Violinist's bow breaks in the middle of a concert

Started by Pohjolas Daughter, May 17, 2023, 03:22:16 AM

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Pohjolas Daughter

From the BBC's website:

"A violinist who travelled from New York to perform in Dorset wowed the audience after he managed to continue his performance despite his £24,000 bow breaking unexpectedly.
Stefan Jackiw was performing in Poole with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) on 10 May when it happened.
He was surprised as he says violin strings usually break, but bows do not.
The broken bow was immediately swapped for a different one and Mr Jackiw carried on as if nothing happened."

There's a video of it there too.  I'm impressed how he just continued on.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-dorset-65614202

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

vers la flamme


Pohjolas Daughter

I believe that they said that it was from the 19th century.  I hope that they can repair it--and that it was insured!

I've seen strings break, but never the whole bow!  In the longer article, I found it interesting to read his comments that (in terms of using a different bow) that it was akin to suddenly being given someone else's shoes to wear and then being told to go for a run in them--very different feel.

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Roasted Swan

#3
That is very rare but in fact the bow (ie the main stick part) did not break.  Its at the tip where a "plug" holds the hair into a notch at the tip of the bow has popped out.  There might be a bit of damage to the ivory/silver mount on the tip.  Whoever did his last rehair will be blushing as that really should not happen.  He did very well to play with a stranger's bow because everything will be different - where the bow balances, where it springs/bounces, how it grips the string (so dictating how you can play dynamics) - its a total change and one you wouldn't fancy working out in public during a concerto!

If the main stick had broken (if this happens its usually near the tip too) then a bow can be pinned but a pinned bow is worth a fraction of its pervious value because the balance is changed just neough to really spoil the bow.  A top bow can easily be worth £20,000 if not a lot lot more.  Many people will argue that it is the bow (and the player's bow technique) that really defines how good a player they are and how good a sound they can make.

BTW I don't recognise the concerto he was playing with the BSO......  googled it - its the Gliere........

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Roasted Swan on May 17, 2023, 04:49:26 AMThat is very rare but in fact the bow (ie the main stick part) did not break.  Its at the tip where a "plug" holds the hair into a notch at the tip of the bow has popped out.  There might be a bit of damage to the ivory/silver mount on the tip.  Whoever did his last rehair will be blushing as that really should not happen.  He did very well to play with a stranger's bow because everything will be different - where the bow balances, where it springs/bounces, how it grips the string (so dictating how you can play dynamics) - its a total change and one you wouldn't fancy working out in public during a concerto!

If the main stick had broken (if this happens its usually near the tip too) then a bow can be pinned but a pinned bow is worth a fraction of its pervious value because the balance is changed just neough to really spoil the bow.  A top bow can easily be worth £20,000 if not a lot lot more.  Many people will argue that it is the bow (and the player's bow technique) that really defines how good a player they are and how good a sound they can make.

BTW I don't recognise the concerto he was playing with the BSO......  googled it - its the Gliere........
Thank you for the further info!

After posting my last comment, I found this article and photo in the Strad.



From what you can see, how would whomever repairs the bow fix it?

PD

p.s.  Here's the Strad article:  https://www.thestrad.com/video/violinist-stefan-jackiws-bow-breaks-mid-performance/16505.article
Pohjolas Daughter

ritter

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on May 17, 2023, 05:09:07 AM...
From what you can see, how would whomever repairs the bow fix it?

...
Super glue should do the trick!  ;)

Good day, PD!

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: ritter on May 17, 2023, 05:18:09 AMSuper glue should do the trick!  ;)

Good day, PD!
;D And good afternoon to you, Ritter.

I hope that this wasn't what Swan had meant about a bow needing to be "pinned".

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on May 17, 2023, 05:09:07 AMThank you for the further info!

After posting my last comment, I found this article and photo in the Strad.



From what you can see, how would whomever repairs the bow fix it?

PD

p.s.  Here's the Strad article:  https://www.thestrad.com/video/violinist-stefan-jackiws-bow-breaks-mid-performance/16505.article

Oh wow - I'm completely wring! (not the first time.....) that is knackered - its the classic break point but still rare.  It can be pinned but I hope his insurance is good because it'll never be the same again...... (its like loosing something very personal when this happens)

relm1

Wow!  That's nerve wracking.  I was once playing in a concert right before my big entrance.  It was Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol and the last few pages, brass play throughout.  I picked up my instrument and two seconds before my enterance, my sheet music fell off the stand and I had to fly blind.  It felt like one of those dramatic slow motion "NNNNooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!" moments in movies.  Luckily, no one noticed (or admitted) and having practiced and rehearsed, once the terror faded, I played off memory.  Anyway, glad the violinist didn't break down in to tears but carried on like nothing happened.  What a pro.

Pohjolas Daughter

#9
Quote from: Roasted Swan on May 17, 2023, 05:35:27 AMOh wow - I'm completely wring! (not the first time.....) that is knackered - its the classic break point but still rare.  It can be pinned but I hope his insurance is good because it'll never be the same again...... (its like loosing something very personal when this happens)
Oh, no!  He said that he had had it for 20 years.  :(

Quote from: relm1 on May 17, 2023, 05:48:55 AMWow!  That's nerve wracking.  I was once playing in a concert right before my big entrance.  It was Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol and the last few pages, brass play throughout.  I picked up my instrument and two seconds before my enterance, my sheet music fell off the stand and I had to fly blind.  It felt like one of those dramatic slow motion "NNNNooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!" moments in movies.  Luckily, no one noticed (or admitted) and having practiced and rehearsed, once the terror faded, I played off memory.  Anyway, glad the violinist didn't break down in to tears but carried on like nothing happened.  What a pro.
Eek!  Doesn't sound like a fun concert for you!

And this musician (Stefan Jackiw) was premiering the Glière work in the UK.

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Spotted Horses

Quote from: Roasted Swan on May 17, 2023, 04:49:26 AMThat is very rare but in fact the bow (ie the main stick part) did not break.  Its at the tip where a "plug" holds the hair into a notch at the tip of the bow has popped out.  There might be a bit of damage to the ivory/silver mount on the tip.  Whoever did his last rehair will be blushing as that really should not happen.  He did very well to play with a stranger's bow because everything will be different - where the bow balances, where it springs/bounces, how it grips the string (so dictating how you can play dynamics) - its a total change and one you wouldn't fancy working out in public during a concerto!

If the main stick had broken (if this happens its usually near the tip too) then a bow can be pinned but a pinned bow is worth a fraction of its pervious value because the balance is changed just neough to really spoil the bow.  A top bow can easily be worth £20,000 if not a lot lot more.  Many people will argue that it is the bow (and the player's bow technique) that really defines how good a player they are and how good a sound they can make.

BTW I don't recognise the concerto he was playing with the BSO......  googled it - its the Gliere........

It must be even more disorienting when a violinist playing a concert breaks a string, because the custom, as I understand it, is for the concertmaster to hand his violin over to the soloist, who then plays on an unfamiliar instrument. (I wonder if the soloist would keep his or her own bow.) Then some poor sap has to hand his instrument over to the concertmaster.

I seem to recall reading about a concert in which the soloist then broke a string on the concert masters violin, resulting in a virtual bucket brigade of violins.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Spotted Horses on May 17, 2023, 10:50:37 AMIt must be even more disorienting when a violinist playing a concert breaks a string, because the custom, as I understand it, is for the concertmaster to hand his violin over to the soloist, who then plays on an unfamiliar instrument. (I wonder if the soloist would keep his or her own bow.) Then some poor sap has to hand his instrument over to the concertmaster.

I seem to recall reading about a concert in which the soloist then broke a string on the concert masters violin, resulting in a virtual bucket brigade of violins.
Oh, no!

Well, I looked at the artist's website and he's inviting people to join him at a concert in the near future in which he'll be playing his violin with the freshly restored bow [Not certain in terms of his phrasing if it has already been repaired or should be by then].  Hope that he's satisfied with the repairs.

PD

p.s.  Sounds like the original concert would have been interesting to have attended.  Stefan Jackiw describes himself as half-Korean and half-Ukrainian and the work that he was premiering in the UK was by a Ukrainian composer.
Pohjolas Daughter

vandermolen

I saw this happen live when I was at university. I attended a concert where Ashkenazy conducted Shostakovich's 8th Symphony (c.1975). During a crucial violin solo near the end of the work the leader's bow suddenly turned into a big ball of cotton wool. He held it up to wild applause at the end of the concert. It was also a memorable concert as there was clearly a cat in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall who kept making vocal contributions to the performances.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: vandermolen on May 18, 2023, 12:11:13 AMI saw this happen live when I was at university. I attended a concert where Ashkenazy conducted Shostakovich's 8th Symphony (c.1975). During a crucial violin solo near the end of the work the leader's bow suddenly turned into a big ball of cotton wool. He held it up to wild applause at the end of the concert. It was also a memorable concert as there was clearly a cat in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall who kept making vocal contributions to the performances.
Oh, boy!  Did someone quickly give him/her their bow?

And did the cat come up on the stage to take a bow?  :)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Florestan

Quote from: vandermolen on May 18, 2023, 12:11:13 AMI saw this happen live when I was at university. I attended a concert where Ashkenazy conducted Shostakovich's 8th Symphony (c.1975). During a crucial violin solo near the end of the work the leader's bow suddenly turned into a big ball of cotton wool. He held it up to wild applause at the end of the concert. It was also a memorable concert as there was clearly a cat in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall who kept making vocal contributions to the performances.

Perhaps a distant descendant of the cat which crossed the stage during the premiere of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, greatly increasing the already on-going confusion and brouhaha.  :D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

vandermolen

Quote from: Florestan on May 18, 2023, 03:09:11 AMPerhaps a distant descendant of the cat which crossed the stage during the premiere of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, greatly increasing the already on-going confusion and brouhaha.  :D
V funny - never heard that before!
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on May 18, 2023, 03:02:05 AMOh, boy!  Did someone quickly give him/her their bow?

And did the cat come up on the stage to take a bow?  :)

PD
I don't remember but probably someone gave him his or her bow. No sign of the cat as far as I recall.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: vandermolen on May 18, 2023, 03:19:57 AMI don't remember but probably someone gave him his or her bow. No sign of the cat as far as I recall.
Probably scampered away to get away from all of the clapping noises and knew that soon there would be a bunch of people would be moving around--either heading to the foyer to leave or packing up their instruments.  That, and hoping that somebody would remember to finally feed it its dinner [probably the reason for all of its vocal contributions]!  ;)

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

vandermolen

#18
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on May 18, 2023, 04:01:32 AMProbably scampered away to get away from all of the clapping noises and knew that soon there would be a bunch of people would be moving around--either heading to the foyer to leave or packing up their instruments.  That, and hoping that somebody would remember to finally feed it its dinner [probably the reason for all of its vocal contributions]!  ;)

PD
Yes, I hope so too PD.
It's many years ago but I've never forgotten that evening.
The university (Lancaster University) organised a minibus to the Ashkenazy concert at Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. A friend of mine, who came with me, made me laugh by getting on the minibus, whilst loudly announcing 'This is the football special, isn't it?'
I remember that Ashkenazy played the piano whilst conducting a Mozart piano concerto in the first half. Also we visited 'The Philharmonic'- a marvellous pub which was designed like a mini Philharmonic Hall/Albert Hall. A lovely memory for me - also because of my late friend Nigel (who asked if 'this is the football special?') who studied throughout his university course whilst having to spend many hours each week attached to a kidney machine. A very brave, funny and stoical individual who always persevered in the face of great difficulties.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).