Soundpost: Letters to the Editor July 2020

BOWING TO GREATER KNOWLEDGE

The idea behind the Australian ‘Polycorde’ curved violin bow (New Products, April) is anything but new. Violist Hartmut Lindemann introduced Australian audiences to the curved bow, and its ability to play all four strings simultaneously, in the 1980s. Others, including Emil Telmányi, Otto Büchner and the popular Tossy Spivakovsky, used curved bows to perform Bach in the 1950s and 60s. Further back still, the inaugurator and unparalleled master of the curved bow was German violinist Rolph Schroeder, a pupil of Henri Marteau, who designed and developed one in the 1930s, following the suggestion of philosopher, physician, and Bach researcher Albert Schweitzer. Schroeder was also first to record the Sonatas and Partitas using a curved bow (with Columbia), while his student Rudolf Gähler published a book about the bow in 1997.

KAI BODIEN

Bad Pyrmont, Germany

DESK PARTNER

Two months exactly since I began sitting for eight hours each weekday hunched over my kitchen table (a glorified term for the medium-sized desk at which I also eat my three meals a day), my copy of The Strad ’s June issue arrived. Beyond sheltering those of us lucky enough to do so from the worst ravages of the pandemic, working from home brings with it some other unarguable advantages. For starters, I can wear, eat, and say whatever I like, and I was also able to remove my much looked-forward-to magazine from its (sadly non-biodegradable) wrapping as soon as it landed on the doormat. However, as the vignette of my own bureau à la maison should have evoked, the ergonomic implications of home working are, in my case at least, unfortunate.

How fitting, then, that your Accessories supplement should contain a discussion of musicians’ chairs, and the principles of their design (‘Sitting Pretty’, Accessories 2020). Entering data into one spreadsheet, then another, and then another might not be the artistic equal of performing a great sonata, symphony or concerto, but some of the physical demands on the body are the same. The article draws particular attention to the effect on those, such as violinists, who are ‘consistently seated in what are known as asymmetric positions’. In a set-up that will be familiar to many, I am typing this with my head positioned at a 45-degree angle to my body (in order to see the larger of the two screens across which my work is spread), while my right arm extends periodically outwards to operate the mouse and my left reaches across it to lift my mug of tea. If that isn’t an asymmetric position, I don’t know what is.

Quite rightly, those of us able to work effectively from our own homes will be required to do so long after other restrictions have been lifted. A rethink of my table-and-chair arrangement is required, and your feature article has given me plenty of food for thought.

DANIEL WEBB

Chichester, UK

GOLDEN OLDIES?

What a breath of fresh air to read the article on Tabea Zimmermann (‘Career in Bloom’, April) and to read her quote: ‘I believe that modern violas can do a better job than old ones.’ I would like to have a pound for every player who has told me that they need a second, modern instrument because their ‘first’, a fine old Italian, is their pension. It’s a great shame that brilliant modern makers are regarded as second-class because many players don’t want to be seen playing (superb) new instruments.

CLIVE MORRIS

Neath, UK

MIDDLE CHILD SYNDROME

The Strad has published books of its Masterclass section for both violin and cello, but not for viola! The same goes for ‘Violin Heroes’ and ‘Cello Heroes’. These books could provide very valuable help for viola students wanting to find out more about our instrument and its universe.

WENDER GERALDO DA SILVA MARQUES

Florianópolis, Brazil