viola bow
Hermann Richard Pfretzschner
built in Markneukirchen in ± 1900
A viola bow, made by H.R. Pfretzscher. Markneukirchen, ca. 1900.
History of this instrument
In 2008, the Musical Instrument Fund received a bequest consisting of a violin and two bows. This viola bow is part of that bequest. Many years after this donation, in 2022, the testator’s sister contacted us, and since then she has been an enthusiastic attendee at our events, where she can once again hear the instruments her sister used to play. Bas Bartels was the first to play this bow, and currently, it is played by Ivan Saez Schwartz.
About the builder Hermann Richard Pfretzschner
Hermann Richard Pfretzschner occupies a prominent place among German bow makers, but in fact only a modest portion of his craftsmanship stemmed from the German tradition; the majority of his knowledge was of French origin. He began as...