| Introduction
Since the opening of the present Museum of Instruments at the Royal College of Music in 1970, documentation has been built up to underpin the educational use of the collection. The first volumes of the Catalogue, concerning European Wind Instruments, were published in 1982 and 1998. These were followed by Part II: Keyboard Instruments in 2000 and Part III: European Stringed Instruments in 2007. Although the texts for Parts I and II are now available on the website of the Centre for Performance History, Part IV: Bows for European Stringed Instruments is the first volume to be solely web-based.
The main goal of the catalogue is to provide basic details of the items in the collection for musicians, organologists, and researchers of performance practice and other areas of historical musicology. It is also hoped that this catalogue can serve to offer exploratory data for bow makers, particularly those who are interested in copying transitional style bows. Should further information be required, researchers are welcome to contact the Museum to make an appointment to view specific items in person. Higher resolution images are also available on request (reproduction fees apply). For further details about the history of the Museum, please see the Introduction to Catalogue Part II: Keyboard Instruments.
Introduction to Catalogue Part IV: Bows for European Stringed Instruments
Of the various humble components of a musical performance which witness the victories, failures and hours of dedicated training, the bow is perhaps the paradigmatic case. It holds the privileged position of being the mediator between a performers’ aesthetic and the instrument which actually produces the sounds. Unfortunately in moments of sudden disappointment it can be used to vent frustrations, perhaps hitting a music stand, a use for which it was not intended. Of all a violin’s accessories such as the strings, bridge, chin rest and tuning pegs, the bow is one of the most vulnerable and prone to being worn out. This impacts on the survival of bows, which is often limited to the very fine examples of which special care has been taken. However, it is also of great importance to study every-day, unembellished, simple, plain bows, made of non-precious materials, which have often been altered in order to maintain their functionality. The process of cataloguing turned out to be intellectually more satisfying than had been anticipated and has encouraged the author to undertake a closer look at other collections, as well as stimulating an ongoing interest in bows.
The set of bows held in The Royal College of Music Museum of Instruments is a unique study collection invaluable for research into performance practice, organology or acoustics. It consists of 84 bows made between 1700 and 1950 and, in the majority of cases, represents English bow making. Although some are stamped, it should be stressed that in bow making it does not mean that the item was indeed made in a given workshop. For example some bows stamped Hill were made in fact by James Tubbs, while items stamped Dodd could have been made by members of this family but are also likely to have been commissioned from other, smaller, worshops.
The RCM collection is distinctive in that two thirds of the bows are for cellos, due largely to the fact that seventy-four bows found their home at the RCM as a gift from the Amaryllis Fleming Foundation, following the suggestion of Charles Beare. Ms Fleming also owned other fine bows, some of which she bequeathed to pupils, while others were sold by the Foundation to raise funds to endow a bursary in her memory at the RCM. The collection was incorportaed into the Museum’s collection in 2002, since which time significant examples have been on display, while the rest are easily accessible for researchers.
Amaryllis Fleming (?1925–1999) was one of the luminaries of 20th-century cello performance. As well as being at the centre of media attention due to her flamboyant character, she appears as a perfectionist, an imaginative musician ever aiming for a better understanding of cello performance. Fortunately her biography is available, published during her lifetime in 1993 and written by her nephew Fergus Fleming. The author was obviously fascinated with his aunt, which is apparent in the text, but it is nevertheless an invaluable account of the artistic journey of a person who was not satisfied simply to follow the prevalent dogma in cello playing. Fleming had a long connection with The Royal College of Music where she was a pupil of John Snowden and Ivor James before her own appointment as professor in 1975.
The cataloguing of instruments is comparable with the work of a detective who traces what has been changed, when and by whom. It can also be problematic in terms of identifying the types of exotic wood used, whose species cannot be definitely ascertained without the help of a microsope and a set of samples from all over the world. All wood descriptions should therefore be treated as an approximation. The RCM collection of bows is a study sample, mainly of British cello bows, which hopefully will inspire bow makers, players and organologists to further research and musical explorations.
Bibliography Amaryllis Fleming & Harold Dexter, The way to play the cello. (Ilford: International Music Publications, c.1993) Fergus Fleming, Amaryllis Fleming (London: Methuen, 1994) James M Fleming, Old Violins and their Makers: including some references to those of modern times (London: L Upcott Gill, 1883) Tully Potter, ‘Living to the full’, The Strad, (December 1999) 1301–1305 G R Seaman, ‘Fleming, Amaryllis Marie-Louise (1925?–1999)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford: University Press, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com, accessed 22nd April 2007 ‘In memoriam: Amaryllis Fleming’ The Musical Times, 140 (Autumn 1999), 7–8 |
