Joseph Szigeti on Adolf Busch

A short time ago a woman violinist visited me, to play me the Bach G major Sonata from Adolf Busch's edition which was published in 1929 by Friedrich Blume. This afternoon would have been a complete waste of time, had it not brought home to me once more how present-day violin-playing is straying further and further away from the ideal which inspired Adolf Busch. The young lady did actually use a copy bearing Adolf Busch's indications, but had dismissed all the subtle phrasing and the fingering and bowing which were so characteristic of his style, and had set a pastoral tone to the piece! And gone was the profound expression, that deeply satisfying eloquence for which Busch gave the performer exact indications. In order to make this clear to readers who are non-violinists, I should like to emphasise just one characteristic of his style, namely the so-called reprise de l’archet – an almost inaudible lifting of the bow between two consecutive up- or down-bows, rather like the inaudible breath of a singer. For instance, if Bach wrote

then Adolf Busch's reprise de l’archet would imbue this fragment with the meaningful expression which is quite lost if it is disposed of as a smooth phrase, as is so common today, i.e.,

This and other aspects of his technique were, of course, not apparent to the listener who was not a string player. He would simply listen spellbound by the abandon, the unaffectedness and the sincerity with which this great musician played – and this was what I too experienced every time I heard Adolf Busch play.