#31: Middle voice bowstrokes
Section 4: Antonin Dvořák – String Quartet Op.96, iv. Vivace, ma non troppo
At the opening of the Op.96 Finale (b.1-32) the middle parts play the energetic, locomotive-like figure in what is by modern standards a subtly unusual way. They did not seem remotely concerned with what we called ‘orchestral’ priorities, in that they did not aim for any ‘sheen’ in the sound, and seemed actively resistant to generating ‘solidity’ in their timing. (By contrast, our impression of the usual process of setting out on such a ‘finale texture’ was that it could resemble ‘starting up the orchestral resonating machine’). Instead, the physicality of their bowing here felt to us to be consciously designed to work against discipline, rather than to enable more control. Could they have set themselves a challenge by making the bowstroke more difficult to accomplish than was strictly necessary? By executing the stroke a few inches further towards the tip then we might have done, they embraced a natural propensity for slightly chaotic variation. This region of the bow has an intrinsic instability in how it springs back from the string, meaning one has to work a little harder with the fingers to ‘catch’ it between strokes. The tie is likely to be clipped as a result, and because it is difficult to execute in precisely the same way every time, some playful irregularity is almost guaranteed. Impressively, they retain significant ‘core’ and projection in the tone while doing this, which we suspected involved staying radically efficient and ‘firm’ in the stroke in the moment of contact, using only a tiny lateral movement. The bow was permitted to spring out of that contact, however, in a way that was enthusiastically chaotic, and which needed constant ‘taming’. Our own version began with the same ‘pull’ between the second violin and viola, and involved the same type of stroke. Yet it sounded notably more controlled in its rhythmic character, even though the Czech Quartet’s tempo and sound quality were somewhat heavier.
