Freedom of Conductors

[Alef]

I've been studying 'The Planets' of Gustav Holst (from 1915). In his opening piece 'Mars - The Bringer of War', Holst scores most of the string sections to begin with 'col legno' passages for several bars. This is a technical term for the strings to use the bow on the wood side, not on the bow side. But as I've been watching Seiji Ozawa's conducting the Tokyo Symphony at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NeQ...DD4D9F32&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=35

Ozawa has the strings playing this opening passage 'col arco', with the bow side. Is this a freedom of the conductor to emphasize the subtlety of gradations in sound that Holst has written so masterfully in 'The Planets'?

Alef

 

[Contratrombone64]

depends entirely on how you hold the bow. There are two ways of doing this (I know, I'm a string player, or was). You either invert your bow and hold it exactly 180 degrees OR you turn your right wrist away from yourself and then play on the wood but with the hair still clearly visible.