DR. SELLE'S RECOLLECTIONS OF DODD--HIS WORK AND POVERTY--DODD AND
TOURTE--THE CALCULATION OF FETIS AND VUILLAUME.
It has been my great good fortune to be favoured with an interview
with the veteran violinist, Doctor Selle, of Richmond. This
gentleman, now well on in his eighties, knew John Dodd most
intimately, and gave me many interesting details about him. I have
endeavoured to obtain a portrait of Dodd, but there does not seem to
be anything of the sort in existence. However, Dr. Selle gave me a
graphic description of his personal appearance. In stature he was
short and of a shuffling gait. As he affected nether garments of
extreme brevity, very broad-brimmed hats, and was excessively
negligent in the matter of clothing, etc., his habitual aspect was
quaint and eccentric to a degree.
He was unfortunately very illiterate, and, according to Dr. Selle, it
is doubtful whether he could sign his own name.
In his work--the artistic excellence of which is remarkable under
these circumstances--he was very secretive, giving as his reason for
taking no apprentice, his desire that no one else should ever know or
perpetuate his methods.
It has been said, and, I believe, on good authority, that he was once
offered the sum of 1,000 pounds for his "secret," a temptation that,
despite his great poverty, he steadfastly resisted.
Doctor Selle tells me that he distinctly remembers seeing Dodd cut
out a bow from the rough plank with a curiously constructed double
saw.
This is very remarkable as none of the bow makers now working know of
such a tool, or can conceive the possibility of using one. Whether
this may have any connexion with the much talked of "secret," it is
impossible to say. It is probably another of those points in the
history of the bow that seem doomed to remain shrouded in mystery.
Doctor Selle remembers seeing Dodd walking home many times with his
pockets full of oyster shells begged from various stalls.
From these he used to cut out the pearl for the slides and
ornamentation on his bows. This accounts for the characteristic
plainness of these features of his work. He was often at a loss for
silver for the mountings, and the Doctor says it was highly diverting
to him when a boy to hear the old housekeeper soundly rating Dodd for
melting down _another_ of her metal spoons.
One great drawback to Dodd's success was his partiality for the
"flowing bowl." As the Doctor epigramatically expressed it in the
notes he supplied to A. Vidal, "he was very regular in his
irregularities." Vidal's translation at this point is worthy of note.
One is surprised to find that Dodd would pay four daily visits to
"les voitures et chevaux publics"--"the public carriages and horses."
The mind fails to grasp the Gallic conception of the eccentric
Englishman whose nationally characteristic love of horseflesh should
cause him so frequently to inspect the omnibus of the period.
One shudders to think what Vidal would have done if Dodd's favourite
house of call had been the Star and Garter instead of the _Coach and
Horses_!
His last years were spent in great poverty; in fact, he subsisted
almost entirely on the charity of a few violinists and amateurs who
appreciated his genius. He ultimately died of bronchitis in the
Infirmary of Richmond Workhouse, and was buried at Kew; not, as has
been elsewhere stated, at Richmond.
I do not think a man of such a taciturn, secretive disposition, would
have been likely readily to adopt the methods and copy the work of
another maker. As has been shown by the reproductions of bows I have
given so far, there has been apparent a converging tendency to the
modern design of head all through. The Tourte head is undoubtedly the
most beautiful, the most perfect in every way. His was the master
hand that _did_ what others had been trying to do. Dodd, working, as
I believe, quite independently, came very near it. A comparison of
the Dodd bows shown in Plates III. and IV., with the Tourtes in
Plates V. and VI., will make clear a very significant fact. Dodd's
work--fine as it is--is distinctly _earlier_ in spirit than that of
his great French rival. Yet they were contemporaries--in point of
fact Dodd was a few years later than Tourte.
[Illustration: PLATE V.]
[Illustration: PLATE VI.]
Then, as regards the _cambre_, Dodd followed on in the primitive
school and cut his bows at once to the required sweep: Tourte, in
addition to perfecting the dimensions and design, instituted an
entirely new principle based on scientific deductions. His bows were
all cut straight, and the "spring" was produced by judicious heating
of the fibres.
Another thing one has to consider in this connexion is the relations
that existed between England and France at this period. I think most
people will admit that they were "strained," and that there were many
obstacles in the way of free intercourse between the two countries.
The war with France commenced when Dodd was twenty-one years of age,
and though Tourte was five years older he had spent his youth firstly
in the pursuit of a vocation entirely removed from bow making, and
secondly in experiments lasting some considerable time before he
commenced producing the perfect work that has made his name one to be
extolled and reverenced by all wielders of that magic wand, the
"fiddle-stick." When one thinks of the roundabout way such a thing
would have to travel from Paris to London at this period, it seems
highly probable that Dodd may not have seen a specimen of Tourte's
work until he was about sixty.
What a marvellous thing a fine Tourte is! What a revelation the first
time a player handles one! When I have an opportunity of playing on a
Strad with a Tourte I can never decide which causes me the most
delight. There is an indefinable something about a Tourte that seems
to increase the player's dexterity of manipulation to an
extraordinary extent. No matter how used one may be to a certain bow:
no matter how expert one may be in the execution of staccato and
arpeggio passages, the first time a Tourte is tried one realizes that
hitherto there has been an effort necessary for the adequate
production of such effects, whereas now the bow seems endowed with a
consciousness quite _en rapport_ with that of the player, and
difficulties vanish magically. It seems voluntarily to carry into
effect the player's wishes without any physical interposition
whatever.
It is like riding a thoroughbred in the "Row" after driving a donkey
across Hampstead Heath. Not that I or any of my readers would think
of indulging in any such distressingly vulgar exercise as the last
named. It may serve, however, to conjure up in the mind a
sufficiently forcible simile.
Apart from their many wonderful qualities as bows, they are quite
exceptional as works of art. Study the four heads shown in Plates V.
and VI., and note the tender sweep of the outer line; full of force
and delicacy combined. See, too, how it is supported by the
harmonious inner line, a thought more rigid, and yet full of grace.
To become an expert in bows requires years of continual observation,
for the slight differences in line are too subtle to be apparent to
those who are not constantly looking for and studying them. But I
think anyone, even "ye meanest capacitie in ye world"--to quote good
old Roger North--will be able to appreciate the contrast between the
bow heads in Plates III. and IV., and those in Plates V. and VI. It
is in the two 'cello bow heads that the greatest resemblance is seen.
But even here one can easily note the unwonted massiveness, almost
amounting to clumsiness, in that of Dodd; while the Tourte is full of
lightness, strength and vigour. There is more or less of sluggishness
observable in most of the preceding bows, but the Tourte is _awake_;
it lives!
It is at times of great interest to note by what slender threads of
chance great consequences may be suspended. Take the family of the
Tourtes for instance. We find the father a worthy craftsman making
bows as good, and possibly better, than those of his contemporaries.
He, obeying a natural law of custom, educated his eldest son in his
own craft, and probably looked to him to perpetuate those
excellencies in design and finish that had brought him fame.
Francois, the younger son, was not forgotten though, and the father
bethought him of some useful industry at which he might earn a
living, and decided on clockmaking as the most suitable. Now mark the
erratic workings of fate. The eldest son, from whom so much was
expected, proved a comparative failure, inasmuch as that, instead of
progressing, his work was distinctly inferior to that of his
father.[1] Francois, on the other hand, became tired of clockmaking
after eight years' ill-remunerated grind, and turned his attention to
the family trade.
[Footnote 1: The few fine bows by "Tourte-l'aine," as he was called,
I should think were made after his brother's success in this
direction.]
He, like Dodd, was totally uneducated, but had great gifts of
perception and judgment.
At this time violin playing was becoming every day more distinctive
and prominent. Great players were beginning to understand the _chiar
oscuro_ of music. They were learning expression.
There was in general amongst violinists an anticipation of the grand,
yet simple law set forth by De Beriot in his Violin School that the
human voice was the pure archetype upon which all _played_ music
should be modelled.
It was found that the violin was capable of simulating all the subtle
inflexions of song, whether of passion or tenderness, and players
sighed for an ideal bow that should be tongue-like in its response to
the performer's emotion. A bow that should at once be flexible to
"whisper soft nothings in my lady's ear"; strong--to sound a
clarion-blast of defiance; and, withal, be ready for any
_coquetterie_ or _badinage_ that might suit its owner's whim. This is
what Francois Tourte, the starving clockmaker, gave them.
We fiddlers have to be very thankful that the master clockmakers of
Paris were not more liberal to their employes!
Illiterate as he was he at once grasped all the points of art and
physics involved, and commenced diligently experimenting with a view
to solving the various problems that presented themselves to his
consideration.
To gain facility in the manipulation of his tools, he made countless
bows from old barrel staves; he could not afford to make his first
attempts on anything better. When he had attained sufficient skill in
the actual workmanship, and had satisfied himself as to the most
suitable form, he set to work investigating the question of material.
He tried all kinds of wood, and at last decided that the red wood of
Pernambuco, then largely imported into Europe for dyeing purposes,
was the best. To obtain this in sufficient quantities was no easy
matter, for the Anglo-French wars were interfering seriously with
international commerce; a circumstance that rendered this material
unusually expensive. Then the nature of this wood is not by any means
a bow maker's ideal. Billets and logs amounting to several tons in
weight may be examined before a piece is found sufficiently free from
knots and cracks, and of straight enough grain to be suitable for the
purpose. However, genius _and_ a capacity for taking infinite pains
overcame all difficulties, and we now have bows worthy of the
greatest masterpieces of Cremona.
How little are the workings of genius understood by the "painstaking"
ones. They cannot conceive the suddenness of inspiration--the almost
instantaneous grasp of essentials that precedes the plodding
mechanical work necessary even to genius.
The results of "infinite pains," or of genius alone are equally
unsatisfactory. It is only where these qualities are combined in
perfect balance that true greatness can be achieved.
In the case of Tourte we have a remarkable example of this
combination. His genius made him grasp spontaneously the qualities
required, and his capacity for taking infinite pains helped him to
produce the perfect bow. He it was who determined finally the length
and weight of a bow, its equilibrium, the angle of the hair necessary
for a good "attack," the length and breadth of the hair and sundry
other points that, prior to 1775, had been quite undecided.
The mean length of a violin bow as fixed by Tourte is from 74 to 75
centimetres (29.134 to 29.528 inches English); that of a viola bow is
74 centimetres (29.134 inches), and a 'cello bow 72 to 73 centimetres
(28.347 to 28.740). Many people imagine that the plates of silver or
gold with which the nut of a bow is inlaid are nothing more than mere
ornamentation. But their first purpose is distinctly one of utility,
which is as it should be in a work of art; superfluous decoration has
no beauty for an artist. It is by means of these metal "loadings" at
the heel that the weight of the head is counteracted and the exact
point of equilibrium determined. The centre of gravity in a violin
bow should be at 19 centimetres (7.48 inches) from the nut; in a
'cello bow at 175 to 180 millimetres (6.89 to 7.087 inches) from the
nut.
Concerning the geometric proportions of the Tourte bows, I cannot do
better than quote Bishop's able translation of the explanation given
by Fetis in his notice of A. Stradivarius.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.]
"The medium length of a bow, to the head exclusively, is 0^m, 700
(27.56 inches).
"The bow comprises a cylindrical or prismatic part of uniform
dimensions, the length of which is 0^m, 110 (4.33 inches). When this
portion is cylindrical, its diameter is 0^m, 008-6/10 (.34 inch).
"From this cylindrical or prismatic portion the diameter of the bow
decreases up to the head, where it is reduced to 0^m, 005-3/10 (.21
inches). This gives a difference of 0^m, 003-3/10 of a millimetre
(.13 inch) between the diameters of the extremities; from whence it
follows that the stick comprises ten points where its diameter is
necessarily reduced by 3/10 of a millimetre (.012 inch) reckoning
from the cylindrical portion.
"After proving by a great number of Tourte's bows that these ten
points are not only found always at decreasing distances on the same
stick, but also that the distances are perceptibly the same, and that
the situations of the points are identical on different bows compared
together, M. Vuillaume sought to ascertain whether the positions of
the ten points could not be obtained by a geometrical construction,
by which they might be found with certainty; and by which,
consequently, bows might be made whose good condition should be
always settled _a priori_. This he attained in the following manner.
At the extremity of a right line A B, equal to 0^m, 700 (27.56
inches), that is to say the length of the bow, raise a perpendicular
A C, equal to the length of the cylindrical portion, namely 0^m, 110
(4.33 inches).
"At the extremity B of the same line, raise another perpendicular B
D, of the length 0^m, 022 (.866 inches) and unite the upper
extremities of these two perpendiculars, or ordinates by a right line
C D, so that the two lines A B and C D, may lie at a certain
inclination to each other.
"Take the length 0^m, 110 (4.33 inches) of the ordinate A C with the
compasses, and set it off on the line A B, from A to _e_: from the
point thus obtained, draw another ordinate (parallel to A C and
perpendicular to A B), until it meets the line C D.
"Between these two ordinates A C and _e f_--the latter of which is
necessarily less than the former--lies the cylindrical portion of the
bow, whose diameter, as before stated, is 0^m, 008-6/10 (.34 inch).
"Then take the length of the ordinate last obtained, _e f_, and set
it off, as before, on the line A B, from _f_ to _g_, and at the point
_g_ draw a third ordinate _g h_, the length of which must also be set
off on the line A B, to determine thereon a new point _i_, from which
to draw the fourth ordinate, _i j_: the length of which, likewise,
when set off on the line A B, determines the point where the fifth
ordinate _k l_ is to be drawn. The latter, in like manner, determines
the sixth _m n_, and so of the others, to the last but one _y z_.
"The points _g i k m o q s u w y_ so obtained, starting from the
point _e_, are those where the diameter of the bow is successively
reduced 3/10 of a millimetre (.012 inch). Now, these points have been
determined by the successively decreasing lengths of the ordinates
drawn from the same points, and their respective distances
progressively decrease from the point _e_ to the point B.
"If we subject these data to calculation, we shall find that the
profile of the bow is represented by a logarithmic curve, of which
the ordinates increase in arithmetical progression; while the
abscissae increase in geometrical progression; and lastly, that the
curvature of the profile will be expressed by the equation
y = - 3.11 + 2, 57 log. _x_;
and, in varying _x_ from 175 to 165 tenths of a millimetre, the
corresponding values of _y_ will be those of the radii (or
semi-diameters) of the transverse circular section of the bow at
corresponding points in the axis."