the first detached quaver, which being the first note of a triplet, may be given a slight emphasis; the two remaining quavers are played with a short wrist movement.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 4.]

Before leaving the subject of mixed bowings, I would impress upon the student the necessity for the application of a good division of the bow's length, so that whatever variety of bowing presents itself, may be treated with the part of the bow, and in the manner most capable of producing the finest effects. The student should make a mental division of the bow into thirds, fourths, etc., see Fig. 4, the various divisions being designated as there shown, such as point fourth, heel fourth, upper third, etc. In the smaller divisions there given, the wrist may be a.s.sisted with a slight movement of the fore-arm, for purely wrist movements, a bow-stroke of about a couple of inches may be taken with any part of the bow, according to the requirements of the particular pa.s.sage.

CHAPTER VII.

ON "STACCATO" BOWING--SPICCATO--SLURRED SPRINGING-BOW--VARIETIES OF PHRASING OCCASIONED BY THE PORTION OF BOW USED--SAUTILLe--DOTTED NOTES.

STACCATO.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 23)]

The staccato bowing, if neatly executed, has a very brilliant effect; to obtain anything like mastery of it the student must first be careful to see that the bow is held correctly, and from the commencement, the bowing must be practised only in the recognised fashion, and according to the hints here given. If any movements other than those described are allowed, the student will find that he can never execute this difficult bowing beyond a certain speed, or if he does flatter himself in to the belief that he has arrived at a brilliant execution of it, on comparison it will be found that instead of the recognised bowing, it is one of the various kinds of trick staccato, often accomplished by a slight tremolo of the fore-arm or some such movement. The chief movement in the staccato bowing is distinctly a wrist-one, the first finger playing a great part in giving crispness and attack to each note. The initial quaver in Ex. 23, should receive a smart down-stroke with the upper third of the bow; as previously explained in the remarks on legato bowing, the hand carries on the stroke after the fore-arm movement ceases, causing the hand, when the bow is at the point, to be turned away from the player. This should be made the foundation of the staccato stroke. As the arm progresses slowly and steadily along for the up-stroke, the hand keeps pace by a series of short jerks; these are purely wrist movements, not being a.s.sisted in any fashion by the arm. It is of the utmost importance to have the hand, and wrist, in a proper position at the beginning of the series of up-strokes, if the hand is already turned inwards, how will it be possible to execute a wrist movement in the same direction? The first finger should press firmly on the bow as the hand moves for the attack of each note, this attack if a.n.a.lysed, will be found to be a modified kind of sforzando on every semiquaver; the notes are separated by relieving the pressure, and also by the short pauses between the wrist movements. An explanation concerning the pressure of the first finger is perhaps necessary; the pressure is not caused by the contraction of the muscles of the first finger, so much as by the weight caused by an inward turn of the hand, being brought to bear on the bow through the medium of the first finger.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 24)]

The first attempts at the staccato bowing may be made on one string, after the fashion of Ex. 24; about an inch of bow may be used for each quaver, taking care to produce the sforzando effect, which in an attempt at a slow tempo should be more apparent than in a quick staccato run.

The bow must not be allowed to leave the string, the release of pressure only allowing the bow to right itself in preparation for the "bite"

on the next note. After the movements previously explained have been mastered, there is nothing further required for the production of a good effect in staccato bowing, except a complete command of the upper-half of the bow, in the sense of being able to produce a good tone, without unduly straining or fatiguing the muscles of the hand and fore-arm.

The staccato may be played with the down-bow, the wrist and arm movements being simply the reverse of those in the up-bow. It is better not to commence quite at the heel, as the tone there, unless great care and skill be exercised, is apt to be "gritty." It is possible to produce a very pleasing effect on the 'cello with this bowing, even in fairly quick pa.s.sages; the bow should not grip the string too heavily, nor be allowed to drag, but should be carried lightly.

In slow movements, a cla.s.s of phrasing is often introduced, which although expressed like the staccato, if executed as such, would entirely spoil the effect.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 25)]

The four slurred staccato quavers should be played with four down-bow strokes, using the whole length of the bow, each quaver receiving about a fourth; the division between the notes should be very slight, being caused almost as much by a slight accent on each quaver, as by the bow being actually stopped.

SPICCATO, OR SPRINGING-STROKE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 26)]

The introduction of the springing-stroke in the interpretation of a composition, is left almost entirely to the discretion of the performer.

It will be observed (Ex. 26), that the same signs are used for this, as for short detached solid bowings. Although this lack of clearness in our system of musical notation is to be regretted, one cannot help but think that this very general way of expressing the whole variety of detached staccato bowing, is really a gain to the artist. What is now admired as originality, and individuality in reproduction, would be considered an undue license or lack of skill, and thus it is, that out of the very incompleteness in our musical notation, or in the failure of composers to express the details of phrasing, etc., the freedom of interpretation is given, which allowing of such various treatment, forms the foundation of the different "schools," or styles in instrumental playing.

The springing stroke is suitable for any music of a light, playful character, although it should not be continued too long without the introduction of solid bowing as a relief. In practising the scales in quavers (Ex. 26), the bow actually bounces away from the string between each note, at the moment the bow is thrown on the string, the hand should move backwards, or forwards, so that sufficient tone may be brought out of the instrument. Regarding the latter, it will be evident to the student, that the action of the bow falling on the strings cannot alone set them in vibration; no matter how brilliant is the bowing, we must have some species of _stroke_ or the result will be minus tone. To allow of the maximum tone being produced which is possible with such a slight bow-stroke, the hand may droop more than usual, causing the whole width of the hair to come in contact with the strings, this will also prevent any jarring sound being occasioned by the "wood" of the bow. To prevent a very scratchy performance, the bow strokes should be made exactly at the same part of the strings; taking care that the bow springs away at right angles. The most useful part of the bow for the slow style of spiccato, is generally just below the middle; although for detached notes with long rests between, or intermixed with left-hand pizzicato, it may be accomplished with the point.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 27)]

SLURRED SPRINGING-STROKES.

Slurred spiccato is very useful as a relief to the staccato proper.

It is performed after the same style as detached springing-stroke, except that instead of the bow being reversed at each stroke, a number of notes are played with the bow springing in one direction. The bow should be given a preliminary bounce by a smart downward turn of the wrist, then gradually moved forward, which will cause several detached strokes as the bow falls after each rebound. For long, quick pa.s.sages, it is necessary to commence near the point, although not so near that instead of the bow springing, a sforzando is produced; it is not necessary to a.s.sist the bow to spring away from the strings in these quick pa.s.sages, after the initial bounce has been given, the natural spring of the bow a.s.serting itself against the weight of the hand, being sufficient to allow of twenty or more notes being played.

Although the slurred spiccato bowing is expressed in the same manner as solid staccato, the violoncellist will occasionally come across certain pa.s.sages, which would lose all their charm if played with solid bowing.

Ex. 28 will ill.u.s.trate this. The semiquaver triplet should be executed with three smart bounces with the up-bow; then the bow should be controlled, and lightly drawn for the two tied quavers. The introduction of the two slurred quavers in this pa.s.sage, makes it almost compulsory to execute it between the middle and the heel of the bow, it being possible to check the bouncing better there than if playing near the point.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (EX. 28)]

However, to ill.u.s.trate how the 'cellist must be able to appreciate the subtle differences in various manners of phrasing, or how an artist by a slight liberty, would transform an awkward bowing into one with more character and force, we will suppose the above pa.s.sage written thus:--