My Period Bows: Viennese Style, Early Romantic, ca. 1800–1820 – Basil de Visser, Rome 2025

Around this time last year, I began to grow increasingly curious about playing on gut strings. I had always heard how colorful and “sincere” they can sound—owing to the organic, almost human quality of their resonance. While experimenting with gut, I felt compelled to take the next step and explore the world of period bows. In my humble opinion, period bows have so much to teach us—particularly about articulation and phrasing in classical and baroque repertoire. For those of us who have spent most of our lives playing with modern bows, they offer a whole new perspective.

At the beginning of this year, I started borrowing period bows from some wonderful colleagues, just to familiarize myself with the feel and language of these tools. At the same time, I began looking for a skilled modern maker who specializes in historical bows. I was recommended several excellent names, and one of them stood out: Basil de Visser, a Dutch baroque violinist and bow maker currently based in Rome.

From the very beginning, Basil was kind, thoughtful, and genuinely interested in my preferences. I was immediately struck by how much he already knew—it’s clear that to be great at this craft, a certain level of obsession is not only useful but essential.

Our first project together was a bow inspired by the Beethoven era—a transitional model featuring a snakewood stick, a Cramer-style head, and a frog and button made of mastodon ivory. It weighs approximately 56 grams and plays with elegance, bite, and clarity—exactly what I was hoping for.

Since then, I’ve commissioned four more bows from Basil, each suited to different phases of the transitional repertoire. I’ll be sharing them in upcoming posts.

🤔Have you ever played with a period bow or on gut strings?
What was your experience like—and did it change how you think about articulation or sound production? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!