SOUNDPOST

LETTER of the MONTH

BROKEN TRUST

For years I have been angered by news stories concerning damage to stringed instruments by the airlines. Now the boot is on the other foot! A customer browsing in an instrument shop saw a cello that I made in 2016 with one of my fellow luthiers and took it out on trial. There is now a three-inch crack in the back, consistent with the cello being dropped or knocked over in its case. The sad part is that before returning the instrument to the shop, the player took it to an unknown party for repair, without my consent or that of the dealer, and then returned it without him noticing the damage. I now have no choice but to file an insurance claim and make a new back for this cello.

The crack and obvious retouching are visible inside this ring of chalk

When instruments are stolen, we sound the alarm and all the world’s makers are on the lookout to help the musician recover their property. It’s such a pity that some players will resort to dishonest behaviour to avoid taking responsibility for an instrument that represents so many hours of labour for an independent maker like myself, who has served musicians of all stripes for over 35 years.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Via email

MAKE YOUR MARK

Christoph Richter’s article on pizzicato technique in Debussy’s Cello Sonata (bit.ly/3xr0DsK) made me reflect not only on that, but on other markings in the sonata as well. Most composers have personal, ambiguous or idiosyncratic meanings for at least some expression and dynamic markings.

For example, throughout his life Debussy used Italian terms in his own personal way, for example, Andantino con moto allegro and Moderato con allegro in his Piano Trio. In the Cello Sonata, Debussy is clearly intending some of his tenuto dashes to indicate a sort of accent or stress, but one that is less sharp than writing a true accent would be. In two spots he uses the word ‘vibrato’ to mean that the player should let a pizzicato note ring (laissez vibrer).

I think he also uses ‘vibrato’ to refer to playing with a more or a less ‘vibrant’ (ringing) sound: dolce vibrato and poco vibrato. In other words, I don’t think he is telling the player to use a certain kind of vibrato. Similarly, he seems to use ‘sostenuto’ to refer to a quality of sound rather than smooth articulation, length of notes, or holding back the tempo; when he wants smoothness he specifies ‘soutenu’. And like dynamics in Brahms where piano dolce is generally interpreted to be louder than piano, Debussy may be asking for more sound when he writes più dolce.

JEFFREY SOLOW

Elkins Park, PA, US

TOP CELLO PHOTO GETTY

YEARS APART I would like to offer a small correction to Clifford Hall’s most interesting article on Baron Johann Knoop (‘The man of property’, April 2023). With regard to the ‘1645 Nicolò Amati’ violin listed as part of his collection: this is the famous ‘Alard’ Amati, featured in one of The Strad’s posters in March 1992 and described by Roger Hargrave at the time as ‘possibly the finest masterpiece of 17th-century violin making’. Since 1948 it has been part of the instrument collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, UK.

All of the 19th-century publications referred to the violin as ‘c.1645’, including the sales ledger of David Laurie, who purchased it directly from the violinist Jean-Delphin Alard (1815–88) in 1876. In fact, the label reads ‘1649’.

GENNADY FILIMONOV

Seattle, WA,US

OLD HABITS

Rodrigo Moro Martín’s article on German and French double bass bowing (‘Underarm, overarm’, Opinion, April 2023) touched on Domenico Dragonetti’s development of the ‘underarm’ bow hold. One thing Martín could have mentioned was the type of bow he used: very short, with a very convex stick that required the palm of his hand to face upwards. The bow allowed for a loud, virtuosic style well suited to staccato bowing, though less so for legato passages, as Bottesini attested in his Grande méthode complète de contrebasse. Despite the evolution of the bow during his lifetime, Dragonetti continued to use this type of bow throughout his life, as evidenced by an 1843 daguerreotype of him performing at the age of 80 years old (right).

MARTIN STRACHAN

Perth, UK

ABRAMI PHOTO GREGOR HOHENBERG/SONY CLASSICAL

RETURN TO NORMAL

Your article on the effects of Brexit on the UK music industry (‘Severance costs’, April 2023) merely scratched the surface of this ghastly subject. To take just one more prominent example: British violin dealers were once used to having members of touring European orchestras drop into their shops. Now, even if they do pop in to try their instruments, it’s very rare that the encounter results in a sale: the resulting paperwork, tax and everything else conspire to make the purchase less than desirable for customers. The sooner the UK can be welcomed back into the European fold, the better.

JOSHUA BAMFORD

York, UK

ONLINE COMMENT

The c.1731 ‘Baltic’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin broke the record for the most expensive instrument sold at auction by the maker with a price of $9.44 million (see page 14). The news stirred up many questions and comments from around the world bit.ly/3ZhaTiJ

ELISE WHITE I just hope it is played by a professional and not stored away in a vault for wealth purposes. DEBRA FAIGLEY WHITES This is an incredible amount of money, and not to diminish that in any way, I found the auction a bit disappointing. This was my first time watching an auction for fine instruments, and instead of a flurry of bids in the last minutes, there was only one bid for the instrument, for what I presume was the reserve amount. Would it be price alone that may have discouraged potential buyers? PENELOPE KNUTH Imagine the insurance premiums! STEN WALDÖ Paganini’s ‘del Gesù’ can be admired in Genoa.

www.thestrad.com

TOP 3 ONLINE POSTS

1 Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ c.1731 ‘Baltic’ violin sells for $9.44 million at auction bit.ly/3ZhaTiJ

2 Violinist Esther Abrami (below) appointed as English Symphony Orchestra’s artistin-residence bit.ly/3lNAx0M

3 Two new concertmasters for London Symphony Orchestra bit.ly/3G1eYAD

PODCAST OF THE MONTH

Episode #79: Iris Zhulla on bow repair and restoration bit.ly/3TWzYyo

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