CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

The Franco-Belgian Violin School:

A Comparison with the Russian Violin School

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Music in Music, Performance

By

Jeongah Moon

May 2021

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The thesis of Jeongah Moon is approved:

___________________________________ ___________________ Dr. John Roscigno Date

___________________________________ ___________________ Dr. Ming Tsu Date ___________________________________ ___________________ Dr. Lorenz Gamma, Chair Date

California State University, Northridge

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Table of Contents

Signature Page ii

List of Figures iv

Abstract v

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: A Brief History of the Franco-Belgian School 2

Bow Hold Comparison 4

Chapter 2: Advantages of the Franco-Belgian Violin Bow Hold 9

Interview: Circular Motion 9

The Benefits of the Circular Motion 11

Some Common Difficulties 12

Chapter 3: Pedagogical bow Arm Exercises 13

Finger Movement Exercise 14

Détaché Exercise 16

Chapter 4: Analysis of Sound Production 17

Conclusion 22

Bibliography 23

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List of Figures

1 Genealogical relationship in 19th-century violin pedagogy 2

2 Franco-Belgian violin school bow hold 4

3 Russian violin school bow hold 5

4 German violin school bow hold 7

5 Bow arm exercise A 13

6 Bow arm exercise B 13

7 Bow arm exercise C 14

8 Finger and wrist exercise 14

9 Loosening exercise 15

10 Arthur Grumiaux’s bow hold 17

11 Jascha Heifetz’s bow hold 19

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Abstract

The Franco-Belgian Violin School: A Comparison with Russian Violin School

By

Jeongah Moon

Master of Music in Music, Performance

For anyone undertaking mastery of the violin, much time and effort is spent honing one’s

skills and learning the correct ways of many aspects of the instrument’s technique. The violin

bow hold is probably the most important and difficult part among these skills for students to

learn. While most violinists today tend to follow the bow hold posture of the Franco-Belgian

school, the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries saw the emergence of various additional violin

schools, among them most notably the Russian and German schools. Why and how did modern

violinists start pursuing the Franco-Belgian school’s posture as the predominant way? What are

some of the features of the Franco-Belgian violin school compared to other schools? What are

the sound and general musical ideals of the Franco-Belgian school? What are some exercises to

strengthen the Franco-Belgian bow hold? The Franco-Belgian bow hold helps one develop a

flexible posture and produce a healthy and seamless sound, and it guarantees that the player’s

physical comfort is at its best. This paper will show a brief overview of the Franco-Belgian

violin school's extensive history and how its bow hold became mainstream. Some pedagogical

exercises for producing the elegant, flexible, and connected sound for which the Franco-Belgian

school advocates are also added as part of this thesis. Lastly, I will compare and analyze several

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recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35 by exponents of the

aforementioned violin schools and examine some aspects of their distinctive performance styles.

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Introduction

Holding the bow correctly is a very important task for anyone learning to play the

violin. This is mainly because the ideal bow hold serves each performer to create the most subtle

and appropriate sound to express the music. The schools that established the bow hold in use

today were the Franco-Belgian and German schools of the 19th century and the Russian school

of the 20th century. Ideas on performance style and technique were passed down from generation

to generation in conservatories, music schools, and private studios. For the Franco-Belgian violin

school, it is of interest to note that outstanding 18th- and 19th-century performers as distinctly

different and unique as Viotti, de Bériot, Vieuxtemps, Ysaÿe, and Kreisler were all

representative of it and therefore somehow connected. To go even further, the renowned 20th-

century educator Ivan Galamian (1903-1981) adopted and taught the Franco-Belgian bow hold to

his students in the United States. Many of them, such as for example, Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak

Perlman, and Kyung-Wha Chung, gained attention on the international concert stage. Dorothy

DeLay, Galamian's pupil and teaching assistant at the Juilliard School, employed his teaching

method with her own students, continuing this tradition and thus enabling the Franco-Belgian

bow hold to become mainstream in the United States. Indeed, we can say that even worldwide,

the majority of modern-day violinists now prefer the Franco-Belgian bow hold.

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Chapter 1: A Brief History of Franco-Belgian School

Figure 1. Genealogical relationship in 19th Century violin pedagogy1

The violinist who had the greatest influence on the formation of the Franco-Belgian

School was Giovanni Battista Viotti (1775-1824). He was taught by Pugnani in Italy and moved

to Paris in 1782, where his performance in a Concert spirituel was a great sensation and attracted

attention.2 He began to propagate advanced, “modern” aspects of a playing technique that used a

modern bow, improved by François Tourte (1747-1835). Compared to the Baroque bow, the

shape of the Tourte bow is concave, and it included a mechanism that allowed one to tighten the

1 David Milsom, Theory and Practice in Late Nineteenth-century Violin Performance: An Examination of Style in Performance, 1850-1900 (Aldershot, Hampshire, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003), 15. 2 Gyuhyun Han, The Franco-Belgian Violin School: Pedagogy, Principles, and Comparison with the German and Russian Violin Schools, from the Eighteenth through Twentieth Centuries. (DMA diss., University of Cincinnati, 2019), 8.

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bow hair. Its benefit was a much stronger sound from the violin due to excellent tension and

string adhesion. Bruce Schueneman writes in his article “The French Violin School: From Viotti

to Bériot”: "the concave stick [...] allowed more expressive bowing by making it easier to control

dynamics and execute a wider variety of bow strokes."3 The Tourte bow started producing a

sound that was more vocal than the old version of the bow, which had the primary quality of

providing good articulation. Many violinists were fascinated by this new kind of bow, and as a

result, many modern bow techniques were developed and studied.

Pierre Rode (1774-1830), Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831), and Pierre Baillot (1771-

1842) developed a type of violin playing while teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris that was

heavily under the influence of Viotti.4 Their violin studies and etudes are still in use all over the

world. The influential American pedagogue Ivan Galamian is also linked to their genealogy.

With the establishment of the Brussels Conservatory in Belgium in 1843, outstanding performers

such as Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) and his disciple Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931) appeared.

Due to geographic and cultural proximity, the violinists of France and Belgium liberally

exchanged musical influences with each other, and the character of this school is defined by

flexibility and elegance, with a focus on producing a singing sound.

3 Bruce R. Schueneman, "The French Violin School: From Viotti to Bériot." Notes 60, no. 3 (2004): 757. 4 Milsom, “Theory and Practice,” 23.

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Bow Hold Comparison

Figure 2. Franco-Belgian violin school bow hold

The Franco-Belgian bow hold involves placing the stick of the bow between the first and

second joints of the index, middle and fourth fingers, with the little finger resting on top of the

stick in a circular shape. The thumb should be bent, facing the first joint of the middle

finger. The most important characteristic of this posture is that it allows the player to be relaxed

and flexible. The spacing between the fingers should be at a natural distance, and none of

the fingers should stick too close to each other. In order to understand the right amount of

pressure needed to hold a bow, imagine carrying a raw egg. It should not be held with too

much pressure, nor too little, so that the bow is neither gripped with tension nor could fall out of

one’s hand. The index finger's role in this position is to control the pressure applied to the bow,

and the role of the rounded little finger is to support the weight of the bow. The bent thumb can

be curled or stretched according to the movement of the down and up strokes of the bow. Also,

flexible wrist and finger movements are required. Through this flexible movement, one can use

the very tip and the lowest part of the bow more naturally. The placement of the elbow should

not be too high or too low, and its height differs in relationship to each string of the violin. Most

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of the time, the elbow is ever so slightly below the wrist. This posture achieves a melodious

sound ideal for expressing emotion and a singing style, which are both so fundamental

to the esthetics of the Franco-Belgian school.

Figure 3. Russian violin school bow hold

Contrary to the Franco-Belgian bow hold, the Russian bow hold involves placing the

index finger on the stick of the bow just below the second joint, allowing a player to hold the

bow more deeply in his or her hand. With the index finger in this position, the

remaining fingers are further pronated, causing the little finger to be almost completely straight.

While this does not necessarily result in a great amount of tension, the player is still somewhat

prone to having their hand in a less flexible shape. Furthermore, the thumb is placed in front of

the middle finger with a less bent shape compared to the Franco-Belgian bow hold. The famous

violinists Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) and Nathan Milstein (1903-1992) used this bow hold, and

they obviously fared well, or exceedingly well, with it. This bow hold easily produces a powerful

sound: the index finger is responsible for transferring the weight of the arm in the way of rather

intense bow pressure and also actively leads the other fingers. By now, most violinists agree that

using the frog area for the most powerful passages is natural. However, the Russian bow hold is

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best for power at the tip and is not particularly conducive for comfort at the frog. Even Heifetz

often goes into the upper half as early as possible to get away from the frog.5 For instance, in

Camille Saint-Saëns’s “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso," at measures 35 and 36, most

performers use a down bow for the first beat and an up bow for the second beat. This is because

there is a molto crescendo, and it helps to express a soaring atmosphere before the transition

from Andante to Allegro ma non troppo. Also, in these two measures, there is a combination of

trills and ornaments; the last ornament in this place must be expressed with strong energy, so

most players will opt to use the lowest part of the bow.

However, in Heifetz's 1945 video recording, he plays the first beat with an up bow and

the second beat with a down bow.6 In addition, in the second beat of measure 36, we can see him

splitting it into a down- and up-bow and performing the final ornament by combining a slur and

a single note at the tip. Most would agree that it is unusual to play the most intense part at the tip,

as it is easier to produce a natural forte sound at the frog part using the bow, hand, and arm's

weight. Also, it is very much noteworthy that most of the time, Heifetz uses only the upper three-

quarters of the bow in the entirety of the performance.

According to Carl Flesch, the Russian bow hold needs the highest angle of the arm. For

instance, if the Franco-Belgian school requires an angle of some 25 degrees, the Russian school

needs about 45 degrees.7 In Flesch's teaching experience, he found that "the beginner finds the

Russian position altogether unstrained and quickly accustoms himself to it."8 He also defines the

Russian bow hold as the most advantageous compared to other postures. Indeed, when teaching

5 Jascha Heifetz. “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.” Posted on January 29, 2016. YouTube video, 00:08:40. https://youtu.be/DR6CGXneIuI 6 Ibid. 7 Carl Flesch. The Art of Violin Playing: Book one. Trans. Frederick H. Martens (New York: Carl Fischer, 1939), 51. 8 Ibid., 52.

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beginners, most teachers will agree that students have a natural tendency to hold the

bow very tightly. On the other hand, it is not easy to learn and establish a released and

relaxed bow posture that allows a more natural pressure and weight, such as with the Franco-

Belgian bow hold. It takes time for a student to feel and recognize the right amount of

pressure when using a relaxed and natural bow hold. Therefore, compared to the Franco-Belgian

school, which requires fine movements of the fingers and flexibility of the wrist, beginners might

find it easier to learn how to grasp the bow by relying on the index finger in the

Russian style. This way is also simpler because it uses the larger muscles in the arm rather than

the fingers and wrist. However, due to the lack of flexibility in the fingers and wrist,

its biggest disadvantage is that playing at the heel of the bow is harder to achieve and often looks

quite uncomfortable.

Figure 4. German violin school bow hold

The German school's bow hold is hardly used in modern times. The bow is held with the

fingertips, and the fingers, from the index to the little finger, look almost straight in shape. The

thumb is placed across from the middle finger. This posture uses the lowest arm angle compared

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to the other schools. German violinist Louis Spohr (1784-1859) contributed to this German style

of performance through his book “Violinschule.” Proponents of this style pursued a structurally

conservative style that focused on achieving a restrained, pure sound with little to

no vibrato. Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) and his pupil Andreas Moser (1859-1925) also

published Spohr’s "Violinschule" in order to emphasize its value and spread its influence. Karl

Courvoisier (1846-1908), author of the book "The technique of violin playing: the Joachim

method," prescribed a much more rigid bow hold than earlier writers such as Spohr and Baillot,

and even Moser criticized it as an "immobile grip." However, despite this effort, more and more

European violinists adopted and advocated the practices and techniques of the Franco-Belgian

school.9 As a result, the German school's performance style disappeared largely after Joachim.

9Clive Brown, “Physical Parameters of 19th and Early 20th-Century Violin Playing,” University of Huddersfield - School of Music - CHASE. Universities of Leeds and Cardiff. Accessed April 9, 2021, http://mhm.hud.ac.uk/chase/article/physical-parameters-of-19th-and-early-20th-century-violin-playing-clive-brown/.

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Chapter 2: Advantages of the Franco-Belgian Violin Bow Hold

There are many advantages of the Franco-Belgian bow hold, such as its ability to produce

a rounded sound. In addition, there are some bow techniques such as circular motion that can

only be executed with this bow hold. One of the greatest benefits of the Franco-Belgian bow

hold is that it allows one to use the whole bow freely without limitation.

Interview with Lorenz Gamma: Circular Motion

In this chapter, I will add an interview about the concept of circular motion. I am

combining my own beliefs with those of Doctor Lorenz Gamma10 who serves as director of

string studies and violin professor at California State University, Northridge. I will juxtapose

these findings with some additional commonly encountered ideas of the bow arm and finger

flexibility.

According to Dr. Gamma, the circular motion has an underlying fundamental principle:

while inanimate objects such as a rock, apple, tree, etc., always move downward, due to their

motion being a slave to the simple physical law of gravity, we as human beings can change the

direction in which the weight of the arm moves. Instead of moving only straight down with

gravity, we can move the arm in a diagonal direction – diagonally downward to the right on a

down bow and diagonally up to the left on an up bow. While using our bow arm, we create a

motion that plays with, and sometimes against, this sensation of gravity. That is the most

important underlying principle for circular motion. The actual circular motion happens, then, by

10 Lorenz Gamma, interview by author, via Zoom, April 6, 2021.

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the aid of a circular motion at the end of each stroke and serves to turn the direction of the weight

of the bow arm around. The concept of circular motion does not apply to violin playing alone but

can easily be translated to the other stringed instruments’ technique. For instance, the celebrated

cellist and pedagogue Janos Starker (1924-2013), who taught at Indiana University for more than

50 years, called this circular motion the “counter-clockwise motion” in the bow arm.11

In addition, Dr. Gamma expressed that all diagonal motion occurs as a result of a “little

circle” created by one’s hand as one bows the stroke. This kind of movement is an additional

kind of circular motion that goes very well with the larger, more obvious circular motion of the

bow arm. When changing the direction of the weight of the arm from diagonally down to

diagonally up, the “little circle” appears and aids the circle of the arm and elbow, and the same

occurs when changing from an up to a down bow. Finally, the third kind of circular motion takes

place by the bow’s own rotation around its stick when changing bows. The combination of all

three circular motions allows one to maintain a connected and uninterrupted sound through bow

changes. To an observer, the larger circular motion of the entire bow arm looks like a figure

eight or an infinity sign. It serves not only to finish a bow stroke with a good quality sound but

also as a preparatory motion for the next bow stroke. This technique is best achieved by keeping

the bow arm active and allowing the wrist and fingers to adjust flexibly. In practice, the elbow

moves first, while the rest follows.

The Franco-Belgian bow hold is perfect for making a circular motion. Dr. Gamma

pointed out that the Franco-Belgian bow hold is conducive to a lot of finger flexibility. The

11 Janos Starker, "An Organized Method of String Playing," in Concepts in String Playing: Reflections by Artist-Teachers at the Indiana University School of Music. ed. by Murray Grodner, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1979), https://publish.iupress.indiana.edu/read/concepts-in-string-playing/section/2d41facd-4965-4c33-a0be-52b2bc76b830

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Russian bow hold's fingers are close together, while the Franco-Belgian bow hold's fingers are

spread. The additional space between the fingers allows all the joints of the fingers to bend and

stretch freely in response to the movement of the wrist and arm. With this increased finger

flexibility, the circular motion will translate itself to the bow initiated in the arm and followed

through by the wrist and fingers. As long as the arm is active, the wrist, fingers, and, ultimately,

the bow will follow organically and reflectively.

While there are a few exceptions, such as in sautillé or collé, Dr. Gamma mentioned that

circular motion could be used almost all the time. Pure sautillé and collé techniques use no arm

and focus solely on the flexibility of the fingers.

The Benefits of the Circular Motion

First of all, circular motion helps to maintain a smooth connection between the down and

up bow. If one changes the bow without using any kind of circular motion, the continuity of the

sound gets interrupted, even if the bow is not stopped actively.

Second, the circle our hand creates when using circular motion has an energy or,

according to Dr. Gamma, a “centrifugal force.” This force naturally causes a bowed note to have

a slight increase in sound, instead of a diminuendo, at its end. Thus, there is no need to press

with the index finger to make a strong sound, even at the tip of the bow. If one were to press the

bow without utilizing this natural kinetic energy of the bow arm, one’s entire arm and sound

would likely become tight. To produce a more powerful sound, one must relax and use the

physical motion of one’s arm. Ultimately, physical relaxation, instead of pressure, creates

“healthy” power in one’s playing.

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Third, circular motion enables one to have “less energy expenditure” and “recycle

energy” instead, according to Prof. Gamma. For instance, when using the bow without circular

motion, the energy “escapes,” as each bow stroke is not connected to the next. Without the

smooth and uninterrupted flow between strokes, one’s bowing becomes stiff and can become

tiresome quickly. By using circular motion, one does not tire nearly as quickly because each

stroke serves as preparation for the next, meaning the energy keeps coming back to the player

instead of escaping at the end of each stroke.

Some Common Difficulties

When first learning circular motion, a common difficulty one encounters creating a rich

sound when drawing the bow across a string in a motion that is diagonal to the floor, and

secondly, recognizing how this feels in order to replicate it consistently. Feeling the right amount

of weight of the arm is not an easy task for beginners. Dr. Gamma further states that another

difficulty is the timing of the circle. It takes considerable time and practice to gain a sense of the

right timing of the circular motion in the bow arm. Sometimes, the tendency is to attempt to

create the circle too soon, while other students might miss the right moment and initiate the

motion too late.

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Chapter 3: Pedagogical Bow Arm Exercises

Included below are exercises for circular motion provided by Dr. Gamma. These can be

easily incorporated into one’s practice sessions by playing them with scales, on open strings, and

in other similarly simple applications.

Figure 5. Bow arm exercise A12

When pulling down bows, use the weight of the arm to direct the bow diagonally

downward toward the floor. During up bows, the weight of the arm should be used to direct the

bow diagonally upward toward the ceiling. Once one has captured how this feels in one’s

playing, play the exercise as indicated in Fig. 5 and repeat as needed: play any note for four beats

on a down bow, making sure to use the entire bow, rest for four beats, and then play an up bow

for four beats. Throughout this exercise, the shoulder must stay in place, and one must also take

care to avoid allowing the shoulder to lift or droop too low while playing.

Figure 6. Bow arm exercise B13

12 Lorenz Gamma, “Violinist’s Care Package: Exercises for Violinists.” (unpublished manuscript, 2021), 4, pdf. 13 Ibid.

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The next phase is maintaining circular motion while playing consecutive bow strokes

without a rest between them. Connect each bow stroke by adding a small circular motion just

before the end of a down or up bow. This allows one to move the elbow in anticipation of the

next bow stroke, resulting in the following: the elbow begins to move upward toward the end of

a down bow, and it begins to move downward as the up bow stroke nears its end.

Figure 7. Bow Arm exercise C14

In exercise C, try applying different lengths of beats to each bow stroke, such as two

beats or one beat per bow. Also, practice starting bow strokes at multiple points on the bow to

develop the ability to create circular motion with any type of bow stroke and at every place of the

bow. For instance, one can play from the frog to the middle of the bow or the middle of the bow

to the tip, and then try playing only at the frog, the middle, or the tip.

Finger Movement Exercises

Figure 8. Finger and wrist exercise15

14 Ibid. 15 Ibid., 6.

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One must start this exercise with the bow placed firmly on the string at the frog and make

sure it stays on the string throughout the exercise. Also, the fingers of one’s bow hand (with the

exception of the index finger, which should be completely straight and unlike its normal shape in

the Franco-Belgian bow hold) should be curled inward toward the palm of one’s hand as much as

possible before starting the exercise with a down bow. The goal is to completely flex the

knuckles of the fingers outward, resulting in a curled index finger and straightened remaining

fingers, especially the pinky, after pulling a short and quick down bow. Then the fingers should

return to the “hyper-curled” position after drawing an up bow. This exaggerated version of the

bow hold is intended to unlock one’s full motion of the fingers, enabling one to learn how to

bend and stretch the fingers and wrist. One achieves the best results when ensuring that the shape

of the pinky is extremely straight and the index finger is extremely curved after the down bow.

Figure 9. Loosening exercise16

Stay in the lower middle of the bow and execute each consecutive up bow by using only

the circular motion of the wrist. The fingers should remain loose and give no resistance while

following the movement of the wrist, and there is no involvement of the arm whatsoever. The

hand should also be relaxed and not hold the bow tightly. Otherwise, the wrist becomes tight,

and the sound does not have a refined ring; the motion should mimic brushing away dust.

16 Ibid.

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Détaché Exercise

One can practice bow changes with flexible fingers in Kreutzer’s famous etude No. 2 or

any other similar etude. Players often have to perform long passages that form one continuous

phrase, and obvious bow changes would disrupt such a phrase prematurely. One must take care,

therefore, to avoid breaking the sound by performing bow changes as smoothly as possible. The

détaché exercise can be used to develop this skill. Beginners, especially, have the tendency to

grip the bow too tightly. Make sure to consider the bow length, speed, pressure, and point of

contact with the string, and focus on bowing in a straight line. Most importantly, one should also

practice listening to the quality of the sound, a skill that can be gained by not only focusing on

the bow technique.

It is better to practice slowly at first. For example, start by playing each 16th note at a

tempo of about 60 bpm. Try playing the passage at the middle of the bow first, and then

experiment by playing it in the lower half, upper half, and finally even the whole bow. As one

pulls a down bow, bend the thumb and also keep the rest of the fingers in a curled shape. The

bow hair should be flat on the string at this point – do not tilt the bow! When performing an up

bow, the thumb and other fingers straighten, as if they are stretching, and the stick and hair of the

bow should be tilted slightly toward the fingerboard. The wrist naturally follows the curling and

stretching of the fingers. It is helpful, for the sake of this exercise, to exaggerate the

aforementioned movements. By doing this, one can use the lower part of the bow flexibly and

establish the muscle memory necessary in hand to connect the movements of the down and up

bow. Ultimately, through diligent practice, this exercise enables one to perform seamless bow

changes.

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Chapter 4: Analysis of the Sound Production of Violin Playing

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, 1st movement, Allegro moderato

Figure 10. Arthur Grumiaux’s bow hold

Arthur Grumiaux (1921-1986) was born in Belgium and entered the Royal Conservatory

in Brussels at the age of 12 to study violin with Alfred Dubois (1898-1949), a pupil of Eugène

Ysaÿe (1858-1931). When Grumiaux moved to Paris at 15, he studied with George Enescu

(1881-1955). He was a winner of the Henri Vieuxtemps competition in 1939, and the following

year, he was awarded the Prix de Virtuosité from the Belgian government. He also contributed

significantly to education at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and became a representative

successor to the Franco-Belgian school.

As seen in fig. 10, Grumiaux’s index finger does not grip the bow – instead, it remains

relaxed whenever he plays in the lower half of the bow, and his bow hold is supported by

keeping the little finger curled. This posture makes it possible to use any part of the bow with

great ease. At the beginning of the Tchaikovsky Concerto (mm. 23 ~ mm. 27),17 his opening solo

17 Arthur Grumiaux. "TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D major op. 35 / Grumiaux · Haitink." Posted on March 18, 2018. YouTube video, 00:33:52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm5Nuwb729E

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melody makes one unified “journey.” To make a connected sound, he uses a continuous vibrato

on each note. In the melody of the Moderato Assai, he uses a warm vibrato, and from measure 35

to 39, even though the bow stroke is off the string, his sound is clean. At measure 41, Grumiaux

does not break the chords, instead choosing to play all the notes together at once so that the

orchestral accompaniment can play precisely with him. He expresses the rhythm of the third beat

of measures 51 and 53 with a slightly stopped bow, like a staccato, so that the feeling of ballet

music is achieved. Then, even in the upcoming climax (mm. 55 ~ mm. 64), where we can

witness his laser sharp fast finger technique in high registers, he does not lose a sense of

elegance. Measures 65 to 66 are expressed in one phrase, and he plays the scale cleanly and does

not produce an aggressive sound. In the transitional part of measures 67 and 68, the tempo is

sufficiently adjusted, so there is a smooth transition into the next section, con molta espressione.

In the con molta espressione, he plays with a simple rhythm and sings while staying in time, all

the while without the feeling of exaggeration. While the sound seems almost ordinary, it

naturally sings. Usually, most violinists play the beginning of the più mosso with a détaché

bowing for two measures and with spiccato for the following two measures. Grumiaux, however,

plays them all with spiccato. This creates a simple sound. His bow technique also reveals in the

Poco più lento section. Despite this section being riddled with many double stops and string

changes, his sound is clean and never aggressive. Even in the più mosso, he does not add accents

and focuses purely on the sound itself. As he goes to another climax, his sound feels relaxed,

without any bit of tension. His overall tone does not prick the listener's ears or cause discomfort

or unease. He sings cleanly and gracefully in a natural, solid rhythm.

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Figure 11. Jascha Heifetz’s bow hold

Russian-born American violinist Jascha Heifetz started violin at the age of three and

studied with Leopold Auer (1845-1930) at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. Auer was a

notable educator who contributed to the formation of the Russian school and trained many great

violinists, among them Mischa Elman (1891-1967) and Nathan Milstein. Interestingly, Auer did

not teach the Russian bow hold per se to Heifetz, but rather allowed his students to keep much of

their own physical idiosyncrasies and therefore also the most comfortable grip for each student.18

Thus, Heifetz was able to establish his own unique posture and performance style. In 1917,

Heifetz moved to the United States and made his debut at Carnegie Hall. Even though he

enjoyed playing at a rather fast tempo, he demonstrated a perfect technique and quickly attracted

attention from the entire musical world. After naturalizing in the United States in 1925, he

eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he taught students at the USC Thornton School of

Music.

18 Amanda Louise Villaret, The Franco-Belgian and Russian Methods of Bowing: A Pedagogic Study. DMA diss., (Ball State University, 1988), 34.

20

The biggest difference in Heifetz's bow hold to the Franco-Belgian system is the shape

and placement of his index finger (Figure 11). He uses it to hold the bow beyond its second joint,

thus leaving almost no gap between his fingers. In his interpretation of the Tchaikovsky

Concerto,19 Heifetz begins by performing the opening melody (mm. 23 ~ mm. 27) with his

signature fast vibrato. When playing the first down bow of measure 23, he does not save any

bow but instead moves quickly and freely and plays it almost like an improvisatory cadenza. In

addition, he does not start this measure by placing the bow near the frog, presumably for

comfort, as well as his often understated and surprisingly poetic use of the bow as a tool for color

nuances. Unlike Grumiaux, who plays the opening solo melody as one line, we can hear obvious

bow changes in the Heifetz recording, especially before the final beat of measure 26. His bow

hold seems to pose no problems when he plays fast passages because of the fast bow speed.

However, when he plays the con molta espressione section (mm. 69 ~ mm. 94), he does not

sustain the bow long enough to express this melody as a seamless one, and we cannot help but

feel hurried along. Interpretations are always a matter of personal taste, but here there is,

ultimately, a lack of very delicate connection in the moment of bow changes. The next passages

include fast scales, détaché, spiccato, double stops, and consecutive intervals of a 10th in the left

hand, and Heifetz’s brilliant technique makes this section pass like a storm. Due to the nature of

his Russian bow hold, he quickly returns to the middle of the bow, a place in the music where

one would traditionally use the lower half of the bow. He also consistently stays in the upper half

of the bow while playing the trill at the point where the cadenza ends, and the orchestral flute

solo appears. From measure 253 to 271 in the recapitulation, he shies away from the frog and

then manages to squeeze ten more seconds of sound out of the last 3 cm of the bow at the tip.

19 Jascha Heifetz. “Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.” Posted on February 15, 2011. YouTube video, 00:12:36. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSI17P7uZMQ

21

This is his unique bowing. His fast bowing and flashy technique alone are enough to captivate an

audience, but it could feel mechanical. If he were to stay at the lower part of the bow more often,

he would significantly reduce the number of bow changes. According to the memoir by Sherry

Kloss, assistant and student of Heifetz, during warm-up exercises, he would emphasize: "play a

steady crescendo on the down bow to the tip followed by a slow, steady diminuendo back to the

frog."20 This shows Heifetz was well aware of the limitations of the Russian bow hold, and he

made efforts to improve sound at the tip.

20 Sherry Kloss, “7 Tips from the Class of Jascha Heifetz.” The Strad, July 11, 2018, https://www.thestrad.com/playing/7-tips-from-the-class-of-jascha-heifetz/8000.article.

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Conclusion

While the different methods of holding a violin bow have evolved over a long period of

time and been passed down by generations of teachers, we can safely say that the most widely

used bow hold in the present era is that of the Franco-Belgian school. This ideal bow hold plays

an important role in creating the subtle and most suitable sound for each player to express the

music. With the Franco-Belgian bow hold, the player can use all parts of the bow without

limitation, and this posture uses the most natural hand shape compared to the other schools. As a

performer and educator, Viotti's legacy, which included the use of the modern Tourte bow and

the establishment of the Franco-Belgian school, was handed down to numerous outstanding

performers in Europe by his colleagues, pupils, and many subsequent generations of violinists.

At the center of this effort was the Paris Conservatory, whose genealogy continued to the famous

musicians and educators in the United States and Asia. For those interested in mastering the

connected sound associated with the Franco-Belgian school, bow arm techniques such as circular

motion and the aforementioned finger exercises are recommended. The main goal of the Franco-

Belgian school is to produce a natural, elegant, and round sound, a treasured and popular pursuit

that has led to its prominence among many violinists of today.

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