Baroque Violin Bows as Part of the Musical Revolution: Violin Making, Music and Bowmaking in the 17th and 18th Centuries.

The development of the Baroque violin bow is a story of trial and error, the interplay of craftsmanship and music, during which a wide variety of models were designed, modified and improved. When the Baroque violin was invented in the late 16th century, the art of making string instruments reached its peak, triggering a musical revolution. The violin's predecessor was primarily used to keep time on the dance floor at weddings and festivals, but this newer form of the instrument quickly shed its dismissive origins. However, at first, the early violin-making masters did not consider the problem of suitable bows, so people continued to use late medieval violins and rebuke bows for playing. Many of these bows were clearly designed as rhythm instruments. Some of them are only 20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches) and have strongly convex curves; their length is further limited by the player's use of a backhand or closed fist.

Content overview:

• Musical reasons explaining the evolution of the Baroque bow
• baroque bow design elements
• Aesthetic pleasure: the diversity of materials and shapes of the Baroque bow

Musical reasons explaining the evolution of the Baroque bow

Initially, French Baroque music was particularly close to styles found in the dance music classics, so there was no reason to revisit the use and construction of the bow. In Italy, however, there is a strong interest in cantabile playing. People there preferred an overhand grip, which opened the door to new sounds and ways of playing the violin: the "Italian" grip (as opposed to the "French" underhand grip) allowed the player to bow more sensitively and modify the sound. As music became more solo in nature, legato and legato techniques became more common, and longer violin bows meant that longer tones and sequences could now be used. Composed using a long baroque violin bow,

baroque bow design elements

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) radically changed the character of the violin; its aural ideal became more and more like singing. The introduction of longer violin bows triggered a series of structural changes, notably increasing the height of the bow head to achieve more even weight distribution and playability over the entire length of the bow. Baroque bows with less curves gradually became popular until they eventually evolved into lines ranging from straight to slightly concave. Players once determined the pressure on a bow by changing their grip, such as by applying pressure with the thumb, but over time, removable frog and "toothpick" style bows made changes in tension possible, until eventually frogs used Eyelets and screws set their own standards.

Aesthetic pleasure: the diversity of materials and shapes of the Baroque bow

These technical improvements were accompanied by a more sophisticated aesthetic design of the Baroque violin bow. High-quality wood, especially very hard grained wood, is carefully worked, the sticks are grooved, and the frogs and heads are shaped into fanciful designs and decorated. There is no widespread emergence of uniform standards, i.e. in this case it cannot be said that there is a typical Baroque violin bow model. However, what is typical of bows of the Baroque period is the variety of shapes and designs.