Two Bows

"...eight notes from a solo cello! The piece of Frances-Marie Uitti, Ricercar, gave the unbelieveable sensation of an entire string quartet!"

Liberation, Paris.

THE IDEA

Chordal playing obsessed me during a period when I lived in Rome and frequently improvised alone: the need for explicit rather that implied harmony becoming ever stronger.

I then commissioned a curved bow from a local Roman luthier so that I could access all the strings simultaneously . For several months it seemed the perfect solution, but gradually l found it too l limited. For example,one could play four adjacent strings simultaneously, but Only adjacent strings. And given the richness of overtones inherent in the cello sound, this was oppressively thick. It lacked any possibility of timbral variety. With one bow, the attacks on all four strings were equal, the colorings between the bridge and fingerboard too homogeneous.
I felt a musical (polyphonic) need to be able to play any string of my choice in any combination with the others, to be able to control the timbre of each voice, and to have independent dynamics and articulations for each string.

After months of pondering, the solution came to me. I proceeded to experiment, and finally develop a way of using two bows in the right hand. In this way the left hand is free to play chordally as well as melodically, and two bows give an enormous flexibility for playing the strings in any combination with a large independent gamut of dynamic and expressive possibilities.

I premiered works of my own at the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, and in the Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne. Luigi Nono, György Kurtag, Giacinto Scelsi, Jonathan Harvey, Guus Jansen, Jay Alan Yim, Richard Barrett, Vinko Globokar, Clarence Barlow, James Clarke, David Dramm, Geoffrey King, Martijn Padding, Horazio Radulescu, Sharon Kanach, Martijn Padding, and others have written for me using this technique.

TWO BOW FUNCTIONS

The two bows can move independently in a vertical sense: the under bow playing very close to the bridge while the upper bow is sul tasto. They can slide smoothly to the ordinary position and reverse the sense while moving horizontally.

The upper bow can move into col legno position (and back again) while the under bow continues in ordinary position.

Both bows can play col legno, but one must reposition the bows for a fraction of a second to change their positions.

The two bows can produce independent articulations, accents, durations, legati etc. For example the upper bow can play staccatto while the under is legato. The under bow can produce jete while the upper is legato and vice versa. Keep in mind that the under bow has less amplitude than the overbow for voicing and melodic lines.*

Cross rhythms (three against four, four against five) can be articulated between the bows, though the bows move in the same direction as the arm.

In general, horizontal bowings are suited to the two bows and in the case of the large detache, the volume of the cello is doubled. Tremolandi acquire a rich and complex timbre. All up and down actions (for example,double spiccatti) are problematic to control.

The use of two bows in conjunction with stopped or open strings can produce multiple multiphonics of eight or more pitches.

*The underbow tends to have a softer sound resembling the sweetness of the viola da gamba. It can resemble a "shadow tone" if desired, thus splitting the cello and useful for hocketing effects. It can be used melodically, but the composer should know that switching between upperbow and lowerbow for crossed string melodic work is somewhat clumsy to execute and uneven timbrically. (Playing in higher positions on the D string gives a more homogeneous effect than switching from A to D strings)

Using the upper bow on the A string alone isn't possible as the underbow scrapes against the large C curves of the cello. I am designing a new underbow to address this problem.

THE LEFT HAND

Due to the thickness and tension of the strings, not all theoretically imaginable 4 note combinations are practical. The following chart of depressed notes gives some possibilities in a logical (but nonmusical) manner. These are "model chords" that are applicable from the 1/2th through the 5th position. In the higher positions, due to the thumb and its extension, the possibilities become vast, and charts of any sort tend to confuse. Trial and error, plus a healthy dosage of risk are advisable.

Legato position changes are tricky for the left hand. Four fingers covering four strings tend to leave a gap in the sound as they re-adjust themselves between positions. An open string or well thought out flageolet can serve as a "cover". More elegant; the mixed use of three and four note chords to lighten the texture as well as smooth out the left hand changes.

Flageolets and artificial harmonics can be used alone in four, three, two, or one note groups, or a mixture of them in conjunction with stopped notes is possible. The range is thus expanded, and the texture lightened.

 

A view down the fingerboard from a cellist's point of vision
4 NOTE CHORDS	overbow touches D & G, underbow touches A & C
3 NOTE CHORDS	overbow touches G & C, underbow touches A overbow touches A & D, underbow touches C overbow touches D & G, underbow touches C NB: adjacent 3 note chords are not totally reliable as        the particularities of each bridge curve is minutely        different. (A,D & G and D,G & C)
2 NOTE CHORDS	upperbow alone on A & D, D & G , G & C non-adjacent chords A & G, D & C, and A & C
1 NOTE	upper bow on D, G, or C lower bow on A or C NB: upper bow cannot play on A alone as the large        curve doesn't leave room.(Lower bow can be taken        away or replaced in ca 5 seconds )
The lower bow sounds like a viola da gamba; softer and sweeter.

2 bows chart

4 note chords

3 note chords

2 note chords

 

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