BERNARD OUCHARD, THE HUMBLE EDUCATOR

A picture often says more than a thousand words! We only have to compare this opening photo with the one of the previous blog to understand how Emile-Auguste Ouchard and his son Bernard were different; one so cheeky and aggressive , the other humble and discrete.

Bernard Ouchard 1925-1979

Born on February15, 1925 at Mirecourt by Emile-Auguste and Andrée Marie-Charlotte Petot, Bernard Ouchard , Jean-Claude's older brother, who was a bowmaker as well but with a lower level than the other members of the family, begins his apprenticeship in 1938 with his father.

In 1941 he moves to Paris, but being Europe in the middle of the Second World War, he is called to the Army and he doesn't stay there for long.

When the great craziness ends in 1945, he returns to Paris and is forced to choose whether to go to New York with his father or to stay. It does not leave, at least not to go that far, but in 1949 he moves to Geneva to work by the Maison Vidoudez.

It remains at Vidoudez for 22 years, until 1971, when he was offered a job as a  teacher by  the bow school at Mirecourt.

From now on, he is completely involved with teaching, his production decreases, although he goes on building in his spare time.

He dies from a disease on June 2, 1979 at Vittel when he was only 54 years old.

Jean -Claude Ouchard

Before talking more deeply about Bernard's work, just a few words about his brother.

He was born at Mirecourt on May 6, 1935 and in 1949 he starts an apprenticeship with Louis Bazin and later with his uncle Francois Lotte.

In '54 he visits his father in New York, by Jacques Francais's workshop  and in '58 he returns to Mirecourt and works by Marcel Lapierre.

In '59 he moves to Amsterdam by Moller, for whom he restores and builds, remaining there until 1968, in this year he returns to Mirecourt, where he teaches bowmaking to handicapped children.

From 1978 to '88 he works on his own at Mirecourt, after which, in 1989, he was hired by the company Cablé, staying there until his retirement in 1993.

Bernard's heritage: Research and teaching

Cello bow Bernard Ouchard

Having fulfilled all life data, it is dutiful to pay a tribute to the work of the bowmaker who is one of the less well-known to musicians and best loved by colleagues.

His character is the opposite of his father 's one , so Bernard leaves him at a very young age. Emile-Auguste leaves for the United States in 1946 while him, probably due to deep character incompatibility remains in Paris.

Shortly after he has the greatest luck that ever happened to the French bow school, he was hired by Vidoudez.

The latter, great trader in Geneva, gives Bernard what he most longed for : time. You see, those having their own business must balance the budget at the end of the month and they cannot afford to devote much time to research as they must produce. Working in the workshop of a great trader allowed Bernard to devote much of his time to research and rediscovery of the great Tourte and Peccatte's tradition .

After years of hectic production, he is the first one who stops and starts watching what had been done before. He realizes that the concept of curve coming from the old school is much higher than the modern one and that style suffers substantially from it.

The result he gets is amazing, we try to compare one of his bow with that one of his grandfather Emile Francois.

Violin bow Bernard Ouchard

Leaving the frog aside for a moment because less important for the mechanics, let's focus on the stick. As you can see, both bows have a very different curve, in the latter it is much more pronounced at the top than the first one, it means that the good Bernard had reached the same conclusions of the Peccatte's school (see PECCATTE VS. SARTORY;   SOFTNESS AND STIFFNESS ').

Of course, shifting the curve also means to change the heads geometry, and in fact looking at the two bows, we can notice that the profile of the second one is triangular, while the other is more rectangular (see PECCATTE, SARTORY AND GEOMETRIES ).

Violin bow Emile Francois Ouchard

After Bernard Ouchard completed his task, the French bow school has completely recovered the technical / mechanic heritage of his great fathers who ,without him, would have probably been lost.

At this point he consider himself halfway and after having understood and brought the old school back to life, he is invited to complete the work by teaching it.

With him the Mirecourt bow school restarts , where, for the few years that will separate him from the death , he will teach planting the seed that will produce the modern bow making.

A craftsman of the highest level and a man with a huge humbleness, who didn't get rich with the bow making, but rather made it rich.

Each bow maker, including us, who can build good modern bows, owes him more than a thank you.

THANK YOU, MAESTRO!

So long

Paolo