DUCHEINE OR DUCHENE; ANYHOW PRE TOURTE

Speaking from a registry point of view, Nicolas Duchene I was not pre Tourtes; in fact he was born the exact same year as Nicolas Léonard: 1746. From a work point of view, though, I suspect he arrived at the “Cramer” model before the Parisians.

Violin Bow Cramer model by Nicolas Duchene I

First of all, I would like to thank “Cité de la musique” for the beautiful photo archive “Musée de la musique”, from which the photo you see above was found, and which you can visit on:

http://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/masc/

Secondly, I want to add a correction to the post last week. After having done a more profound resource, with the help o Fulvia Morabito, we have managed to go back to a text that shows that Wilhelm Cramer went to Paris in 1769, playing as a soloist at the Concert Spirituel of the year. Even though this information is a must, it doesn't change much regarding the transitional period of the bow and its development.

Fulvia Morabito takes part of the Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini. A group of a high level, the work of which I invite you to discover:

http://www.luigiboccherini.org/index.html

Regarding the Duchenes, there is not much to say. Duchene I and II, were the most important of the four sons of Nicolas Duchene who all made bows. Nicolas Duchene though, found himself exactly at the crossing from the baroque bow to the modern bow.

Nicolas Duchene was born in Mirecourt on the 3th of April 1746. He began his apprenticeship as a violin maker at a time when bow and violin making as crafts had not yet been separated. Only in 1760, he decided to dedicate himself completely to bow making, because there was a great demand for bows from Germany. Francois Lupot I, who had moved to Stuttgart, in 1758, functioned as intermediary between German clients and the well-known craftsmen of Mirecourt.

Even though we persist in talking about France and Germany, we must not forget that towns such as Mirecourt, Stuttgart and Mannheim were part of the Alsazia-Lorena. therefore Lupot I did not actually import bows to Germany.

Nicolas Duchene returned to France in 1766 - three years before the Cramer model arrived to Paris.

Let's stay in the neighbourhood of Stuttgart, for a while. It could be a coincidence, but very close to this town there is another town where a fundamental musical and instrumental evolution of great importance took place. In fact within the School of Mannheim, in 1747, the modern orchestra to the new symphonic school was established, thanks to the Czech violinist/composer Johan Stamitz.

The reason why this orchestra excelled and distinguished themselves from previous orchestras was its definition, its clarity and the dynamic capacity of the bows, as testified by Mozart in 1777.

Stuttgart is close to Mannheim, and it is most likely that the first bows capable of a good level of management of the dynamics; the modern bows, were made in Mirecourt, not in Paris. If it is true that the first Cramer model arrived from Germany in 1769, it is just as likely that this particular bow, was brought to Mannheim by Lupot I, and that it was made in one of the places of major  production in that period; Mirecourt.

To endorse this theory there is also another detail. In the second half of the first volume of “L'Archet” by Millant/Raffin, you will find a chapter which is very well described and documented, dedicated to the evolution of the bow in Mirecourt. The historian Evelyne Bonetat, describes the split between the bow makers' and the violin makers' profession very well, arriving up to modern times. This reconstruction is missing about twenty years. It stops at 1763, and continues after the French Revolution. This just happens to correspond with the arrival of the Cramer model.

There are news on the wood as well. Consulting the catalogue of the KHM, Kunsthistorisches Museum (historical museum of art) of Vienna, dedicated to the bow collection, there are at least three pieces that testify to the use of Pernambuco previous to the Tourt brothers.

The first, catalogue number SAM 74, is an italian bow dating back to the 16th century, with fixed frog and “Pike head”. The only one of these three examples, where it is uncertain whether or not it is made in pernambuco.

The second, catalogue number I.N. 55 b, is dated back to the first half of the 18th century; the head made with lance shape, the frog of inlaid ivory, flat support and the button in ivory. The origin is unknown even though it looks like the Corelliano bow. The stick is made in flamed Pernambuco.

The third one, catalogue number SAM 1012, is one of the first Cramer models, made in dark Pernambuco, from the middle of the 18th century, probably French. The book reports that it is very similar to a bow seen at the workshop of Jaques Francais in New York, marked Meauchand; one of the two in Mirecourt. To me it seems more like a Duchene.

Conclusion: the pernambuco wood was not only used to make bows in France, but in a large part of central and southern Europe. And not only was the Cramer model with an internal curve “probably” not German; the first French model was not Parisian, but from Mirecourt.

I will suspend the argument until I can remove “probably”.

So long,

Paolo