Violin Forum/Message Board

[John Cadd]

A coincidence for me was to discover Leonid Kogan was born yesterday on 14th November 1924 . 100 years ago .
I was going to comment about his bowing ,mainly in the Kreutzer sonata that I often return to . The bowing , which is a perfect lesson , shows how often the bow is taken off the string while it is moving. That does not get mentioned very often but allows the string to resonate a tiny bit longer . This is in addition to the sautille and spicatto actions. The bow reapplication also needs extra care .
Lately I have also noticed in his recordings how the small finger on his bow hand is often out of contact with the bow stick . It may be a personal thing but still interesting . It allows the bow weight to be applied by the forefinger Just watch the final movement of the Kreutzer for that . There is something eternal about this Beethoven creation .

[Stelian Dumitrascu]

The right hand pinky really serves no purpose while the bow is in motion and touches the strings above its center of gravity. In the same line of reasoning, applying both the index finger and the pinky produces no effect other than needlessly engaging the finger muscles. I've seen other violinists of the Soviet school lift alternately the pinky, or the index finger, while playing above, or below, the center of gravity.

[John Cadd]

Do you think the Soviet School taught these details or just left them to work it out for themselves ? Nathan Milstein said he was not taught much in that way . I have not seen the 2 books by Carl Flesch which is a distintly separate system ,but maybe there is something about that .His approach was "Leave nothing to chance ".

[Stelian Dumitrascu]

A good teacher would, in my humble opinion, leave it to the student, as long as the student understands the economy of right hand fingers. Players can, and do, have both the index and the pinky touch the bow simultaneously, as long as no more than one of those fingers has its muscles actually activated. However, one may get carried away and press down both fingers unconsciously. A lifted finger routine is a fail-safe way to avoid that.

[John Cadd]

Something about this reminds me of the problem Menuhin experienced when he was about 16 yrs old.A gremlin on his shoulder seemed to asking him "How do I do all this?".It had an unnerving effect for some time.It was an interesting piece of psychology . Almost like the adult trying to take over from the naturally gifted child .
I saw a long discussion on Violinist.com just yesterday but cannot find it today . It was about Menuhin`s bowing problems when he grew older . The usual variety of possible causes eventually came round to a player who suffered a similar problem.His cure was to try the Russian bow hold.That contained a mention of the small finger contact that was involved .I doubt if that was Menuhin`s problem but it amused me to see the little finger get a mention .