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Eugène Nicolas Sartory (1871-1946) was born in Mirecourt, France, and first learned his bowmaking from his father. He then travelled to Paris to take on apprenticeships in many workshops, including Charles Peccatte′s and Alfred Lamy′s, whom Sartory was most influenced by. Sartory went on to win the gold medal at a competition in Brussels at a very young age of 16.
Following his early success, Sartory was permitted to produce his own style of bows and although his early works show significant similarities to that of Lamy′s - with higher back of head, sensitivity and elegance - Sartory′s later works are evident of his individual style characterised by higher, broader and stronger head. Furthermore, by moving the shaft cross-section closer to the tip and thickening the shaft above the handle, he was able to realise more stability and reliability while playing. Sartory′s bows are very well balanced throughout the shaft mainly due to his unique style of putting the finishing touches by playing with the bow himself. Once a bow has been made, he would ʻtest driveʼ the bow and would do minor alterations to maximise its balance and playing quality. Therefore, reworkings on the shaft can be seen under the black light in most of his works even in its original condition. All these aspects greatly influence the bows′ functionality, which was said to be better than that of Tourte′s and Peccatte′s. Sartory was most probably a fine string player as well.
Another distinctive characteristic of Sartory′s bows from a restorer′s point of view is that repairs and rehair on his bows are drastically simpler than the other bows. For example, because the mortise is very well shaped on his bows, the wedges are far easier to make, fit and remove, and it makes it easier to evenly spread the hair. Also, his own style, mechanics and innovation make it easier to maintain his bows in good condition. This clearly shows that he was concerned not only about its functionality, but also about rehairing and maintaining of the bow. It can then be said that he made his bows wanting to satisfy both players and repairers over generations to come.
Sartory won awards in six competitions and his bows were very much admired and sought after that many Sartory copies were made from the early years. It is said that when he was in the States and was asked to rehair a bow, which happened to be a copy of his, he snapped it in half and instead returned his original bow.
Throughout his life, he continued to work hard and regularly produced bows that were respected and popular among the players, collectors, investors and dealers.
Masafumi Hori used the ʻex-Masafumiʼ Sartory as his third bow and uses the ʻex-Sartoryʼ Tourte as his main bow, which was owned and used by Sartory himself and is known to be one of the five greatest Tourte bows. I will never forget the moment when I first encountered the ʻex-Sartoryʼ 15 years ago. The brilliance and beauty that exude from within make it the most elegant bow in the world - worlds apart from the other bows. This very bow was what first attracted me to the world of French bows. Even if the ʻex-Masafumiʼ Sartory′s tone quality does not equal that of the ʻex-Sartoryʼ Tourte′s, their stability, functionality and reliability can certainly be compared.
This bow is currently used by an amateur player.
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| | | | | | | HORI, Masafumi Violinist
Masafumi Hori started playing the violin at the age of five and after graduating from Kyoto Municipal Kyoto Horikawa Senior High School of Music, he went to Freiburg to study with Ulrich Grehling and Wolfgang Marschner at the University of Music Freiburg, from where he also received his Master′s degree in 1973. The following year, he became the First Concertmaster of Das Staatsorchester Darmstadt.
After performing Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo in 1979, Masafumi was appointed as its concertmaster the same year. He is currently the Solo Concertmaster of the orchestra. In addition to his performing career, Masafumi serves as a judge for numerous international competitions such as Geneva International Music Competition, Forval Scholarship Stradivarius Concours, International Violin Competition Leopold Mozart, and ʻLudwig Spohrʼ International Violin Competition. He is also a professor at Toho Gakuen School of Music.
KAJIMOTO โ http://www.kajimotomusic.com/
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