Notice Anthony Stradivari - Forgotten Books
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Transcript of Notice Anthony Stradivari - Forgotten Books
N O T I C E
A N T H O N ! S T R A D I V A R I ,
TH E CELEBRATED V IOL IN -MAKER,
KNOWN B! TH E NA M E O F
S TR AD I V A R I U S .
N O T I C E
ANTH ON! STR A D IVA R I,
TH E CELEBRATED V IOL IN -MAKER,
KNOWN B! TH E N A M E O F
S TR A D I V A R I U S :PRECEDED B!
HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL RESEARCHES
ON TH E OR IG I N AND TRAN SFOR M AT I ON S
O F BOW IN S T RUMENT S ;
AND FO LLOWED B!
A TH EORETICAL ANAL! S IS OF TH E BOW,
A ND
R EMARKS ON FR ANCIS TOU R ’I‘E,
T H E A U T H O R O F I T S F I N A L I M P R O V E M E N T S .
B! F . J . FET I S .
C H APE L M A STER TO T H E K I N G O F T H E BELG I AN S AND D I RECTOR O F TH ECONS E R VATORY O F M US I C AT BRUSSE LS .
TRA NS LA TED(w x
'
ru TH E Pu nu ss O F TH E AUT H OR)
J O Hm
N RI S II O P'
C H l", l”l E l
‘
s IIAM.
3330 11m
R O B E R T C O C K S A N D C O .
M U S I C P U B L I S H E R S T O H E R, M A J E S T Y T H E Q U E E N,I I . It . I I . TH E PR I N C E O F WA LES
,
A ND H I S I M PER IA L M A J ESTY NA POLEON I I I .
PR I NTED B! J . M ALLETT,59, WARDOUR STREET, LONDON .
CHARLES H . C . PLOWDEN, E SQ . F . S .A .
AN ARDENT AD M I RER AND COLLECTOR
O L D C R E M O N E S E I N S T R U M E N T S ,
TH I S TRAN SLAT I ON
I S D E D I C A T E D
T H E E D I T O R .
E D I T O R ’S PR E FA CE .
IN presenting th is in terestin g work to the English
public, an acknowledgment is due both to the learned
Author,for his kindness in allowing the translation to
be made, an d also t o M . Vuil laum e for his courteous
replies to certain enquiries which it was deem ed n eces
sary to submit to him .
Respect for the labour s of M . Fétis in the various
departments of musical literature, an d the special im
portance attaching to the history of bow-instruments,
as illustrated in the following sheets, have created a
desire on the part of the Editor to render the sense of
the original in as scrupulously faithful a manner as
possible . Where an y uncertainty prevailed, the trans
lation h ere oe red will be found to include, in paren
theses, th e term s or phrases em ployed by the Author
himself ; an d an y additions which appeared desirable
for the elucidation of the text have been introduced
either within brackets, or as foot notes .
It is therefore hoped that this edition will be
acceptabl e both to violinists an d performers on kindred
instruments, an d also to musicians generally .
Cl wlten lzam ,
J uly 20 , 1 8 64 .
A U T H O R ’S PR E FA CE .
PAS S IONATEL! fond of his art, like every m an of
sterl ing worth,M . Vuil laum e h as conceived a degree of
admiration, amounting almost to devotion, for Anthony
Stradivarius, the celebrated violin — maker of Cremona,
whose long career was wholly dedicated to seeking an d
realising perfection in the construction of bow-in stru
ments .
After having spent a part of his life in studying the
principles which guided this great artist in his labours ,
M . V uil laum e wished to raise a monument t o his
memory, an d took several j ourneys into Italy,for the
sole obj ect of collecting the requisite materials . On
becoming possessed of these, he entrusted them to me,
an d requested my co-Operation for his truly reverential
work .
Although foreign to th e hab itual nature of my
studi es , this occupation presented much of interest to
me, l ike everything that concerns the art to which
I have devoted m y li fe . Enlightened by the ex perience
of M . Vuil laum e, I have been enabled to render
myself sufficiently familiar with the technical details
of the manufacture of bow-instruments, to speak of
them, I hope, with clearness . This, then, with the
exception of what relates to the origin of these in
strum en ts, is al l that belongs to me in the present
little publication .
Brussels, [Way 8 , 1 8 56 .
C O N T E N T S .
Fac-sim ile of a letter written by Anthony Strad i variDedicationEdi tor’ s PrefaceAuthor
'
s Preface
I n troduction — An thony Stradivari, know n by th e nam e of
S tradivarius th e celebrated violin -m aker h is pre
decessors,contem poraries, an d pupils
H istorical researches on the origin an d tran sform ation s of
b ow -instrum en ts 1
V iolin -m akers of the Italian sch ool from the earliest tim es 45
An thon y Stradivarius — im provem en ts of b ow -in strum en ts 6 1
The Guarn eri or Guarnerius [fam ily] 1 0 1
The b ow of Fran cis Tourte 1 0 9
E x perim en tal determ in ation of the f orm of Tourte ’
s bow s 1 2 1
A P P E N D I X ,
B! TH E E D ITOR .
I — Letter of A n thon y S tradivari , deciphered from the
f'
ac- sim ile
I l — Tran slation of the precedin g letter
I l l — S om e acco un t o f l ’agan in i'
s cele b rated ( iuarn criusvio lin (m en tio n ed at p .
I N T R O D U C T I O N .
ANTH ON! STRAD IVARI,
KNOW N B! TH E NA M E O F
S T R A D I V A R I U S,
TH E CELEBRATED V I OL I N-M AKER ;
H IS I’R ED ECE S S OR S , CONTEMPOR A R IES , A ND PU PILS .
ITAL! , the fertile land of great an d beautiful
things ; Italy, which preceded al l the nations of
Europe in civilisation ; Italy, in short, which has
been endowed with every species of glory in poetry,
philosophy, science an d the arts ; Italy, I say, has
given birth to the artists who have carried the manu
facture of musical instruments of the bow kind to
the highest degree of perfection . From the middle
of the fifteenth century, this art was already culti
vated there with success . From whence did it com e ?
By what progressive causes was it developed, until
it had attained its utmost limits under the hands of
Anthony Stradivarius an d those of Joseph Guarnerius,
surnamed del J am 9 Why has it degenerated among
their successors 9 Such are the problems which I
propose to examine carefully in this work, an d of
which I hope to present the solution, as well from
an historical as from a theoretical p oint of view .
T O V I O L I N I S T S .
Strat isanen t.
V U I L L A U M E’ S
RENOWNED COPIES OF TH E OLD'
MAKER S ,
S tradi varius, Guam er ius, th e Amatis, Magi n i , &c .
S ome tw o thous an d or m ore of M . V ui l l aum e’
s i n strum en ts
have alr eady been sol d , an d have been , after a l ittl e use, pre
ferred , even by good judges, to the gen ui n e ol d i n strum en ts .
I n these copies th e proportion s, th ickn esses, &e. of the O l d
v io l in s are preserv ed with scrupul ous ex actn ess ; the w ood
(sought out w ith much l abour an d at great ex pen se, am on gstthe weather-beaten Chal ets of Swi tzerl an d ) possesses th e requisite qual ities of age an d con sequen t reson an ce, an d th e var n i sheshave the purity, col our , an d fin e an d l impid appearan ce of th eo l d Ital ian varn i sh .
P ri ce o f each I nstrum ent, £1 4 1 4 3 .
Q uin s.
W ILLAUME ’S PATENT BRA! IL-WOOD VIOLIN BOWS
,
Orn am en ted w ith m other of pearl,gol d an d sil ver lapped, an d
o therw ise el egan tl y fi n ished, w ith moveabl e hair, withoutm oveabl e hair , 1 05 . 6d .
Areas H an /cs of H air,f or Vuillaume
’
s Bows,
p r ice 1 3 . 6d . each .
Th e Bow s o f M . V ui l l aum e’s m anufac ture ar e
rem ark ab l e fo r th e ir p erfec t b al anc e , an d e x ac tdi v i si on o f h ai r .
SOLE AGENTS FOB. ENG LA N D,R O B E R T C O C K S A N D c o
6, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, w .
“ Th is is, w ithout question ,th e m o s t
amusin g w ork ever written on th e V iol in ,
an d con tain s much that i s n ecessary to b ek n ow n by con n oisseurs — in cl ud in g detail s
respectin gth e earl y h istory an d con struc
tion of how in strum en ts, strictures on
O tto’
s Treatise,rem arks on the ol d m akers,&c . &c .
The work al so con tain s a detail ed ac
coun t of th e l ife an d h istory of Pagan in i,w ith an el aborate critical in vestigation of
the character of h is gen ius, an d h is styl eof pl ayin g, an d i l lustration s in wood .
There are al so copious detai l s respectin g th e “ R ise an d Progress of QuartetPerform an ces i n En gl an d”(p . 294, et seggw h ich w il l b e foun d ex trem el y i n teresti n gto th e admirers of chamber m usic, thosem ore especial ly wh o are en gaged in th e
formation or con duct Of Quartet S ocieties
O tto ’
s Treatise on th e S tructure an d Preservation of th e V iol in an d
al l Bow -In strum en ts, wi th an accoun t of th e m ost cel ebratedM akers, an d of th e gen uin e ch aracteristics of their In strum en ts .
(John Bish op’ s en l arged“ Th e study of th is b ook w il l show any un faii' deal ing ori the part of
dealers in ol d V iol 1 n s .
”— H arm on icon .
S pohr’s cel ebrated V io l in S choo l , tran sl ated from th e origin al byJohn Bishop, of Chel ten ham ,
1 v ol . fol io , cl oth board sI have careful l y l ooked over th e E n gl ish Ed ition of m y Viol in S chool,pub l ished b y Messrs . Co c x s an d Co . an d have n o hesitat ion i n
recomm en dm g it as a faithful tran slation of th e origi n al work .
( S ign ed ) LOU I S S POH R .
Cam pag n oh s New an d Progressive Method on the Mechan ism of
V iol in Pl ayi n g, tran sl ated by J ohn Bishop, of Chel ten ham ,
4 parts, each 78 . or i n 1 v ol . fol io, i l lustrated, cloth b oardsGood b an
’
s New an d Com pl ete Guide to th e A rt of Playin g on th eV iol i n
H am i l ton’
s Catech ismfOr the ViOliii, 8thEd itionPacin i ’ 3 Easy Method , with 50 A irs, revised an d en l arged by
H am i l ton , 1 3 th EditionPagan in i ’s Method of Pl ayi n g th e V iol in ,by GuhrPraeger
’
s El emen tary an d Practical S chool for the V iol in , 3 parts,each
R ode, Bail l ot, an d Kreutzer’
s cel ebrated Method f0 1 th eV iol inS uppl em en t to D itto .
Brun r 3 Method for th e Ten orFétis
'
, F . J .— Notice of A n th ouyS tradw ari , thecel ebrated V io l i n
m aker, kn ow n by th e n am e of S trad ivarius . Tran sl ated by
Corel l i ’s Twel ve S ol os, arran ged by Czern ‘y "
Forty eigh t Tries or S on atas, for two Viol in s an d BassH ayd n ’
s E igh ty three Quartets , Beethoven ’
s Quartets, Qui n tets,an d Tr ies ; Mozart’ s Quartets an d Quin tets ; Men de l ssoh n ’
s
V iol in an d Pian o Quartets ; V iotti ’s Tr ies ; R omberg’ s Septette,&c . &c .
0 5
1 1 1
O
O
O
O
C
O
C
O
H
1 —1
[0
10
H
O
Hi
I-P
Q
O
Q/‘l
0
0
0
05
0
C
O
0
05
O
F or p ar ticulars of the f oreg oin g Works an d an ela b orate List of Works fer
S tr in ged I n strumen ts, v ide R OBERT COCKS an d Co .
’
s Thematic Cata logue ofMuszcf or Vio l in , (ye. supp l ied gratis on app lication to the Pub lisher s .
2
harmony in many parts . These conj ectures, however,have no historical value, being unsupported by an y pas
sage in the ancient wr iters ; neither does an y monument
among the Greeks present us with an instrument having
a neck an d a bridge .
Some have been disposed to trace the bow in the
p lectrum but e xam-pay comes from fil m/
6 6 6W, to strike. The
d ictionaries, it is true, define it as the b ow of a musical
in strumen t but this arises from a confusion in regard
to the real meaning of the word . Statues, b as-reliefs,
an d the pictures on Greek vases, afford us numerousrepresentations of the plectrum ; but in al l we see a
piece of wood, bone, or ivory, endin g with little b ooks
to pull the strings, or to strike them with the back .
H ad the Greeks wished to describe a veritable bow, the
hairs of which serve, by friction, to put the strings in tovibration, they would have called it T oEa
i
p i oy (little b ow) .
But nothing like a bow appears in an y Greek or Romansculpture or paintin g whi ch has come down to us .
The country which affords us the most ancient me
m or ial s of a perfect language, of an advanced civi li z ation,
of a philosophy where al l directions of human thought
find their expression, of a poesy immen sely r ich inevery style, an d of a musical art corresponding with thelively sensibil ity of the people — India, appears to have
given birth to bow-instruments, an d to have made them
known to other parts of A sia,an d afterwards to Eur ope .
There, no conjecture is needed, for the in strumentsthemselves exist, an d still preserve the characteristics
of their native originality . If we would trace a bowinstrument to its source, we m ust assume the most
sim ple form in which it coul d appear, an d such as re
quired no assistance from an art brought to perfection .
Such a form we shall find in the ravan asl ron , made of a
cylinder of sycamore wood, holl owed out from one endto the other . Thi s cylin der is 1 1 centimetres*
inches E n g ] long, an d has a diameter of 5 centimetresOver one end is stretched a piece of b oa
skin, with large scales, whi ch forms the belly or soundboard . The cylinder is crossed from side to side — at
one-thi rd of its length, next the sound-board— b y a rodor shank of deal, whi ch serves as a neck, of the length
of 55 centimetres in ] , rounded on its under
part , but flat on the top , an d sl ightly inclined back
wards . The head of thi s neck is pierced with two holes
for the pegs , 1 2 mil limetres in ] in diameter ; not
in the side, but in the plane of the sound-board . Two
large pegs , 1 0 centimetres in .] in length — shaped
hexagonally at the top, an d rounded at the ends whi ch
go into the holes — serve to tighten two strin gs made of
the intestines of the Gaz elle, which are fixed to a strap
of serpent skin attached to the lower extrem ity of therod or shank . A l i ttle bridge, 1 8 mill imetres in ]long
,cut sloping on the top, but flat on the part which
rests on the sound-board, an d worked out rectangularlyin this part, so as to form two separate feet : this support s the strings . As to the h ow, it is formed of a
smal l bamboo, of which the upper portion is slightlycurved
, an d the lower straight . A hole is made in the
A pprox im ate val ues i n E n gl ish m easures are given w ith i n brackets, retain in g o n ly two or three decim al p l aces .
— Ta .
1 1 2
4
head of the bow, at the first knot, for fastening a b an k
of hair, which is strained an d fixed at the other end,by binding a very flexible rush string twenty timesround it .
Such is the primitive bow-instrument, now abandoued to people of the lowest class, an d to the poor
Buddhist monks,who go from door t o door asking alms .
Its sound is sweet,though muffled . According to Indian
tradition, it was invented by Ravana, King of Ceylon,five thousand years before the Christian era .
Other instruments,made in imitation of the rava
n astron , are known among the poorer classes of H in dos
tan . The first,which we m ay consider as the base of
that, is al so made of a cylinder of sycamore, 1 6 centi
metres in .] lon g, an d 1 1 centimetres in ]in diameter, an d hollowed throughout its length ; so
that the thickness of this sonorous body does not exceed
3 millimetres in ] . This body is crossed from
side to side by a rod or shank of the total length of 8 6
centimetres in ] , which forms the neck, as in
the rauan astron . A hole is bored vertically, at the lowerextremity of this shank, into which is inserted a little
pin of iron-wood,9 centimetres in .] long,
‘
termi
n ated by a knob or button, which carries a strap of
jackal l leather, to which the strings are attached . The
sound — board is formed of a thin plate of m oun ah -wood,
which, in its longitudinal fibres, bears a resemblance to
deal . This instrument, which is called the ron an a,i s
mounted with two strings, like the rauan astron ,to which
it is in al l other respects similar .
To an epoch doubtless posterior to the invention of
the two instruments before mentioned belongs the omer l i,another bow- instrument
,mounted with two strings, an d
whi ch evin ces some progress in the art of manufactur e .
The body is made of a cocoa-nut shell , one-third bein gfirst cut away, an d after reducin g its thickn ess to 2
mill imetres in ] , it is then pol ished inside an d out .Four elliptical open ings, an d another of a lo z enge form,
are cut in the front part of the body, to serve as sound
holes . I possess two of these instruments ; in one ofthem the sound — board is formed of a piece of Gaz elleskin, well prepared an d very smooth ; in the other it
consists of a veneer of satin-wood, extremely fine in the
grain, an d 1 mil limetre in ] thi ck . In both
instruments, the siz e of this sound-board at its greatestdi ameter is Om ,05,1 5 A S in the r auan asl ron
an d the rouan a, the neck is formed of a shank of deal
(red wood of Indi a), which passes thr ough the body ofthe instrument . The lower part is rounded, an d a hole
is bored longitudinally at the bottom, to receive a p in ,
ending in a knob or button, as in the rouan e . This
button is a little cube, having a hole in it where the
strings are fastened . The upper part of the neck is flat,an d terminates in a head turned back an d fin ished off
at right angles with the neck . The pegs are not placed
upon this head, but both are inserted 0 1 1 the left of theneck, an d a longitudinal opening is made through the
head, 6 centimetres in ] in length, an d 1 2 milli
metres in .] wide, for passing the strings into the
holes of the pegs : this is a rude commencement of the
scroll . Lastly, at the lower en d of the Opening is a little
ivory nut, 1 millimetre [0 3 9 3 7 in .] in height, on which
6
the strings rest . The bridge, over whi ch they pass at
the other end,is exactly like that of th e ravan astron .
The bow,whi ch is longer than that of the latter in stru
ment, is also made of a light bamboo, which forms thecurved part . At its upper end is a slit in whi ch the
b an k of hair i s fixed ; but, instead of being fastened by
a rush string at the other end. it passes through a hole
in the bamboo, an d i s there stayed by a kn ot .
If we compare the omerti with the Arabian in stru
ment called hemdn geh a gouz (from Iceman , a bow, an d
hub , pronounced guiah, place ; that is to say,p lace of the
b ow, or b ow-i n strumen t), we shall immediately perceive
that the Indian instrument has furnished the model forthat of Arabia . The expression 51 gouz signifies an cien t ;
from whence it follows that hemangeh a gouz answers to
an cien t b ow-in strumen t, or p r imitiveb ow-in strumen t. Th e
lex icons translate as!“ heman geh, by uiol . V il l oteau
remarks that this word is Persian*. Now, ancient
Persia was contiguous to Indi a on the east, an d the
relations of these two great countries are apparentthroughout history . I affirm that it is impossible t o
forget the omer l i in the hemdn geh a gouz a mere glanceat the latter bein g sufficient to reveal their identity .
The body of both instruments is formed of a cocoa-nutshell , with one-third part cut off ; openings are madein the body of the heman geh, as in that of the omer l i, for
puttin g the exteri or air into communication with that
which is contained in the instrument ; the only differ
D escr ip tion h istor ique, techn ique, et l ittéraire des in strumen ts de m a
sique des Orien taux , i n the great D escr ip tion de l ’
Egyp te, tome x iii,p . 290,
of the 8vo ed ition .
ence being that these openin gs are small , very numer
ous, an d ranged symmetrically in the A rabian in stru
ment . In thi s, as in the other, the belly or sound-board
cons ists of fin e skin glued to the edges of the cocoa-nut
shell . The neck consists of a cylindr ical shan k of cour
bary wood, its lower part terminat in g in a large ivory
ferrule . The lengt h of this shank, from the body of theinstrument to the commencement of the head, is 6 6
centimetres in ] . The head, whi ch is hollowed
out for the two pegs, lik e that of the om erti, i s made of a
s ingle piece of ivory, 20 centimetres longThe pegs are placed one on each side of the head, in
stead of being both on the left as in the Indian in stru
ment . The shank is bored longitudinally, to receive an
iron rod, which crosses the body of the instrument, an d,in stead of ending in a button, like the omerti , i s extended
outwards, to the length of 25 centimetres in ] , to
form a foot . To this foot there i s a hook, to which is
fastened the ring which serves for a tail — piece . In the
description of this instrument, V il l oteau speaks of the
fin ger — board* ; but there is nothing like it on the he
man geh a gouz which is in my collection : the cylindricalneck itself serves for the fin ger-b oardT, as in the omer l i .The strings are the mo st curious part of this instrument,
each of them being formed of a hank of black hairhighly stretched . The bow is com posed of a rod of
D escr ip tio n h isto ri que, tech n ique, of l i/téra irc dcs z us/rumcn /s dc m a
si gue deg O r ten lauz , before m en tio n ed .
1 S uch al so is th e case i n the represen tatio n s o f th is i n s trum e n t
given i n vo l . i i o f Lan e'
s Ma n n ers an d Custom s of the Modern Egyp l zun s .
Kn ight’s sm a l l ed it.— Tn .
8
sycamore fig-tree (j igm'
er-sycomore) , worked round an d
then curved, to which is attached an d stretched a hank
of the same hair [as that used for the strings] .
The instruments already described fall not, properly
speaking, within the domain of art ; they belong to
music of a primitive an d popular kind, the instinctive
expression of a feeling which has everywhere precededgenuine art . In the same category must be ranged, as
mere varieties, certain other instruments made on the
same principle,the diversity in the forms of which ap
pears to have originated only in fancy. Such is the
reb d b of the Arabs, wh ich does not enter into an y com
bination of instruments used at concerts in eastern
countries, an d which serves no other purpose than to
guide the voice of the poets an d story-tellers in theirchanted recitations . The body of the reb d b consists of
four sides, on which are stretched two pieces of parch
ment, which thus form the belly an d the back . This
combination of parts pre sents the appearance of a tra
pez o id, of which the summit is parallel to the base, an d
the two sides are nearly equal . The neck is cylindrical,
an d formed of a single piece, including the head . The
foot consists of an iron rod fixed into the neck, which
passes through the instrument . The reb db is placed on
this foot, like the tam e d gan z . There are two kinds
of reb d b , both'
of which have the same form : the first
is called the poet’
s reb d b , an d has only one string ; the
other,which h as two is named the sin ger’
s reb d b . To
say the truth, the reb a b is nothing but a modification of
the Indian rom n a — a modification which consists only
in the form of the body of the instrument . The reb d b
1 0
viol already brought to perfection, an d does not resemblea primitive essay . The goudoh also derives its originfrom the East .
No traces of the existence of bow-instruments appearon the continent of Europe before the end of the eighth
or the beginning of the n inth century ; but a poet
V en an tius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poictiers, who died
about 609, an d who is thought to have composed his
elegiac poems about 570 — tells us that th e cmizth or
crouth. of the Gaelic Celtic] or Welsh bards was thenknown, an d that it probably existed in England a long
while before . The poet renders this barbarous name bychrotta, in the following verses
R om an usque Iyra plaudat tibi, Barb arus harpa,
Graecus ach il l iaca, ch rotta Britan n a can at.*
Let the R om an appl aud thee w ith th e l yre, the Barbarian w ithth e harp, the Greek w ith th e p horm i’n x of A chil les (‘I a l et th e Britishcrouth sin g [to thee] . These verses, addressed to Loup, D uke of
Cham pagn e, the frien d of Fortun atus (Carm . 8, l ib . v i i), are specim en sof the habitual poetic ex aggeration of these barbarous tim es . I kn own ot why D u Can ge h as substituted th e word p lacet for can at i n quotin gthese verses (Gloss . ad scr ip t. medics et infim . cetatz
'
s, voc . Chr otta) . H e
corrects an error in quan tity [17 in th e first verse, givin g it thus ;R oman us lyra p l audat tibi, Barbaras harpa .
Noth in g is m ore amusin g than th e n ote of th e Jesuit Brower, editorof th e w orks ofV en an tius Fortun atus,on th e word chrotta (Nata: d z
’
versce,
p . which, says h e, h as an ev iden t affin ity w ith cr otale. ! et he
thin ks th at the in strum en t referred to m ust have born e som e resembl an ce to th e shel l of the tortoise, th e n am e of w hich, in an cien t Ger
m an , was crotte or krote, from when ce origin ated th e n am e of a shiel di n th e form of a tortoise, schi l dlfrote — A o r n on .
a M . Fétis havi n g ren dered the word A chil l iaca by la cithare, an d h istran sl atio n bein g in other respects di fferen t from m in e, I subjoin h isow n version , in order that h e may n ot b e hel d respon sible for what doesn ot bel on g to h im
Le R om ain t’
appl aud it sur l a. lyre, l e Grec te chan te avec lacithare, l s Barbare avec l a harpe et ls crouth breton .
— TR .
1 1
Th e Saxons took possession of a part of England in
the year 449, that is to say, upwards of a century beforethe period i n which Ven an tius Fortunatus wrote his
poems . We know that they governed the part of GreatBritain whi ch was subdued by them ; for their pre
decessors, the Roman s, were'
on ly encamped there . It
mi ght be supposed that the use of a bow — in strument was
introduced by them among the Britons ; but we must
not forget that Wales was never brought under theSaxon rul e,an d that the crouth, the use of which appears
t o have been preserved to the descendants of the Celts,seems to have been long unknown to the other people of
England . Th e name of the instrument i s evidently
Celtic, an d the origin al orthography of the word (crwth)
cannot belong to an y other language than the Gaelic .
*
Now, the Welsh w, with an accent, has precisely the
sound of the vowel 3 ? (e) of the Sanscrit language .
Edward Jones, bard to the Prince of Wales, remarksthat crouth, or crowd, is an English alteration of the
primitive word, from whence is derived crowther , or
crowder, to play on the crouth -t The Welsh name of the
instrument (crwth) comes from the Celtic primitive
The frequen t use of the term Gael ic, in th is part of the work,
seem s co n siderab ly to impair th e author’ s m ean in g ; it bein g presum edh e has n o in ten tion of al lud in g to the H igh l an ders of S cotlan d, or theirl an guage .
A frien d, deepl y versed in the l an guage an d an tiquities of Wales,
an d wh o is al so a n ative o f th e Prin cipal ity, suggests that the l ittlei n con s isten cies here observabl e have doubtl ess been in duced throughth e in accuracies i n foreig n w orks, particul arl y Fren ch , in referen ce todetail s of W el sh h istory . I t is therefore hoped that these rem arks,together w ith a few i n terpo l atio n s w ith in brackets, w il l sh iel d the
l earn ed author from bein g m isun derstood — Ta .
1 S ee A D isser tatio n on the Mus ica l I n strumen ts of the Welsh, p . 1 1 4,
No te 2 .
1 2
cruisigh (music), which is itself derived from the Sanscritkrus
’
(to cry out, to produce loud sounds), the root of
which is hur (to yield a
The Gaelic Kymr i, who originally peopled Kyin heryKymru] or Cam b ria, now Wales, were a Celtic colony
which issued from Gaul ; for Gaels, Galti, Go a ls an d
Welsh are identical terms, an d refer to one an d the samepeople . The Gaelic Celtic] language which they
spoke, an d which they still speak in the mountain di s
tr icts, di ffers but little from the Celtic dialect in use
among the Low Britons of France . Now, in the present
state of ethnographical knowledge, the Indo-Germanicorigin of the Celts is no longer contested . At epochs
anterior to al l historical records, an d by slow mi grations,the European races have advanced from India through
Bactr ian a, Persia, Arabia, an d A rmenia ; then, afterhaving crossed the Hellespont (the present Dardan elles),they have invaded the vast countries now known by thenames of Roumel ia, Transylvania, Wallachia, Servia,
S clavon ia, Croatia, Hungary, Styria, an d Bohemia .
Subsequently, when pressed by other masses of people
arrived by the same route, they have abandoned these
This etym ology seem s in cb n trovertib l e . ( S ee Pictet, do l ’Afin ité
des lan gues cel tiques avec le san scr i t, pp . 2 1 an d A s to that proposedby Edward Jon es (!oo. ci t.) in deriv i n g crwth from croth, wh ich, in the
Gael ic Cel tic] l an guage, sign ifies the cal f of the l eg ,thewomb,an d al sovessel for hol din g water, an d which resembl es th e Syriac word cru th,
an d th e Greek x poa o-b g, th e sign ification of w h ich is th e sam e, I con fessI do n ot un derstan d th e an al ogy — A UTH OR .
[E d . Jon es’ s words are these : Cr oth, or Crwth, by the Briton s, sign i has th e cal f of th e l eg , th e womb, or bel l y ; as al so by th e Syrian sm : (Cra th), an d by the Grecian s p a
'
ahg, sign ifies th e wom b, or a
water-vessel . — Bax ter’
s G lossar ium A n tiquitatum Br itan n icarum, p . 92 .
A n d R ichards’
s Welsh D iction ary .— TR .
1 3
stations in order to disperse themselves in variousdirections
,crossing the great rivers, such as the Danube,
the Elbe,the Rhine
,the Sa6ne, an d the Meuse ; in
short, peOp l ein g, by one of their branches, the whole ofGaul, under the name of Celts, an d sub-di viding them
selves into an infinity of tribes continuall y at war with
one another . Thi s, however, i s not the place to point out
the traces more or les s authentic — more or less certain'
of these relationships : some learned men of the greatesteminence have acquitted themselves of this task, in
modern times, in a manner altogether special . Lin
gui stic science, too, has thrown a li ght on these questions,
an d triumphed over the most obstin ate incredulity .
Music, the universal expression of the affections of thesoul, can also furnish its auxiliary proofs, as I shall
show elsewhere . But, in connection with the present
subj ect, we have only to trace the analogies between thebow — instruments of the West an d the primitive type
which we have seen in India, an d then to verify the
transformations an d the progress of them .
A question here presents itself : is the crouth (the
two forms of which we shall presently show) an in stru
ment invented by the Britons, as certain English an d
Welsh antiquaries pretend, especially the hard Edward
Jon es ; or is it simply an improvement of a previousrude model ? At the first view, this problem appears
to be resolved by the expression of V en an tius Fortu
natus , chrotta B r itan n a (the B r itish crouth) ; but, independently of Briton s an d‘ Gaels e x isting in France
, as
well as in England, there is substantial ground for re
jectin g the immed iate invention of such an instrument
as the crouth , even in its s im n lest form : because th e
1 4
idea of a sonorous chest, consisting of a belly, back an d
sides, with a n eck, several strings raised by a bridge an d
attached by iron pegs to the back of the head— the idea,
I say, of such an instrument, cannot be primitive . One
can understand the invention of the Indian ravan astron
because such a rude type might be the work of the firstperson who should accidentally discover that a skein of
thread twisted, a piece of wood, and'
a metallic rod, produce sounds when they are put into vibration by rubbing
them with horse-hair ; but one cannot conceive that an
instrument whose construction requires the skill of a
violin-maker was contrived, as a first essay, in times of
barbarism . There is, then, every reason to believe that
the Indo — Celtic race, in its migrations, transported theshapeless model of the apparatus with fretted strings
(l’
app areil c‘
t cordes frotte’ es) which, in its highest state ofperfection, now charms us in the hands of th e virtuosi .The principle of the production of sounds by the actionof the bow might doubtless have been discovered in differen t places ; but a regularly constructed instrumentcould not have been produced at once by a people little
advanced in civiliz ation, who lived under a ri gorous climate ; whilst its origin in India is only marked by feeble
essays . The very remarkable affinities of the Sanscrit
an d the Celtic dialects are certain indications of the
primitive relationship of these nations, so widely s eparated from each other .
Be that as it m ay, there were two kinds of crouth,
which belong to different periods . The oldest of them isthe crouth trithan t, that is, the crouth with three strings ;which is probably the one referred to byVen an tius Fortun atus . Perhap s even this p rimitive crouth had at first
1 5
but two strings ; as was the case, long afterwards, withother instruments which wil l be mentioned far ther on .
A manuscript of the eleventh century, formerly belonging to the Abbey of Saint Martial de Limoges, but nowin the Imperial Library
,Pari s (No . 1 1 1 8 of the Latin
contains some representations of in struments,
very rudely designed, among which there occurs thefigure of a crowned personag e, who holds in hi s left
hand a crouth with three strings, which he plays withthe bow in his right, as here shown
1 6
The instrument is known by the opening throughwhich the
'
han d passes for placing the fingers on the
strings . Another representation of the crouth tr ithan t
is seen among the exterior ornaments of Melross Abbey,in Scotland, which was built at the commencement of
the four teenth century, in the reign of Edward the
Second ; consequently it was still in use at that period .
On the 3 rd of May, 1 7 70, Daines Barrington, thenjudge of the counties of Caernarvon an d Anglesey, in
Wales, read, at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries
in London, of which he was a member, some remarks ontwo instruments used in that country— the crouth an d
the p i b -corn they were published in the third volume
of the A rchaeolog ia*, with a plate representing the two
instruments, on a very large scale, to render the detailsintel ligible . Although a little too summary, the remarks
of Dain es Barr ington are interesting, because he had notonly seen the instruments of which he speaks, but had
also heard the crouth played by John Morgan, who was
born in the Isle of Anglesey, in 1 7 1 1 , an d was then 59
years of age, an d who appeared to be the last b ard
capable of playing thi s in strument, which had become
excessively rare . The figure of the crouth given by
Daines Barrington was drawn from the instrument itself.Bottée de Toulm on t has had a b ad copy made of it
,for
his D issertation on the Musical I n strumen ts used i n the
M iddle A ges‘
r, which gives false ideas of the construction
A rcheso log ia, or Miscel lan eous tracts r elatin g to A n tiquity p ub l ished
b y the S ociety of A n tiquar ies, of Lon don . V o l . i ii, p . 3 2 . 1 775 .
"r D isser tation sur les in strum en ts the musique emp log és au moy en age, in
v ol . x vii of th e Mémoires de la S ocie’te’ roy ale des A n tiquaires de F ran ce.
1 8
harmony .
* The admirable construction of the crouth with
six strings, which the same author an d Daines Barring
ton have described, shows that the art of manufacturingstringed instruments had greatly advanced among the
Welsh at the period when cr outh s were made . These
instruments have the form of an elongated trapez oid,
the length of which, from t0p to bottom, is 57 centi
metres in .] the greatest width, near the tailp iece, is 27 centimetres an d the least, at
the top of the trapez ium, is 2 3 centimetres
Thethickness of the sonorous chest, composed of a back
an d a belly of sycamore, united by sides, is 5 centimetres an d the length of the fin ger-board
A th al aith ar waith olwy n , it has a fron tl et formed l ike a. wheel ,A
’
r b wa ar draws b y r ei drwy n , with th e short-n osed b ow across ;A c o
’
i gan ol m ae dol en , an d from its cen tre itwin ds in a rin g,A gwar hwn m egis gwr hen ; an d th e bul gin g of its back is som e
what l ike an ol d m an ;
A c ar ei v rest gywair v rig , an d on its breast harm on y reign s,O
’
r Masarn vo geir M iwsig . from th e sycam ore music w il l b e obtain ed .
Chwe y sp igod o’
s codwn , S ix pegs, if we screw them ,
A dyn n a hol l dan n au hw n ; w i l l tighten al l its chords ;Chwe
’
th an t a gaed o van ta is, six strin gsadvan tageousl y are foun d ,A c y n y l l aw yn gan l l ais ; which in th e han d produce a b un
dred soun ds ;Tan t i b ob b ys y sb y s oedd, a str
l
in g for every fin ger is distin cty seen ,
A dau-dan t i ’r vawd ydoedd . an d al so two strin gs for th e thumb .
From th is description ,we l earn that th e back of th e crouth bulged ;a detail which is n ot shown in the draw in gs of D ain esBarrin gton an d
Jon es .
The perform ers, or M in strel s of this i n strum en t were n ot hel din the sam e estim ation an d respect as th e Bards of the H arp an d Criith
because th e three-strin ged Crwth did n ot adm it of equal ski l l an d h arm on y,”&c.
— S ee A D issertation on the Musical I n strumen ts of the Welsh,
p . 1 1 6 .
1 9
28 centim etres Of the s ix strings with
whi ch the in strument is mounted, two are situated off
the fin ger-board, an d are played p iz z icato by the thumbof the left hand . The lower ends of these strings are
attached to the tail -piece, which is fastened in the same
way as in the ancient viols or quintons . In some in
strum en ts — for in stance, in that depicted by Dain e s
Barringt on — thi s tail-piece presents a right line parallelto the base of the crouth, at the end where the strin gsare attached ( see fig. 2 , p . 22) but in others, according
to the dr awin g given by Jonest, the tail — piece takes the
oblique dir ection whi ch is observed in‘
that of the viola
b astarda ( b astard vial) wi th s ix strin gs, of which we shall
speak farther on . The upper ends of the strings passthrough holes bored in the soli d top part of the in stru
ment, rest on nuts, an d are fastened at the back of the
head by pegs, whi ch are turned, says Mr . W . Bin gleyI,with a key or lever, after the manner of the guitar .
Two circul ar sound — holes are cut in the belly, 3 cen
timetres in .] in diameter . The most s ingul ar
These m easur emen ts, obtain ed by con siderin g the cen timetre asequal to . 3 93 70 of an in ch , d iffer from those given by E dw . Jon es,wh ichare as fo l l ow The l en gth of the Crwth is 205 i n ches, its bread th atbottom 9 l towards the top it tapers to 8 in ches . I ts th ickn ess is 1 —
1
8—
0 ,
an d th e fin ger-board m easures 1 0 in ches i n l en gth . (Loc . cit. p .
The d imen s io n s o f an o l d Crwth , i n the possession of M r . C . W . G .
Wyn n e, as given i n a recen t publ ication , are — Len gth , 22 i n ches ;w id th, 9 } in ches ; greatest depth, 2 in ches ; l en gth of fi n gerb oard , 1 01i n ches — Tn .
i Loc . cit. p . 89 .
1 North Wales, in cluding ts scen ery , an tiquity , customs, &c. vo l . 1 1 ,
p . 3 3 1 .
20
part of the instrument is the bridge : we cannot judgeof its form from the drawing which accompanies the
remarks of Daines Barrington, because the designer hasnot shown it in perspective ; but the drawing given byJones is satisfactory in this respect . Accordin g to thefirst of these authors, the bridge of the crouth is perfectlyflat* ; W. Bingley says the same t . Edward Jones isnot so definite, for he merely says that the bridge of thecrouth is less convex at the t0p than that of the violi n ihowever, in the figure which he gives, the top of th e
bridge presents a right line . The result of this, an d
also of the body of the instrument not having an y curves
in the sides for the passage of the bow, is, that the bow
must touch several strings at once, an d consequently
produce whatever harmony is fingered . I have previously made this remark, in 1 8 3 5, in my P hilosop hical
S ummary of the If istory of Music. § Since then, M .
Coussem aker has reproduced it .”There is another pe-ycul iar ity in the bridge of the crouth, which imparts to it
considerable interest for an intelligent observer : thisconsists in the inequality in the length of its feet, an d in
its position . Placed obliquely, in inclining towards the
r The bridge of the crwth al so is perfectly flat. — (Loc. cit. p .
i These (strin gs) .are al l supported by a bridge flat at the top,
an d n ot, as in th e viol in , con vex .— (Loc . cit.)
5: The bridge of th is in strum en t d iffers from that of a viol in , i nbein g l ess con vex at th e top .
”— A D isser tation on the Musical I n strumen ts
of the Welsh, p . 1 1 5 .
Q R ésume’
p hi losop hique de l’
histoire de la musique,prefix ed to th e firstedition of my Biograp hie un ioersel le des Musicien s, v o l . i, p . cx x x vii .
HE ssai sur les in strumen ts de musigue da moy en ag e, i n the A n n ales
arche’
o log igues of D idron , vol . i ii, p . 1 52 .
2 1
right, the left foot has a length of about 7 centimetresThis foot passes through the left sound
hole into the body of the instrument, an d rests on [the
inside of] the back ; an d the right foot, whose length is
about 2 centim etres 87 rests on the bell y, nearthe right sound — hole . In consequence of this di spo
sition , the left foot performs the functions of the soundpost in a violin , an d at once puts into vibration the belly,the back, an d the mass of air contained within the in
strum ent . Thi s placing of the bridge, which is verybadly shown in the figure given by Daines Barrington,h as entirely di sappeared in the wretched copy of Bottée
de Toulm on t, an d in the reproduction of it made by
M . Coussemaker . In both, the oblique dir ection of the
bridge has di sappeared, as well as the inequality in the
length of the feet, an d the introduction of the left foot
into the sound-hole nor can we even discover in them
an y indi cation of the back of the instrument ; so that it
appears as if the bel ly were simply fitted to the sides,
an d that the crouth has no back at al l . The drawinggiven by Edward Jones (p . 89) is very accurate ; it
makes the position of the left foot of the bridge perfectly
intell igible, an d the description which he gives of it dis
pels al l doubt . (See F ig . 2 , next
The bridge is not placed at right angles with the
sides of the Crwth, but in an obl ique d irection ; an d,which is farther to he remarked, one of the feet of the
The figure o f the crouth o n the n ex t page d i l l‘ers from the drawin g in Jo n es
'
s book , bo th i n the shape o f the bridge an d in that of th etai l -piece, at th e en d where the strin gs are fas ten ed . I t is a reducedcopy of that given in the A rr/o co lo f/m , vo l . iii — Tu .
F ig . 2 .
bridge serves also for a sound — post it goes through oneof the sound-holes, which are cir cular, an d rests on the
inside of the back ; the other foot,whi ch is proport ionablyshorter
,rests on the bell y before the other soun d-hole .
”
The six strings of the crouth are tuned in a pecul iar
manner, as foll ows
S ee D issertation on theMusical I n strumen ts of the Welsh, p . 1 1 5 .
2 3
This tuning was not chosen through mere caprice ;its obj ect was to give open notes in fifths an d octaves on
al l the strings, whether in soun din g the fifth an d sixth
strings p iz z z’
cato, or with the bow . These intervals are
produced as shown in the fol lowing table
Pitch-n ote. l s t 5th 5t h 1 s t 2 n d 3 rd 5th 3 rd
1 s t strin g . stri n gs . strin gs . strin gs . strin gs . strin gs .
It is remarkable that the six th open string (G)sounded p iz z z
'
cato is called vyrdon in the Celtic language,
an d that the lowest strings of bow-instruments on thecontinent of Europe, from the middle ages to the latter
hal f of the eighteenth century, have been designated bythe name of b ourdon , which is evidently the same wordpassed into the Romance languages .The tuning above described is that given by Daines
Barrington,from the bard John Morgan,whom he heard
before 1 7 70 . Edward Jones, whose interesting work
was published in 1 784 , also gives the same tuning,which,
however,m ay be varied to suit the key an d the character
of the popular melody which it is desired to perform .
Thus ,W . Bingley heard an old bard at Caernarvon, in1 80 1 , who played some ancient airs on a crouth tuned
in this manner :
stri n g . 5th stri n g . s tri n g . 3 " I strin g . 2 m l strin g .
24
From the drawing given by Daines Barrington, wesee that the siz es of the strings of the crouth were pro
portioned, as in our instruments, according to their
pitch an d their degree of tension . Thus, the two long
strings placed on the left of the neck, an d inten ded to
be played p iz z icato, were the largest ; the strings of the
low notes 0 an d D were of a medium siz e, an d those of
the high notes of the same names were small . These
distinctions have also disappeared in the copies published
by Bottée de Toulm on t an d Coussem aker .
After what has been said concerning the smith,Growth, or crouth, it remains to examine this questionH as this instrument exercised an y influence on the origin
an d the transformations of bow — instruments in use on
the continent of Europe, particularly on the violin ?
In a word, was it known there at al l ? Wh at was the
state of it there in the middle ages ?
The words of V en an tius Fortunatus which we have
quoted prove that the crouth had appeared on the con
tin en t from the sixth century . Moreover, the figure
from the manuscript of Saint Martial de Limoges shows
that the primitive crouth with three strings was in use,
in the south of France, in the eleventh century . Was
th is usage continued, an d is the instrument traceable
there in later times ? On this point, Bottée de Toulmont makes conjectures, which he has fully detailed*,
in order to demonstrate that an instrument called rotta,
rota, rote, an d rot/he, by some writers in the middle ages,
D isser tation sur l es in strumen ts de musique emp loy/if
s an m oy en dye,
p . 3 2 et seq .
2 6
eighth century, an d perished in accompli shing his apos
tol ic mission, June 5th , 755 . I rej oice, said he, to
have a cithar ist who can play on the cithara, which we
call The rotta, rota, rote, or rothe, then,was a
cithara ; not the ancient cithara,which was a lyre played
while resting it on the upper part of the breast (mea pa ),but the Teutonic cithara, formed on modifications intro
duced into the shape of the psalterion an d the number
of its strings . These modi fications consisted in round
in g the angles of the delta from which very circum
stan ce arose its name, rota (in strumen timt rotun dum — a
round instrument) . We have no need to make conj ee
tur es either on the instrum ent itself, or on the manner
of playing it ; for a manuscript of the commencement ofthe seventh cen turyT, which formerly existed in the
library of the Abbey of St . Blaise, contained a figure ofa female in the act of pulli ng the five str ings of a Teu
tonic cithara or rotta, which are fastened to an elongatedtail-piece, an d rest on a b r idge l . The Abbot
,Martin
Ger b ert, has published this figure. § An other rotta, of a
simi lar form to the latter, except the bridge, is mountedwith seven strings ; it is dr awn from another manuscript
D el ectat m e quoque cy tharistam habere, qui possit cythar isarein cithara, quam n os appel l amus R ottas — M st. 89
, ex edit. S er
rar it. [This 89th Letter, it seems, was written by S t. Cuthbert. — TR .]
t Gerb ert refers th is m an uscript to th e six th cen tury, thus : E x Msc .
S an -B las . an n . D C.— TR .
I M . Fétis appears to have m istaken a portion of the perform er’ ssl eeve, shown in perspective, for the el on gated tail -piece”here m ention ed .
— TR .
é D e Can tu et Musica, vol . i i,Tab . XXV I , fig . 3 .
2 7
of the n inth century, an d an engraving of it has al so
been given by the Abbot Gerb ert*. I kn ow an in stru
ment of the same class — that is, a genuine rote, an d not
a crouth, for it has no neck— in a scul pture of the Cathedral of Am i ens, which dates from the fifteenth century
From al l evidence, the strings of this instrument were
pulled ; it was a cithara, a rote. We see, then, that the
erudi tion of Bottée de Toulm on t is in faul t, an d that therote was not a bow-instrum ent . M . Coussemaker , true
to his system of borrowing, wi thout citin g those fromwhom he copies, has not the conj ectural discretion ofhis predecessor he adepts the notion w ithout ceremony,an d expresses himself categorical ly in these termsAlthough chiefly in use among the Britons, the croat
was of barbarous origin, an d has tak en the name of rotaam ong the poets an d romance wr iters of the middle ages .Many authors have thought that the term rote was given
to the hurdy-gurdy (viette) but this is erroneous . R ota
or rotta is not derived from rottaro, but rather fromchrotta, a German word, of whi ch the sign of aspiration,ch, has been suppressed, as in the case of many names
of the same origin . T I have merely entered into these
detail s in order to dispel an error which has been aceredited among archaeologists, who copy from each other,
without giving themselves the trouble to verify statements . If the rote is often mentioned by poets an d
writers before or after bow — instruments,this in no way
D e Can tu et Il l us ion , vo l . l l, Ta b . x x x n , fig . 1 7 .
1‘ E ssa i .sur les i n str um en ts rl e m usique da m eg/
e n dy e, in the A n n a/es
arche’
o log iques Of D id ro n , vo l . iii, p . 1 52 .
28
proves that it was an instrument of the same class . As
well might we believe that the harp was like the vial or
the hurdy-gurdy, because we find in some old poets pas
sages of the following kind
H arpes son n en t et viel l es,Q ui fon t l es m él odies bel l es .
(R oman ce of R en ard, of the 1 3 th cen tury .)
The text of St . Boniface [Cuthbert] is pos itive : therote was a cithara, an instrument whose strings were
pul l ed [by the fingers] . We see also, from a work of a
Provencal poet of the twelfth century, that the number
of its strin gs m ight be in creased to seventeen
E faits 1a rotaA x v n cordas garn ir.
Nor can I admit the Opinion of the erudite M . Georges
Kastner, that the name of rote was applied to two in struments of different sorts, one of which was played withthe bow
,an d the other by pulling the strings .* I know
not a sin gle text which supports this conjecture .
Let us now return to consider the in fluence whi chthe crouth tr ithan t, or three-strin ged crouth, has had inthe formation of bow- instruments whi ch were in use on
the continent of Eur ope . M . H ersart de La V ille
marqué thought he had traced it in the hands of the
Bar z ou, the mendicant bards of Brittany ; for he saysThey accompany th emselves with sounds scarcely har
m on ious, drawn from a musical instrument with thr ee
strin gs, named reb ele, which is touched with a bow, an d
Les D an ses des Mar ts, d i sser tati on s et recherches historiques,p hiloso
p hiques, l ittéraires et musicales, p . 241 .
2 9
which is no other than the dron e or rote of the Welsh an dBritish bards of the sixth century . We perce i ve
, i n
this passage, the error concernin g the rote reproducedafter Bottée de Toulm on t, an d another which belongs to
the learned Editor of the P op ular Melodies of Br ittan y
namely, the pretended analogy sub sistin g between thereb el: of the mendi cant poets of the Low Britons an d thecrouth of the Welsh bards . The forms of these in stru
ments are essentiall y different : for the primitive crouthhas the body contracted towards the mi ddle,an d presents,in its upper an d lower parts, equal hemi spherical eu
largem en ts, or nearly so ; whi lst the reb ee, the popul arviolin of the contin ent (which is nothi n g else than the
rub e‘
b e or reb elle of the middl e ages, which had at firstonly one or two strings, like the popul ar r e
’
b a b of the
Arabs),— the reb ec, I say, was narrowed towards the
neck, an d gradually enlarged until it rounded off to
wards the lower end . Its form was that of one of the
small var ieties of the lute, modified by a tail-piece more
or less elongated,a bridge, an d a bow to put the strings
in to vibration . The most ancient representation of an
instrument of this kind was extracted by the Abbot
Ger b ert from a manuscript of the commencement of then inth century . It has but one string : semicircularsound-holes are cut in the bell y, an d the string rests on
a bridge : a part of the neck appears to be higher thanthe belly . Il ere follows a copy of this figure, which
shows also a hand directing a bow on the string . (See
F ig . 3 , next page . )
Ba r z a z -lf rm z , cha n ts Imp a la /res ( It: [I t l i m i n g/n o, in troductio n ,p . x x x iv, 4 th ed itio n . Paris, 1 846 , 2 vo l s . 1 2mo .
3 0
In succeedi ng centur ies, monuments afford us reprosen tation s of instruments of both kinds ; that is to say,either in the form of the crouth tr ithan t,more or less mod ified ; or in that which resembles the varieties of the
lute . Instruments of this latter species have but two orthree strings if the painter or sculptor g ives them four,it is by mistake ; for there are many inaccuracies, bothin the representations of instruments an d the way in
which their name s are written . The ruhehe belongs tothi s kind, an d was only mounted with two strings .
Jerome of Moravia, a Dominican of the thirteenth centur y, informs us that it was a grave-toned instrument,an d tuned as follows
I n chap . x v iii of th e compil ation of d ifferen t Treatises on Music,
th e man uscript of which is in the Im perial Library, Paris (f on ds de laS or b on n e, NO . 1 8 1 7, 4to .)
3 1
The acute instrument of the same species wasmountedwith three strings, an d received the name of gigue, in
Fran ce, in the twelfth, thir teenth, an d fourteenth cen
tur ies ; but , in the fifteenth century, this name seems
to have been changed for the fir st tim e into that of reb eo
for al l the instruments of the same famil y— great, medium , an d small . The Germans call them by the nameof Geige ohn e Bun de (vi ols without bands, i . e . without
s ides), to distinguish them from other instruments of amore perfect kind .
* The following figure shows the
F ig . 4 .
The ruhehe, the gigue— in short, the four classes ofthe reb ec kind which we have already found established
from the fifteenth century, namely, treble, alto, tenor,an d bass, were the popular instruments in the hands ofthe minstrels, an d served in general for dancing an d forstreet singers . Their form was invariably such as we
have described . The bass of this species of instrument
S ee the boo k o f Martin A grico la e n titled Mus ica in strumen ta l z’
s .
W ittem b erg , fo l s . IV an d l v i . (J igue an d Geig c are ev iden tlythe same word i n two di fferen t l an guages .
3 2
was frequently superseded by the m on ochord, or by the
trump et mar in e, the body of which was a pentagonal conegreatly elongated, on which was set a deal belly or
sound-board . The single strin g of this instrument was
tightened by a spring screw (tourn iquet a ressort) an d
rested on a bridge, the feet of which were of unequallength . The sounds [which were harmonics] wereformed [by lightly pressing the string] with the thumbof the left hand . The bow was greatly curved, an d had
a large nut which the musician held in his right hand
rev'
ersed*.
The other class of bow- instruments, whi ch consistedof a sonorous chest formed of a back an d belly united
by slender ribs, called sides,which were contracted a b out
the middle of their length, like the body of a guitar ;this class, I say, the type of which lies in the crouth tr i
than t of the sixth century, an d which has been designated
by the names of vielle an d uiole (viol), belongs to a moreadvanced art ein an der A rt,
”says A gricolafi. It is
thus that, in India, the sarun gies,the saroh an d the chi/card ,
with four or five gut strings, constructed with much
elegance an d finish by Gun Pat an d Maham dou, who‘
are the Stradi varius an d Guarnerius of Benares, differessentially from the rauan astron an d the omerti, an d
belong to a more refined art . It is thus, also, that the
hemdn geh roumy with four or six strings, in use in Persia,
The b ow was placed on the strin g b etween the p erf ormer an d his
han d, i n stead of between h is l eft han d an d th e bridge — TR .
1 The n ecessity for th is quotation from A grico la is by n o m ean s obv ious, as th e German w ord A rt n ever sign ifies that wh ich is un derstoodby th is com bin ation of l etters in Fren ch or E n gl ish to ex press whichthe word Kan st woul d b e used — TR .
3 4
Many viols of the thirteenth century have five strings,according to the monuments which exhibit them so,
likewise, have those of which Jerome of Moravia speaks,in the work before m entioned . The form of these in
strumen ts is always that of the guitar ; which form issteadily preserved throughout the fourteenth centuryThe absence of the bridge is the most remarkable p ecu
l iarity of these figures, wh ich invariably underthis shape
Fig . 5 .
In a great many figures of viols or vielles which wemeet with on monuments, in manuscripts, an d even in
works of a date approaching our own time — such as
those of Martin A gricolafi“ an d of Othmar Lucin ius
or Nach tgal l T— we observe that some have bridges,an d others have not, even at the same periods . Thus,
Musiea in strum en talis deu tsch, do . prin ted atW ittem b erg ,by GeorgeE baw , 1 529, sm . 8vo .
i Musurg ia seu P rax is mus-ices . I l l ius p r imo guts in strumen tis ag itur
certa r a tio, si c A rgen torati, apud Joh an n em S chottum , 1 53 6, sm .
o b ] . 4to .
3 5
on the ancient gateway of the Abbey of St . Denis,whi ch was constructed in the twelfth century, three
figures represent viols with five str ings an d with three,
which have bridges . The gateway of Notre Dame of
Chartres, which is also of the twelfth century, displaysamong its scul ptures a vielle with three strings, with a
bridge . On the contrary, a rub eb e wi th two strings, in
the hands of an angel, in the window of the Abbey ofBon — Port, in Normandy, an d belonging to the thirteenthcentury, has no bridge .
A viol with five strings, which occurs in a Frenchromance of the fourteenth century (MS . No . 67 3 7 of the
Imperial Library, Paris), has a bridge ; but a rebec with
three strings, shown in the M iroir histor ial of Vincent ofBeauvai s (MSS . of the fifteenth century, No . 67 3 1 of the
same library), an d a little viol, also with three strings,which is found in a manuscript of the Bi b le histor iaux ,
of the same period (No . 68 1 9 of the same library), have
not an y .
A large viol with four str ings,which a woman holds
between her legs, in the book entitled les Echecs amoureuce
(MSS . of the fifteenth century, No . 6808 of the Imp .
has a bridge . The same is the case with a little
rebec with three strings, held by a siren, in the same
volume . This rebec has the precise form of those
which are represented in the work of Martin Agricola*.
Lastly, we see a bridge on a viol with four strings in thebook of P roverb es et A d ages of the s ix teenth century
(MSS . No . 4 3 1 6 fonds de la Valliere, in the same
x‘l/us im in n /rum . S
‘
r . pp . l v, l v i .
3 6
library) . However, at the same period, two well
informed men — Othmar Nach tgal l an d Martin Agricola— who have specially treated the matter in question,
have represented, in their works, vio l s whose strings are
fastened to a tail-pie ce similar to that of a guitar, an d
without a bridge, as in this figure
Now , it would have b een absolutely impossib l e toprevent the bow touching al l the strings at once of an
instrument so mad e . Besides, the sounds which we
might attempt to draw from it would be ex trem ely weak ,for it is the bridge which g ives the requisite angle to thestrings to enable them to vibrate with e
’
clat, an d to com
manicate their motion to the sound-board ; in . short, it
is the bridge which, vibrating energetically itself, im
parts to the sound-board, by its precipitate beatings,the vibratory oscillations from whence intens ity of soundresults . Moreover, we must not fo rget that the prin
cip le of the production of s ounds, b y the friction of the
bow on the s trings, was accompanied, from i ts very
origin, by the necessary appendage of the br idge . We
find it in the primitive essay of the raua n astron , an d in
th e omerti, of India ; i n the reha b , an d in the. hemdn geh a
gen e, of t he Ar abs ; in sh ort, wherever‘
the bow is metw ith . It is, then, beyond doubt that the absence of thebridge in some m onuments of the m iddle ages, an d in
3 7
the figures published by Agr icola an d by Othmar Nachtgall , is purely attributable to the inadvertence or the
forgetfulness of the designers . Of this we have a proof,in regard to what is seen in these two authors them
s elves ; for their contemporary, Silvestro Ganas si del‘Fon tego , from whom we have a special treatise on the
art of playing the viol*, has represented a concert, in
the frontispiece of his book,in which the viols have
bridges .
Two new facts of great importance are revealed in
the figures published by Agricola, Nach tgal l , an d Ga
nassi del Fon tego ; namely : the bends or hollows which
have replaced the slightly defined curves on the sides of
the instruments, an d the frets which occur on the necks
of viols, like those which are stil l seen on guitars . The
figures represent these bends inaccurately, for they are
too greatly extended, an d consequently the upper an d
lower parts of the instruments are reduced to too small
proportions . Some viols an d bass viols of the s ixteenth
century, which still ex ist in the cabinets of the curious,demonstrate that the bends were of less extent, although
proportionally greater than in violins, altos, an d vio
l on cel l os .
Want of skill in the performers induced the puttingof frets on the neck of the instruments, in order to show
the places where the fingers should be set to produce the
desired notes so that, instead of being instruments ofvariable sounds , an d adapted for perfect inton ation, the.
l i ef/uh ! [tu b er/um t he i n s/27 1m. ( t M INI/f f lu v io la ‘I"
S il vestro (S lC) ( l et FUN/"gm I ll c c th l , WI l l l b ti tl l tl tl d c l'
auto l‘
c ,
o h l . «l tu.
3 8
viols became instruments of fixed sounds an d tempered .
This usage was continued to the first half of the eigh
teen th century, although the violin had been freed from
these shackles nearly one hundred an d fifty years .
There was evidently a great variety in the con struc
tion of viols, at the period when true music began to
appear an d harmony became more refined . This change
took place towards the end of the fourteenth centur y,
by the happy efforts of three musicians, superior to theirtime : Dufay, Binchois, an d Dunstaple* The whole
range of the art was then comprised in the harmonyproduced by the union of the different species of voices .
That which applied to voices, therefore, it was desiredto make applicable to instruments ; an d as there are
acute voices, called sop ran o, less acute, termed con tralto,
medium voices,or ten ors, an d grave, called b asses, the
idea was conceived of making, in all kinds of in stru
ments, complete families which shoul d represent thesefour species of voices . Thus, viols, hautboys, flutes,
cornets, 850 . had their soprano, alto, tenor, an d bass,an d sometimes even their double bass . This division,which became established in the fifteenth century, was
maintained during the sixteenth an d seventeenth, orrather h as not ceased up to the present time, at leastfor bow-instruments . The most common instruments
had their quartett, complete : thus we see, in the workof Agricola, the treble, alto, tenor, an d bass of the reb ec,
each mounted with three strings, with a triangul arbridge, the summit of which supported the middl e string,
”R D un sta b le appears to b e the preferable orthography — Ta .
3 9
in order that the bow might not touch all thr ee strings
at once .
Sin gular variations are observable in the form an d
dimensions of viols, an d in the manner of stringing
them, from the first half of the sixteenth century . The
book of Agricola, prin ted in 1 52 9, ex hibits a complete
quartett of li ttle viols, with b eads turned back, l ikethose of lutes, an d mounted with three strings only .
Agricola designates them by the name of Iclein e Geigen
m it B ii n de n un d m it dreien S eyten (little viols with sides
an d wi th three strings) . Like all in strum ents of the
same species, their neck is divided by s ix frets*, Mi
chael Praetorius says, indeed, in his Organ ograp hia,
printed in 1 6 1 9“
I“
, that viols with three strings wereused in ancient times, an d that there were others with
four an d wi th five strings . Agricola gives the figures ofthe quartett of viols with four strings I, the details of
construction of which are similar to those of the viols
with three strings . The fol lowing are the tunin gs of
the instruments whi ch compose the quartett
Tun i n g of th e Treb le. D O . of th e A lto . D O . of th e Ten or. D O . of th e Bass .
Lastly, the great v iols, with five strings, which
Agricola mentions, formed a quartett, like the others ;
Mus ica in s tr um e n ta l is, pp . l l, l l l .
i S un /”g n u! Mus icm n , vo l . I ] , p . 45 .
1 Loe . cit. p . x lv i, verso .
40
with this difference, however, that the bass was mounted
with six strin gs . They were tuned as follows
Tun in g of th e Treb le. D O . of th e A l to an d Ten or . D O . of th e Bass.
But even at the time when bow- instruments of the
viol species were classed, strung, an d tuned, in Germany,
in the manner described above, the viols of Italy pre
sented remarkable differences, as we see in the valuablebook‘ of Ganassi del Fon tego, on the art of playing theseinstruments . The Italian viols were mounted with six
strin gs ; they had seven frets on the fin ger-board, bymeans of which the neck of each viol was divided into a
chromatic scale of two octaves an d a half. Their tunings
were as follow
Tun in g of th e V iolettaor Treb le Viol . D 0 . of th e A l to an d Ten or. D O. of th e Bass.
6
Sometimes the alto differed from the tenor i n that
it was tuned a fifth above the bass . We must remark
that this mode of tuning bow-instruments by two fourths
in descending, followed b y - a third, an d this again by
two fourths, is precisely that of the lute an d its varieties .It is evident that from that period— namely, from thefirst half of the sixteenth century— the art adapted itself
to a regular system . We find the same tuning in 1 60 1 ,
in the musical treatise by Cerreto* ; an d still the same
W D elta P ratttea mus iea voca le et strumen tale, l i b . iv, p . 3 3 1 .
42
Thus, as we see,these instruments are al l tuned a
fourth lower than the Italian viols . At such a pitch,
they could only produce a dull an d mournful efi'
ect .
They were al l played on the knee, except the bass,
which was held between the legs, an d the double bass,
which was played standing.
There was another viol, whose sides were narrowerthan those of the bass viol, an d which was called viola
b astarda (bastard viol), because it was tuned by fifths
an d fourths .
We have now approached towards the end of the
s ixteenth century, an d, up to this period, have foundnothing in the form of the violin, although the name of
violin o had already occurred in a work ofGiovanni MariaLanfranco, printed at Brescia in Does he speak
of the violin such as we know in the present day ; ormerely of the little vi ol, which was called, somewhat
later, violetta This is difficult to determine . The firstprecise reference [to the violin] , although given in an
indirect way an d without the least detail, is found in
the first part of the P rattiea di Musioa, by Ludovico
! acconi, printed at Venice in 1 596 . He there gives thecompass of various instruments of his time
, an d among
them that of the v iolin, represented in this manner T
S cin til le, ossia regole di musica, che mostran o a leggere i l can tofirmo e
figurato, g l i acciden ti del le n ote men surate, tep rop ortion i e tuon i, i l con trap un to e la division e d
’
i l mon ocordo ; con la accordatura di varii in strumen ti,dc cap . ul tim o .
i Lib . iv, p . 2 1 8 verso .
43
This is, indeed, the real compass of the violin, fromthe fourth open string of the instrument to the use of
the four th fin ger on the first strin g ; because the shif twas then, an d even for a considerable t ime afterwards,wholl y unkn own . Now
,this compass does not agree
with that of an y viol known . However, although the
violin evidently existed from that time, it was doubtless
but little used in Italy ; for its name does not appear
in the enumeration an d analysis of the instruments givenby Cerreto in his book prin ted in The fir stcertain use of the violin occurs in Mon teverde
’s Orfeo,
which was performed at Mantua in but even the
author ’ s own words lead us to believe that this m odification of the viol did not originate in Italy for, in theenumeration of his orchestra, which precedes the introductory sym phony, he mentions — besides ten viole da
b raz za (arm vi ols), three b assi da gam b a (leg basses),an dtwo con tra-b assi di viola (double bas s viols) -duoi violin i
p iccoli allafran cese (two l ittle violins of the French sort).However this m ay be, we find the violin soon afterwards,in the form now known, in the Theatrum I n strumen torum,
seu S ciagrap hia, of Michael Praetorius, published at
Wolfenbuttel in 1 6 20 . The curves [in the sides] , thecorners an d the purflin g, are all like those of our violin .
Sound-holes of the ff shape have been substituted forthose m ade like 3 C the neck, free ( de
’
gage’ narrow
an d rounded, has there taken the place of the broad, flat
Li b . iv, cap . v iii— x i,pp . 3 1 3 — 3 3 5 .
t L’
O rf eo,f avota i n m us iea rla C laudio Mon teverde, m aestro d i cap el ladelta seren iss im a Tt
’
p tt/I l tCtt (d i V en ezia), rapp resen tato in Man tova l’
an n o
1 607 . V en ice, 1 6 1 5 . 2 n d ed itio n .
44
neck of the viol ; thefin ger-board is disencumbered fromfrets . The bridge alone is still plain, an d cut out only
in the lower part, which forms the feet*. Already thesystem is complete for we there find the guin i or alto,the Violon cello, an d the great quin t
’
b ass, or double bass .
The tuning of the violin is. E, A, D, G ; that of the alto,
A, D, G, C that of the Violoncello, l ike that of the alto,an octave lower ; an d , lastly, that of the quin t b ass,
which is mounted with five strings, i s
Such is the sketch of the history of bow-instruments,
confined to the most essential details, prior to the time
when the great Italian school so admirably illustrated it .We have now to trace the relation between the makers
belonging to this school, who have contributed to the
progress an d transformations in the manufacture ofthese instruments, until their highest perfection was
attained by the renowned master who is the subj ect of
this notice .
S ee the S ciagrap hia of Praetp r ius, pl . x x ,fig s . 4 an d 5 .
1“ Sy n tagm . music. vol . ii, p . 26 .
VIOLIN MAKERS OF THE ITALIAN SCHOOLS
FROM TH E EARLIE ST TIMES .
TH E fifteenth century reveals to us but a single
n ame, an d even that is a subj ect of doubt . Accordin g
to Laborde, there was in Brittany, about 1 450 , a
stringed-instrument maker named Ifertin , of whose
workman ship he had seen a violin, made in 1 449 . In
1 8 04, that i s, about twenty — five years after the date
when Laborde wrote, this instrument was found in thepossession of Kol iker , a violin maker at Paris ; at which
time we saw it . However, it was not a violin, but a
viol, whose neck had been changed. an d which was
mounted with four strings, like a violin . The in stru
ment bulged more than the viols of a later period, an d
the rise”! of its back an d belly was very great . Its
upper an d lower extremities were not accurately rounded,an d the corners were blunt an d curtailed . Instead of
the ordinary tail-piece, there was an ivo ry attachment‘pierced with four holes for fastening the strings
,which
seemed to ind icate that this instrument be lon ged to the
By the r is e, s i ne/t, o r a rc/m tg o f the b ack a n d be l ly o f v io l i n s a n do ther s tri n ged i n s trum e n ts , is to b e u n derstood the degree o f e leva tio no f tho s e parts , v iewed l o n g itud in a l ly .
46
species of Geige with four strings, which is mentioned inthe work of Martin Agricola. The quality of tone was
sweet an d subdued . The instrument bore within it thisinscription J oan . Ker lin o, mm . 1 449 . This name,c ommencing with the syl lable Ker, probably led La
borde to believe that the maker flourished in Brittany ;because the names of many famili es in that country are
known to begin in the same way ; but from in formation
recently obtained from Italy— through a correspondentof M . Vuill aum e, who has long dealt in bow— instruments,an d had numerous originals pass through his handswe learn that there was a maker at Brescia, about 1 450,named J ohn Ker l in o . There is every reason to believe
that the instrument p ossessed by Kol iker , at the beginning of this century, was made by this artist, an d that
he was the founder of the school of Brescia, one of the
oldest an d most distinguished in Italy . It i s worthy of
remark that Ker lin o, lik e all the makers of the first
peri od whose names an d works are known, made only
rebecs, viols of all dimensions, lire d’
aroo an d'
liron e with
eleven an d twelve strings .After Ker l in o, the oldest Italian maker is Pietro
D ardel li , of Mantua, who flour ished about the year1 500, an d of whose manufactur e some beautiful viols
still exist in the cabinets of the cur ious . Then cameGaspard D uiffoprugcar , a celebrated artist, born in theItalian Tyrol, an d who establi shed h im sel f in Bologna,
about 1 5 1 0 . Fine instruments of this maker, such asbass-viols, tenors,an d violettas, or little viols, constructedby D uiffoprugcar for the chapel an d the chamber ofFrancis the First, King of France, have been preserved
47
by different amateurs in Pari s until the present time .
A superb bass-Vi ol, on the back of which is represented
the plan of Paris in the fifteenth century, is now the
property of M . Vuil laum e, but previously belonged tothe late J. M . Raoul, King
’ s Coun sellor, an d Advocate
in the Court of Cassation . This amateur — a Violon
celli st of some merit,who has publi shed several
compositions an d a Method for the Violoncelloendeavoured to resuscitate the bass -Vi ol, t o which hegave the name of lzep taelwrd . A notice on the laboursof M . Raoul on this subj ect has appeared in the R evue
Musicale by the author of this work (tome ii, pp .
56
In gradually approaching the middl e of the six
teen th century, we find Venturi Lin aroll i , who workedat Venice in 1 520 ; Peregrin e ! anetto, of Brescia, in
1 540 ; an d Morglato Morella, of Mantua, perhaps a
pupil of Bardell i, an d of whom instruments are know n
bearing the date 1 550 . It thus appears that these oldmasters made nothin g but viols of al l kinds an d siz es,
most of which have been destroyed to form tenor violins,
an d to repair ancient instruments which are still in use .
Modern violin makers have always sought after them
for this purpose .
The first peri od of Ital ian viol — makin g, of which we
have just spoken, was succeeded by that of the creation
of the violin, an d its relatives of deeper pitch — the alto,
the Violoncello, the bas s (of somewhat larger dimensionsthan the preceding), an d the quint-bass, or primitive
d ouble-bass . The first in date , among the artists of
this second period, i s Gaspard or Gasparo d i Salo, so
48
called because he was born in the “little town of Sal e, on
the lake of Garda. in Lombardy. He was one of th e
best Italian makers of the sixteenth century, an d worked
at Brescia from 1 560 to about 1 6 1 0 , that is to say, forn early fifty years ; instruments of his m anufacture hav1 n gbeen found with these distant dates . G
'
aspaiio-
dii r
sal o
was particularly renowned for his viols, bass-viols an dm
’
olom'
, or double-bass viols besides which, some violins
of his make are known, which are distinguishe d for
their fine quality of tone . Of these, there was one veryremarkable instrument, bearing the date 1 56 6 , in a
val uable col lection which was sold at Milan in 1 807 .
Baron de Bagge also possessed one about the year 1 788 ,of which Rudolph Kreutz er spoke with admiration .
Mr . T . Forster, an English amateur, an d the owner of
a numerous collection of vi olins, has one which bears
Within it the inscription : Gasparo di S ale in Brescia,
1 6 1 3 . Its quality of tone i s clear, but dry . If this
instrument is genuine, it i s a degenerate production ofthe maker’ s old age .
A little later, John Paul Magini, born in Brescia,worked in his native town from 1 590 to about 1 640,
an d was perhaps a pupil of the artist just named . He
especially distinguished himself in the manufacture of
violins . The pattern of his instruments is, in general ,large ; their proportions are the same as those of
Gasparo di Salo, an d the style of workmanship is
similar . The swell, or arching, is decided, an d reaches
almost to the edges . The sides, or ribs, ar e narrow ;
the bellies, very strong, an d of good quality ; the
backs, generally thin, With the wood cut on the
50
But such is not the case w ith those of Magini . In the
first few years of this century, they were little known inFrance ; but the celebrated violinist, De Beriot, fixed
the attention of artists on their merits, an d established
their reputation by the success which he achieved, both
in Paris an d in London, on an instrument of this
m aster .
We must not confound John Paul Magini with
another maker of Bre scia, probably of the same family,who flourished in the seventeenth century, an d was
n amed Santo Magini . Although violins of his make
exist, he is more particularly distinguished for hisdouble-basses, which are renowned in Italy as the
best instruments of this class .
About the year 1 580 , the school of Brescia also
produced two other artists of merit, although of an
inferior order to John Paul Magini . The first was
J avietta Budian i, an d the other, Matteo Bente . The
instruments of the latter are much sought after bythose who form collections .
We now come to the head of a family, il lustrious in
the manufacture of musical instruments, who was also
founder of the great school of Cremona . AndrewAmati was descended from. an ancient decur ion al family
of that town, which is mentioned in the Cremonese
annals of 1 097 . The date of his birth is unknown, as
the registers of the churches of Cremona do not go
back to the commencement of the sixteenth century,
the period when his b irth appears to have happened ;
but, in default of a baptismal record, we have positive
information touching this artist, furnished by a violin
5 1
or rebec with three str ings,which existed in the valuable
coll ection of instruments formed by Count Coz ie deSalab ue, of Casal-Mon ferrato, an d preserved at Milan,
at the residence of th e Cheval i er Carlo Carl i . Thi s
instrum ent bore the name of An dr ew Amati, an d the
date of 1 546 . Baron de Bagge possessed, also, about
1 788 , a medium viol (mole meg/en n e) , otherwise called, in
Italy, v iola b astarda, which bore the date 1 551 . It is
therefore certai n that Andr ew Amati was born duringthe first twenty years of the sixteenth century .
Who was the master of Andrew ? Where did h e
acquire the skill which is observable in his works ? We
know not . The author of a letter inserted in the Cor
resp on den ce of P rofessors an d A ma teurs of Musio, publi shedby Cockatr ix , in 1 803 , assures us that Andr ew Amati
worked as an apprentice at Brescia,before establishing ashop of his own at Cremona . The fact is not impossible,for the two towns are situated near each other, in Lombardy ; but assertions of thi s kind are of no value unlesssupported by documentary evidence of incontestibleauthority . The instruments of Andrew Amati haveparticul ar forms, which clearly distinguish them from
those"
of the-
ancient school of Brescia . He must have
made special studies before adopting the proportionsanswering to the requirements of his time . When he
worked, no one demanded a tone of that power an dbril liance which is now required . So far from it, an
instrument which should have possessed such a degreeof sonority woul d have offended the ears of an audience
accustomed to the tranqui l music of which we still pos
sess specimens . The spinets, lutes, theorbos, mandoras,
52
an d guitars — al l these instruments, which were usedin their publ ic an d private concerts (for, indeed, theyhad no others) — al l these, we repeat, had but littlepower . What was demanded of a m aker at that period,was, that his instruments should possess a sweet an d
mellow tone . Now, in justice to the head of the Amat i
family, it must be admitted that his viol ins,m ls , an d
basses leave nothing to desire in this respect .
Andrew Amati made many in struments ; but timehas impaired an d accidents have destroyed a greatnumb er of them . Before the first French revolution
there existed among the valuable properties
belonging to the Chapel Royal, a collection of violin san d viols which had been made by Andrew Amati byorder of Charles the Ninth, an enthusiastic amateur of
music . After the days of the 5th an d 6th of October,1 790 , al l these instruments disappeared from Versailles .
Cartier (see thi s name in the .Biograp hie w ziverselle des
.Musicz’
en s) discovered two of the violins many years
after these events . Their sonority lacked brilliance ;but the quality of their tone was charming u an d the
workmansh ip remarkable for its finish .
The violin s of An drew Amati ar e of sm all an d
medium pattern,an d their swell or arching is very
decided towards the centre . The wood of the back is
cut on the layers (sur coueke) the belli es, of a goodquali ty, are sufficiently thick ; an d the varnish is sub
stan tial , an d of a light brown colour . As before
ob served, their intensity of sound is relative to theperiod when they were made .
The date of Andrew Amati ’ s death is unknown ; but
53
it probably occur red about 1 580 : because the in struments marked with the name of Amati, after this
period, belong to his s ons, Jerome an d Anthony . The
latter, born at Cremona about 1 550 ; succeeded his
father, an d after being some time associated with
Jerome, he ultimately separated fr om him .
Anthony adopted the patterns of An drew ; but hemade a much greater number of small, than of large,violins . Those of the latter kind which have emanated
from the associated brothers are much esteemed, an d
greatly sought for, if in a good state of preservation .
The violinist Libon possessed an admirable one of them,
of a delightful quality of tone, on which he performed
the quart etts of Haydn,about 1 809 , with Messrs . de
S erm en t6t,de Noaill es, an d de V il l eb lan che, enthusiastic
amateurs , at whose abodes were heard the most eminent
artists of the period . The violin of Libon, made by
Anthony an d Jerome Amati, bore the date of 1 59 1 .
The small violin s made by Anthony Amati have a sweet
an d mellow tone, which, although very pure, has, unfur
tun ately , but l ittle intensity . The first an d second
strings are the best parts of these instruments ; the third
is somewhat dul l ; an d the fourth, too feeble . In the
good instruments of the two brothers, the workmanship
is of exquisite finish . The well-selected wood is cut o n
the layers (sur COU CILB) for the back an d the S ides ; the
deal used for the bellies has a fine an d delicate grain
the swell or arching is high in the centre, an d the breasts
are very sl o ping, ( les gory /3 s sen t tres- é oirlées} . The pro
proport ions of thickness combined W i th the other con
ditio n s found in these instruments give them that fine,
54
delicate,an d sweet tone which is their distinctive quality .
Anthony Amati died, it is supposed, in 1 6 3 5 at al l
events, it is certain that his name does not appear uponan y instrument p osterior to that date .
After working a long time with his brother, JeromeAmati married ; which change of condition induced the
two brothers to separate . From that time, Jerome no
longer adhered to the exact reproduction of the modelsof Andrew ; for some violins of his are known which are
of a larger pattern than those of Anthony or of the old
Amati . Jerome, after his separation , occasionally appreached his brother in finish ; but, on the whole, he is
inferior to him . He died in 1 63 8 .
Among the number of pupils of Anthony an d Jerome
Amati must be mentioned Gioacchino or Giofredo Cappa,who was born at Cremona in 1 590 . In 1 640 he esta
b l ish ed himself at Piedmont, an d there formed the
school of vi olin makers of Saluz z o, where the reigningPrince then dwelt . He there made a great number ofinstruments, an d formed good pupils,among whom wereA cev‘
o’
anfi
t apin o,whose productions, without equalling
these‘
of the Amati,were formerly esteemed . The violen
cellos of Cappa are his best instruments .
Nicholas Amati, the son‘ of Jerome,who is justly re
garded as the most celebrated of the artists of thatname, was born on the 3 rd of September, 1 596, an ddied on the 1 2th of August, 1 684, at the age of eighty
eight, according to the registers of the Cathedral ofCremona . He made but l ittle change in the forms an d
proportions adopted by”
h is"
famil y, b ut gave_'
a'-
hi gherfinish to details,
'
with greater perfectl on m the design of
the curves, an d produced a varnish more supple an d
mellow, _and
'"
possessing a superior appearance . The
preportions of the arching an d of the thickness of his
instruments are better calculated than in those of either
Andrew, Anthony, or Jerome . Hence, it follows that,
while preserving their distinctive sweetnessof tone, they
have gr eater power an d brilliance . Some violins on
which th is celebrated maker would appear to have workedwith partiality are veritable masterpieces of his art . Oneof them, bearing the date 1 6 68 , exi sted at Milan, in the
collection of Count Co z ie de S alab ue . In perfection of
finish, an d purity an d mellowness of tone, this in strument was considered a marvel of its kin d . The Count
de Castel b arco, of the same city, also possesses some
which are admirable ; an d that belonging to the celeb rated vi olinist Allard is cited as one of the best in stru
ments ever made by Nicholas Amati .
Nieh o las had two sons , by his w ife Lucretia Pagliari,of whom the elder, Jerome, was born the 2 6th of Feb
ruary, 1 649 , an d the other, John Baptist, born the 1 3 thof August, 1 657 , became a priest an d died about 1 7 06 .
Jerome worked in his father’ s shop ,an d succeeded him .
He slightly enlarged the pattern of his violin s, but was
much less pains-taking than the other members of hisfamily, an d very inferior to his father : he also produced
but few instruments . One violin of his is known , dated
1 6 7 2 : it i s one of his latest works . This Jerome was
the last artist of the name of Amati .
The pupils formed by Nicholas Amati, are : his son
Jerome , Andrew Guarnerius, Paolo Gran cin o, who
settled at Milan a n d worked there from 1 6 6 5 to 1 690 ,
5 6
an d the illustrious ANTH ON! STRAD IVARI or STRAD IVAR IUS , of Cremona, an account of whom forms the
grand obj ect of the present publication .
The following chronological list contains the names
of those makers who are generally considered as be
longing to the Amati school, either because they hadworked with Jerome , the son of Nicholas, or had been
formed by the pupils of this school an d had foll owed its
traditions with greater or less exactness .
TH E A MATI S CH OOL . Fl ourished .
Joseph Guarn erius, son of Andrew , of
Crem on a . from 1 6 8 0 to 1 7 1 0
Fl orin us Florentus, of Bologn a from 1 6 8 5 to 1 7 1 5
Fran cis Rugger (or Ruggieri) , surn am ed
él P er, of Crem on a . from 1 6 70 to 1 72 0
Peter Guarn erius, brother of Joseph an d
secon d son of An drew . from 1 6 90 to 1 72 0
Joh n Gran ein o, son of Paolo, of Milan . from 1 6 9 6 to 1 72 0
John Baptist Gran ein o, brother of Joh n ,of
MilanAlex an der Mez z adie, of Ferrara .
D om in icel l i, of FerraraV in cen t Bugger, of Crem on a
Joh n Baptist Rugger, of BresciaPeter Jam es Rugger, of BresciaGaetan o Pasta, of BresciaD om en ico Pasta, of BresciaFran cis G ran ein o, son of Joh n , an d gran d
son of Paolo, of Milan . from 1 7 1 0 to 1 746
Peter Guarn erius, son of Joseph , an d
gran dson of An drew, of Crem on a . from 1 72 5 to 1 740
San to S erafin o, of Ven ice . from 1 73 0 to 1 745
58
contour an d fine preportions — its corresponding bends
situated in the m iddle of its length — the arched surfaces
of its back an d belly, consolidated by the b ar an d soundpost — the four triangular supports within the corners of
the bends, an d the two blocks placed at each end — al l
these are so harmoniously adjusted, that the resistance
an d the elasticity [of the structure] are in a state of
perfect equilibrium .
The bends in the sides of the instrument are not
merely designed to enable the bow to act freely on thefour strings, for they exercise also a very happy influence
on the force an d brilliance of the sound ; in that the extrem ities of the instrument produce energetic vibrationswhich are reflected back again to the place from whence
the impulse proceeded . This is what Chanot did not
understand when he desired to do away with the bendstogether with their an gles, thinking thereby to introducethe most valuable innovation for augmenting the sonorityof the violin ,while he simply reproduced the form of the
vi ols of the middl e ages .
In the conformation of the violin, everything hasbeen anticipated
,not only for the production of its
s ounds, but al so for ensuring its solidity, its preservation, an d for remedying unforeseen accidents . For instance, it was requisite there should be a means of
gettin g at the inside, in order to effect indi spensable re
pairs . To attain thi s obj ect, the ingenious idea was
conceived of making the back an d belly sufficiently wide
that their edges m ight extend about 2 mi llimetresin .] beyond the sides ; this on th e one hand serves
as a point of support for the tool used for unglueing
59
them, an d on the other it leaves no traces of the opera
tion of re — glueing . Besides,these edges are relieved
an d ornamented with a large purflin g of three
colour s, presenting an outlin e of the instrument an d,
indeed, performing the office of a hem destined to
preserve the fragil ity of the back an d belly . Nothi ng
like thi s ex isted in the viols which immediately preceded the violin .
I t woul d be a great mi stake to suppose that the position an d form of the f -holes, whi ch, in the vi olin, al to,an d bass, replace the openings of the older instruments,are arbitrary . The position of these f -holes, their form
the mi nutest detail s of their cutting, ar e such essential
points, that no alteration whatever can be made in them
without injuring the qual ity of the tone .Th e neck of the vi olin is no less entitled to praise than
the other parts of the instrument, from the sim plicity of
its disposition an d its graceful outline, so happily term in ated by the elegance of the scrol l . Lastly, the
apparatus whi ch serves to di stend the strings (the putting
in to vibration of whi ch reveals the quali ties of the ih
strument) is the s implest an d the best-conceived which
it is possible to imagin e .11
r o r N,
Maple an d deal are the constituent elements of the
violin which woods present infinite varieties, by reason
of the di fferent countries which produce them, an d the
climates under which their growth is developed . The
maple_used by the old Ital ian makers came from Croatia,
Dalmatia, an d even from Turkey . It was sen t to Venice,
prepared for oars used for the galleys ; an d the Turks,it is said, always in rivalry an d often at war with the
60
Venetians, took care to select wood with the greatestnumber of waves in it, in order that it might break the
sooner . It is from these parts of the wood intended forthe rowers that the Italian makers chose what suitedthem for the manufacture of violins .The deal employed by the Cremona
from the southern side of the mountain s of Ital ian Swit
z er lan d an d the Tyrol . Stradivarius , of whom we speak,generally chose those parts of it in which the fibres were
smal l, straight, slightly separated, an d al ways placed
perpendicularly to the plane of the violin .
We have n ew related what were the r esults of the
labours of the great makers of the school of Brescia,an d of the Amati family . In the instruments of
Gasparo di Sal e an d Magini we find a tone at once
superb,maj estic, an d penetrating, but veiled an d melan
chely ; in those of Nicholas, the most able of the Amati,
a pure, sweet an d silvery tone, but little intensity .
Mellowness an d beauty united to clearness, brilliance
an d vibratory power— thi s was the last problem to resolve . A m an at length appeared, who, by progr essive
steps, ultimately discovered the secret of all these per
fection s combined . This m an was Anthony Stradivarius,of whom we are about to speak . Af ter relating all that
it has been possible to collect concernin g his person an dfam ily, we shall follow him in his labours, an d shall set
forth, beyond doubt an d discussion (at least, we hopeso), the principles which have resul ted from his studies,an d which have guided him in the finest productions of
his talent .
Ol
ANTHON! STRADIVARIU S .
IMPROVEMENTS OF BOW-INSTRUMENTS .
ANTHON! STRAD IVARI,born at Cremona, was de
s cended from a very ancient decur ion al an d senatorial
family of that city . In the catalogue of ancient families
who have filled pub l ic offices, which is preserved in the
mun i cipal archi ves of Cremona, we find a succession of
members of this family who have been in vest ed withthe hi ghest di gn i ties , from 1 1 27 t o 1 474 . In 1 1 27 ,
Ottol in us Stradivarius was sen ator p atr ice. In 1 1 8 6 ,
Egidius Stradivarius bore the same title . In a manu
script volume, exi sting in the same archives, an d entitled
I n scr zfp tz'
on es Cremon en ses Un iversce, occurs the epitaph of
the latter (p . ccx, No . copied from the sepul chralinscription which exists in the Church of St . Laurence
of the Ol ivite Fathers : it runs thus
Egidius . Strad ivarius . Patrim suee . Crem . sen ator
S umm a . in Om n es . Mun ific . Lib eral itate . Er .
H ie . Corpus . suum . Jacet
Obiit an . H um . sal . 1 1 9 9 . 4 Id . apr .
Laura . Sch itia . ux or . Cariss . P .
The same collection also gives the copy (p . lxiii,
No . 3 7 8 ) of the epitaph of Gug l ie lm us S tradivertus, an
excellent lawyer, who d ied in 1 4 3 9 . This inscription
62
exi sts in the suppressed Church of St . Andrew, at
Cremona, an d is as follows
H odie . Mih i . Cras . Tibi
V iator
Respice . FinemGugl ielm us . Stradivertus
J . C . Praestan tissim us
S ibi . suisque . JEredib us
H ie. S itus . Est
Ob n t . A n n e . MCCCCXXXIX .
We perceive, from the registers above mentioned,
that the Stradivari family was sometim es called S tradi
varias, sometimes S tradivera, an d even S tradiverta .
Notwithstandin g the perseverance of M . Vuil l aum e,
in his researches to discover the precise date of the
birth of Stradi varius, an d despite the devoted com
plaisance of M . Julius Fusetti, vicar of the Cathedral
of Cremona, who has spared no pai ns in order to attainthis obj ect, through cir cumstances which it is impossible
to explain, this date cannot be found . It is therefore
presumable that, at the time of the suppression of manyof the churches of Cremona, their archives m ay have
been stolen, concealed, or even destroyed . Fortunately,however, one memorial remains, which di spels al l doubtas to the year when the celebrated violin maker cameinto the world . Among the memoranda of Carlo Carli ,banker at Milan, occurs an inventory of the instrumentswhi ch belonged to Count Coz ie de Salab ue, an d which
were deposited with him . Now, in this inventory,
6 3
appears a violin of Stradi varius, having within it a label
written by the hand of the maker himself , an d in whi chwe read his name, his age (ninety-two years), an d the
date 1 7 3 6 . Stradi varius was therefore born in the
ream s .
As a pupil of Nicholas Amati, he manufactur ed, in
1 6 67 — that is, at the age of twenty-three years — some
vi olins which were merely the ex act reproduction of the
forms of his master, an d in which he placed the label of
Nicholas . It was not until 1 6 70 that he began to signhis instruments with
—
his own name . In the twenty
yeEr'
s
'
folIowin g,£3 1 690, he produced but few . We are
incl ined to think that the artist was then more occupied
in meditations an d experiments on his art, than on
labours in a commercial point of view. In the di s
po sition of the wood, cut on the layers (sur coue/i e), mth e
'
arch in g an d in the varnish, the
instruments then made by Stradi varius are but little
different from those of Nicholas Amati .
The year 1 690 is a very marked period of transition
in the career of Anthony Stradivarius . It was then
that he began to gi ve greater amplitude to his model,to improve the arching, an d to determine the various
degrees of thickn ess in a more rigorous m anner . His
varn ish became more highly coloured, an d, in a word,
h is productions assumed a different aspect ; but we still
d i scern in them some traditions of the school of Nicholas
Amati . Violin makers of the present day habitual ly
design ate them by the name of S tradivar ius-A ma l ia
In 1 700 the artist had attained to his fifty-s ixth
year ; his tal ent was then in its full vigour, an d from
64
that period to _ 1 7 25 the in strum en ts wh ich came i rom
his hands are perfect masterpieces . He no longer felthis way ; but, being certain of al l that he did, he carried
hi s manufacture, even to the minutest details , to the
highest possible finish . His model has al l the amplitude
desir able ; the outl ines of it are designed with a taste
an d a purity which, after a century an d a h alf, still
excite the admiration of con n oiseur s . The wood, se
lected with the keenest discernment, unites_to richnes s
of figur e al l the conditions of sonority . For the back,
aswell as for the sides, he then altered the disposition
of it, having the timber cut on the quarter (sur mail le)in stead of on the layers (sur couche) . The arching of
his instruments, without being too elevated, falls 0 11
m gentle an d regu lar curves, which leaves it al l therequisite flexibili ty . The sound-holes, cut with the
hand of a master, became models for shape an d siz e
(modé les de disp osition s) to all his successors . The scroll,
which had assumed a more severe character, is carved
with great perfection . The beautiful,warm tone of the
varnish of Stradi varius takes its date from this peri od
the quality of it is fine an d extremely supple .
The workmanshi p of the interior of the instrumentdisplays no less perfection ; al l is there finished with
the greatest care . The degrees of thickness are ad
justed in a rational manner, an d are remarkable for a
precision whi ch could not have been attain ed except by
long study . The back, the belly, an d al l the parts
of which the instrument is composed, are in a perfectly
harmonious relation . It was, doubtless, repeated trials
an d diligent ob servation s which also led Stradivarius,
impairs the clearness of the sound ; the delicacy an d finish
of the work progressively decrease, an d the varnish is
brown . There seems also to have been a falling off in
the manufacture for we meet with proportionably fewer
instruments of this period than of the preceding .
In 1 7 3 0, an d even somewhat earlier, the im press of
the master almost entirely disappeared . A practised
eye discovers that the instruments have been made by
less able hands . He himself signed many of them as
having been made simply under his direction sub
discip lin a S tradivar ii .” In others we recogniz e the hand
of Charles Bergon z i, an d of the sons of Stradivarius,
0 772000720 an d Fran cesco . After the death of this celebratedm an , many instruments which remained unfinished in
his workshop were completed by his sons . The greater
number bear his name on the printed label, an d hence
arises the uncertainty an d confusion in regard to theproducts of the latter times .
Stradivarius made but few altos, al l of which are of
a large siz e . Their quality of tone i s extremely beauti
ful, bein g penetrating, noble, an d sympathetic .
The violoncellos of his make are more numerous
in them we notice the same progressive steps towards
perfection of workmanship an d admirable finish, as in
th e violins . These instruments are of two dimensions :
the one large, to which the name of b ass was formerlygiven ; the other smaller, which is th e violon cel lo proper .
To the first of these categories belongs the bass of M .
Servai s, Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brusselsan d a vir tuoso whose renown is European . The tone of
this fine instrument has an extraordinary power, united
67
to sil ver'y mellowness . The violoncell o of the admirableartist M . Franchomme is of the other pattern ; it
formerly belonged to Duport, an d is an in strument of
very great value . At the present day this pattern is
preferred, the dim ensions of which are convenient for
th e performance of difficul ties . The hand of a Servais
is requir ed for a bass so large as his .
The violoncellos of Stradivarius are immeasur ablysuperior to all other instrumen ts of this kind : their
powerful tone possesses a ful ness, a distinctive character
an d a brill iance which cannot be equalled . These ad
mirable qualities result, on the one hand, from' the
choice of the wood, on the other, from the degrees of
thickness an d, in short, from the exact relations of al l
part s of the instrument, whi ch are set in equi l ibrium in
order that the vibrations m ay be free, energetic, an d
prolonged . The superiority of these instruments is
ensured, as in the case of the violins, by the constant
appli cation of the laws of acoustics .
At the per iod w hen Stradivarius worked, viols of all
species were still used in the orchestras ; he himself
made many of them, of different forms an d dimensions,
with six an d seven strings , as well as quintons with flat
backs , raised sides, an d arched belli es ; also some
g uitars , lutes, an d mandoras . O n e of the latter in stru
ments,con structed by this great artist, exists at Paris,
at the present time : the delicacy of the workman ship
an d the beauty of the varnish are very remarkable ; thecarv in g of the head is of e x quisite finish , so that, both
as a whole, as well as in its details, this pretty in stru
m ent combines al l kinds of perfection .
68
Two things are equally worthy of attention in thelabours ofAnthony Stradivar ius ; namely, the excellence
an d the almost infinite number of his instruments . It
is true that the multiplicity of his production s is explained by the great age to which he arrived, an d by hisperseverance in working, which he maintained to theend of his life . Stradivarius was one of those few menwho, in aiming at perfection, so far as it is poss ible
for humanity to attain to it, never swerve from the pathwhich m ay conduct them thereto : men wh o suffern othing to divert or turn them aside from their obj ect ;who are not di scouraged by fallacies, but who, full of
faith in the value of the obj ect they have in view,as well
as in their ability for its realisation, continually recom
mence that which they have done well, in order to
arr ive at the best possible result . To Stradivarius , themaking of stringed instruments was the whole world ;thereon he concentrated his entire self. In this wayonly can a m an raise himself, when aptitude answers to
the will . The prolonged existence of ninety-three years,
which was that of the artist who is the subj ect of this
notice, was entirely passed away in a quiet workshop ,
before a bench,with compass or tool in hand .
We have before seen that Anthony Stradivarifinished a violin at
'
the age of ninety-two years, in 1 7 3 6 .
For some years previously, he h ad been preparing himself for death, having made ready his tomb in 1 7 29 .
The proof of this is to be seen in the following extractfrom the book of inscriptions of Cremona (I n serip tion es
Cremon en ses un iversce),which has been already mentioned .
The extract runs in these terms
6 9
Fin alm ente nello stesso volum e a pag . CXXX I I , No . 92 3 ,
leggesi la Epigrafe del sepolcro del celebre fabbricatore di
violin i An ton io Stradivari,che era gia n el Pavim en to, in tera
men te rifatto dell a Chiesa di San D om en ico de Padri
D omen ican i ed e la seguente :
S epolcro. DiAn tonio . Stradivari
E . suoi . Eredi . A 1 1 . 1 72 9
In fede di quan to sopra,Crem on a
,le 1 8 Settem bre, 1 8 5 5 .
Il Prelato Prim icerio An ton io Dragon i,Ex V ieario Gen eral e Capitolaredella Citta e di ocesi di Crem ona .
Then fol low three seals displaying the arms, n ames,
an d titles of the chief prelate Anthony Dragoni .
The date, 1 7 29, placed on the tomb of Stradivari,led to the belief that he had died at that period ; but
the discovery of a violin of 1 7 3 6 , in which Stradivari
himself had stated hi s age to b e -nin ety-two years, hascompletely subverted that tradition . Some new re
searches, made with indefatigable perseverance, have
Fin al ly, in the same vol um e, at page cx x x x r, No . 923 , we readthe epitaph o f th e tom b of the ce lebrated v io l i n -m aker, A n tho n yS trad ivari, w h ich w as form erly in the pavem en t— [n ow ] e n tirel y
“ rel aid — e f S t. D om in ic ’ s Church , of the D om in ican Fathers, an d isas fo l lows
S epul chre . O f
A n tho n y . S trad ivariA n d . h is . H eirs . ! ear 1 729 .
I n testimo n y o f th e above,Cremo n a, th e 1 8 th o f S eptem ber 1 855 .
A n tho n y D rago n i, Ch ief I ’ re late (or D ea n ),Capitul ar E x -v icar gen eralo f the city an d d iocese o f Cremo n a .
70
been finally crowned with success, an d have made
known the precise date of the decease of this celebrated
artist . In an auth en tic extract from the registers ofthe Cathedral of Cremona, signed an d delivered by M .
Julius Fusetti, vicar of that church, we have the proof
that A nthony Stradivari was buried on the 1 9th of
December, 1 7 3 7 , an d consequently that he died on the
1 7 th or 1 8th of the same month, at the full age of
ninety-three years . But, by an inexplicable singularity,
neither his own remains, nor those of his chil dren, were
deposited in the tomb which he h ad prepared for them ;
for the burial extract is worded as follows
Nel libro col titolo : L i b ro de’
Mor ti n ella Ch iesa diS . Dom en ico, essistan te n ell ’ arch ivio di questa parecch ia
trovasi quan to segue
“ A di 1 9 D icem bre 1 73 7 . D ate sepoltura al fu sig .
An ton io S tradivari, sepolto n ella sepoltura del sig . FrancescoV ilan i, n ella Capella del Rosario, parecchia di S . Mateo .
D alla Cattedrale di Cremon a,Li 1 9 S ettem bre, 1 8 5 5 .
In fede
S ign é : Fusetti G iul io
(w ith the church seal) .
“ I n the book en titl ed : I/i b ro de’
mor ti (Bur ia l R eg ister) of the
Church of S t. D om in ic, ex istin g i n the archives of this parish, wefin d th e fol l ow in g :O n the 1 9th day o f D ecem ber, 1 73 7 : Took pl ace th e fun eral o f
the l ate S ign or A n ton io S tradivari, who was buried in th e vaul t ofS ign er Fran cesco V i l an i, in the chapel of th e R osary, in th e parishof S t Matthew .
From th e Cathedral of Crem on a,
Th e 1 9 th o f S eptember, 1 855 .
I n testim on yS ign ed : J ul ius F asel l i, Vicar .
Anthony Stradivarius had been married an d h ad
had three sons an d one daughter . The sons were
named F r an cesco, On i ob on o, an d the third P aolo . Thefir st two worked in their father
’ s shop until his death ;
but Paolo entered into [other] business . If Catharine,
the daughter of Strad ivarius , was his first child, w e
might pretty nearly determine the period of his m ar
r iage ; for she died in 1 748 , at about the ag e of seventyyears, according to an extract from the burial registerof the Cathedral of Cremona,
from 1 7 3 0 to 1 7 It
follows, from this date, an d from the age at wh ich she
had arrived, that sh e was born about the year 1 6 7 8 ;from whence we m ay conclude that the marriage of
Anthony Stradivarius must have taken place in 1 6 7 6 or
1 6 7 7 , that is, when he was twenty-two or twenty -three
years of age .
The life of Anthony Stradivarius was as tranquil as
his calling was peaceful . The year 1 70 2 , alone, must
have caused him much disquiet, when, during the war
concerning the Succession, the city of Cremona was
taken by Marshal Villeroy on the Imperial s ide, retaken
by Prince Eugene, an d finally taken a third time by theFrench : b ut, after that period, Italy enj oyed a long
tranquillity, in which the old age of the artist glided
peacefully away . We know b ut l ittle res li ectin g that
“ Catarin a , fig l ia de l tu A n to n io S trad ivari dom ic il iata so tto la
parecch ia de l la ca ted ra le d i Crem o n a, m ore n e l l a n n o 1 748 , n e l l'
e ta
d i c irca 70 . 0 fix sepo l ta n e l la Ch iesa d i S . D om e n ico . L i b ra da'
m ow/i
del 1 7 3 0 1 1 1 1 75"
(Cathar in e, «l augh ter o f the la te A n to n io S trad iva r i, dwe l l i n g i nthe parish o f the Cathedra l o f Crem o n a . d ied in the year 1 748 , at
“about the age o f 70 years, a n d was buried i n the church of S t.
D om in ic . Bur ia l 1 755”( 0 1 7 3 2 )
7 2
uneventful existence . Polledro,late first violin at the
Chapel Royal of Turin,who died a few years ago, at a
very advanced age, declared that his master had known
Stradivarius, an d that he was fond of talking abouthim . He was, he said, tall an d thin . Hab ituallycovered with a cap of white wool in winter, an d of
cotton in summer,he were over his clothes an apron of
white leather when he worked ; an d , as he was always
working, his costume scarcely ever varied . He had
acquired more than competency by labour an d economy ;for the inhab itants of Cremona were accustomed to say“r ich as S tradivar i .
” Old La Houssaie, whom I knewin my youth, an d who had visited Cremona a shorttime after the death of Stradivarius, told me that the
price which he asked for his violins was four lom'
s d’
or
At this rate, an d considering the period whenh e l ived, he must certainly have acquired some wealth .
Bergonz i, grandson of Charles (the best pup il of Stradivar ius, except Guarnerius), who died a few years ago at
the age of eighty, pointed out the place where thecelebrated artist worked, in a house numbered 1 2 3 9, inSt . Dominic
’
s Square, opposite the P er la .Maggiore.
Since then , this shop was long occupied by a cooper ;but it i s n ow in the occupation of an upholsterer .
These details m ay possess some interest for the ardent
admirers of the beautiful instruments of Stradivarius .The question h as been often raised
,whether Stradi
var ius was guided, in the making of his instruments, byan y other principles than those of a long acquaintancew ith facts ; an d whether the excellence of these in stru
ments is not simply the result of such ex perience, an d
74
produced from a violin or a bass until after it has been
long in use ; for here, in this new instrument, we find al l
the qualities combined,of p ower , mellown ess, roun dn ess,
delicacy, free vi b ration , a very sup er ior, n ob le an d p en e
tratin g ton e. In a word, this violin is a type of external
beauty, an d of sonorous perfection .
In regard to the beneficial effects produced on
instruments by time — b y which, accordi ng to the vul gar
opinion, the viol ins of Stradivarius an d Guarnerius haveattained a portion of their finest qualities — it seems to
be forgotten that those of Bocquay , Pierret, D espon t,Véron , Guer san , Castagn éry, Saint-Paul, an d Salomon,
are at least as old as those of Stradi varius, an d yet at the
present day—
a hun dredfran cs could not be obtained
even for the best of them . It is likewise forgotten that
the Tyrolese makers, who lived in the seventeenth an d
the early part of the eighteenth century, have also had
the benefit of t ime for their in struments, an d that they
h ad the opportunity of selecting equally good wood ;
but who would pretend to institute a compari son b etween their productions an d those of the two great
masters above — mentioned ?
Something more than time, then, is required, t o
impart a fine quality of tone to instruments ; an d even
something more than a form of construction agreeable
to the eye : regard must be had to the laws of acoustics,
an d these are what have to be discovered .
The laws of acoustics, like all those of physical
science — that is, of nature — are laws of relation . Every
phenomenon, in fact, results from relations betweencertain elements an d certain others . H ad Stradivarius
7 5
discovered these laws ? U nquestionably, no : but, likea superior m an in hi s art, he had made practical
experiments ; an d what hi s researches an d experiencethus enabled him to do with certainty, i s precisely the
result of acoustical laws, as since formul ated by a
lear ned phi losopher from the productions of the artist
himself. Take him at his starting point, an d what do
we find in the instrum ents of hi s master ? A tone,
pure, silvery an d mellow ; workmanship of careful
finish ; but an ab sence of intensity in the sound ofthe instrument, resul ting from too elevated an archi ng,an d a defect in certain preportions . Stradivarius h im
self remained subj ect to the like conditions for some
years, an d only abandoned them by degrees . What
in duced him thus to modify his instruments so very
progressively ? Evidently, the des ire to impart t o themqualities whi ch were wanting in those of his prede
cessers . Foreseeing, then, the poss ibili ty of these
qualities, he very naturally sought to attain them .
In 1 700, his ideas became settled ; his model was
decided on, an d hi s hand, skilful to second his in tell i
gent views, gave to the form of his instruments all theperfection desirabl e . ( That wh ich was wanting to the
Amati — power uni ted with brilliancy an d mellowness
he had discovered) He did what he wished, because heknew what was required . Was this effected by chance ?
No ; as we shall proceed to prove .
A m an endowed with the rarest powers for theobservation of facts an d for the deductions which might
be drawn from them , Felix Savart, too early lost to
science,was, for nearly twenty years , absorbed in the
7 6
problem of the.
laws by which the best possible tonemight be produced in bow-instruments ; an d having duly
considered al l the various theories on this subj ect, hefinally resolved to submit the instruments of Stradivarius
to analysis, hoping to derive therefrom the illumination
which he had been unable to obtain elsewhere . As he
himself declared, in his course of lectures on ex per i
mental philosophy, delivered in the college of France
during the academic year 1 8 3 8 — 9, he was indebted to
the courtesy of M . Vuil laum e, an d to his z eal for
science, for the opportunity of experimenting upon a
great number of violins by Stradivarius an d Guarnerius,as well as on the remains of instruments by these greatmasters . It was from the result of these reiteratedexperiments, varied in a thousand ways, that the learned
Professor deduced his theory of the construction of bowinstruments, the principles of which he detailed in his
course, an d of which he was preparing a definite abstract,which death unfortunately prevented him from finishin g
an d publishing . It is from these researches that I borrow what follows .
It is at once evident that al l the doubts which per
pl ex ed the mind of Savart, concerning the laws that
govern th e construction of bow — instruments, were immediately dispelled when he experimented on the
i nstruments o f the grand epoch of Stradivarius ; becausethere he always found the same results produced by the
same causes, the same forms, an d the same preportions .
Sagacious as an y one could be, in the art of discoverin g
these causes, by experiments as well conceived as they
were nicely carried out, Savart was able . at the close of
7 7
them, to determine the laws which (even without his
knowing it) had directed our celebrated artist in his
labours .
In gen eral terms, the instruments of Stradivarius
owe their admirable qualit ies : fi1 st to the excellentchoiceof the wood
,secondly
,to the 1 elat-ions of sonority
subsisting among the d 1 ffe1 ent pieces which compose these
instruments thirdly, to the capaciousness of the chest,combined with the proportions of thickness of the backan d belly, from whence 1 esul ts the sound p i educed by the
vibrations of the air under the action of the bow, which
sets the sonorous body 1 11 motion lastly, to the very
exact precision of the workmanship, an d to the varnish .
whose essential properties are to protect the wood against
the influence of the hygrometric changes of the atmo
sphere, without offerin g an y obstacle to the elasticity 0 1 1
which the freedom of vibration depends .
In analysing the instruments of Stradivarius, it wasrequisite to begin with an analysis of the sonority of the
wood used by him . The appearance of it is of no assist
ance whatever as a guide to facts, in this respect ; the
most practised eye can discern nothing therein : care
fully conducted experiments can alone aiford an y in
formation .
That al l kinds of wood yield a sound, no one can
doubt : but by what method can they be examined inorder to d etermine their intonation ? The speci fi c
sonority of wood was already known at th e period whe n
Me rsenne published his Tra ité ( lo l’
l l arm o n ie m n’
versc/le
( 1 6 3 6 ) he speaks of it, an d indicates percuss ion as the
means for knowing a n d determining it . No d oubt this
7 8
method was adopted by Stradivarius ; indeed, we shallfind a proof of it in what follows . But, in the first place,
let it be ob served that the experiments an d discoveries
of Chladni, on the vibrations of sonorous plates of al l
kinds, have made known a preferable method to percussien for determining the specific intonations of woods
of gi ven dimensions : this method consists in the friction
of a bow against the edges of a rod suitably prepared .
But such a dimension of r ed had to be sought, from
which might be obtained with facility a sound sufficientlyintense to be accurately appreciated, in order that theintonation might be determined an d compared with
other sounds produced likewise by the friction of the
bow .
Some fragments of instruments by Stradivarius
presented dimensions large enough to admit of rec
tan gular rods being made out of them — cut perpen
dicul ar ly, an d parallel to the fibres of'
the wood — of a
length of 2 0 centimetres a breadth of 2 0millimetres 87 an d a thickness of 5 millimetres
These rods were alternately put into vibra
t ion, by holding the one under examination between thefingers, in such a way as to touch it only at points a
quarter of the length from each end, an d presenting the
side of the thickness to the action of the bow, precisely
at the middle of the length . On the upper surface ofthe rod, some fine, dry sand was scattered, an d, in
order to leave this surface perfectly free, the rod was
held at one end, between the first finger an d thumb, an dsustained horiz ontally with th e l ittle finger underneath .
In this position, an d with the bow in action, the sand
7 9
was se en to divide itself into two parall el lines on the
sides of the rod thus provin g that the whole rod hadentered into regular v ibrations .These experiments yielded the following results1 . A rod of well-figured maple, of the dimensions
stated, obtained from a fragment of a vi olin of Stradi
var ius, made in 1 7 1 7 , produced the note A sharp
2 . A nother rod of plain maple, a fragment of an
instrument of the same master, made in 1 708 , gave the
same note .
3 . A rod of deal taken from a violin of Stradivarius,made in 1 7 24, produced F
4 . A nother rod of deal, from an in strument of the
same master, made in 1 690, gave the same note .
5 . Lastly, a third rod of deal obtained from another
instrument of this celebrated maker, bearing the date
1 7 3 0 . also gave the same note .
The pitch havin g continually risen during the last
quarter of a century, the ancient standard was used, in
making these e x periments, which gave for the [lowest]C of the violin 5 1 2 vibrations in a second .
Results so identical , produced by wood employed at
such d istant periods , leave no doubt that Strad ivariusmade use of means analogous to those adopted by S avart
in his experiments, an d that he attached great import
ance to them : for h is eye-sight, however keen an d well
practised it migh t have been , could n ever have en abled
80
him to judge beforehand of the intonation of the wood
which he used . This is proved by the fact that ex per i
ments of the same kind, made on various woods whose
appearance was identical, an d with rods of the same
dimensions,have yielded extreme diversities of sound,
such as a third, a fourth, an d even more, when the rods
were not taken from the same piece of wood .
Let us now see what of positive instruction theory
has deduced from the facts which have been mentioned,
an d why we m ay conclude w ith certainty that the ad
mirable qualities of the in struments of Stradivarius have
been obtained by vir tue of the laws of this theory, an d
not by the effect of time an d use, which can never bringforth perfection from a mediocre article .
We know that the sound — board or belly, which sup
ports the strings an d the bridge, is made of deal, an d
the back of the instrument, of maple . Deal is preferablet o every other kind of wood for the bell y, by reason ofits feeble density, an d especially on account of its
elasticity Its resistance to flex ion is greater, n ot only
than that of an y other wood, but even than that of
many metallic bodies . It is equal to that of glass, an d
even steel, over which it has the advantage of exceeding
lightness . Sound is propagated with as great a rapidity
in deal, as in the other substances which have beenmentioned . This fact is demonstrated by the following
experiment : if we take three rods of glass, steel an d
deal out in the direction of the fibres, al l having the
W e here reproduce a part of what we have said in our R app or t
sur les i n strumen ts de m usique de !’
E xp os ition de 1 855, con cern in g thetheory of b ow-in strum en ts .
8 2
a maple back was then substituted for the deal one, alsoin unison, but the instrument was utterly b ad an d the
quali ty of tone very weak . The cause of this phenomenon
was easily discovered ; for, maple not being endowed
with the like degree of rapidity in the propagation ofsound-waves as deal, it is evident that the back of the
instrument could not be put in unison with the belly,except by making it too thick . Hence, these facts clearly
prove that the back an d belly ought not to be in unison .
Not only should they not be so, but they should bedecidedly kept distant from it ; in order to avoid the
beatings always consequent on two sounds which ap
proximate in their intonation . To determine the relation
of the sounds which the back an d belly should yiel d, so
as to obtain the best resonance possible, it was necessaryto resort to di rect experiments, which were made con
j ointly by Savart an d M . Vuil laum e on several very
valuable instruments of Stradivarius an d Guarnerius .
The [true] sounds of the back an d belly were ascertainedin the foll owing manner : these piece s were fastened in
a wooden vice, at a point where two nodal lin es crossed
each other, the one transversal an d the other longi
tudin al , answering to the two kinds of elasticity of deal
an d maple . When they were put into vibration by the
bow, longitudinal an d transversal lines were produced,*
which proved that the two kinds of elasticity were in
action, an d the nodal system being the same both onthe back an d on the belly, it was found there was a ton e
Th e w oo den pl ates form in g the back an d be l ly were previousl ysp rin k l ed w ith d ry ,fin e san d — TR .
difference between them . The back was exactly one
tone lower than the belly .
For contradi ctory experiments, a back an d belly
were constructed in other relations : when nearly in
unison, beatings resulted ; an d when farther apart thanan interval of a tone, they no longer vibrated conj ointlyin a normal manner .
Here, then, is a new fact acquired for science : the
maple plate , or the back of the viol in, should be a tone
lower than the deal plate [or belly] , in order to obtain
the finest sonority possible when they are united . Can
it be supposed to be by mere chance that this relation
is invariably found in the excellent instruments of Stradi var ius an d Guarnerius, an d that the first of these
masters, of whom the o ther was the pupil,had no method
for determining the said relation, of which h is great
ex perience an d practical skill had incontestably recog
n ised the necessity ? Chance m ay give rise to a fact in
one in stance, but it never regularly repeats the same .
We now come to another point no less essential .
The intensity of the sounds rendered by a violin dependson the mass of air contained within it, which ought to
be in a certain relation with the other elements ; a re
lation which it i s here the question to determine . By a
series of ingenious experiments, m ade with an apparatus
which permitted the mass of a ir conta ined in a violin to
be augmented or d iminished [at pleasure] , we are
assured that , if the strings are put into v ibration while
the m ass of air i s at a m ed ium ,we obtain sounds at once
m ellow an d powerful ; if the volume o f a ir be too great,
the grave sounds are weak an d dull, an d the acute harsh
4
an d thin ; if it be too little, the grave sounds are coarse,an d those of the first string lose their brilliance .
If we examine the sound produced by the air in the
chest when the tone rendered by the strings is mostbeautiful an d intense, we find that it keeps within certain limits which depend on the form an d the other
elements of the instrument . In trying the mass of air
contained in several [instruments of] Stradivarius, bymeans of a w ind-conductor formed of a simple brasstube
,slightly conical, an d flat at its larger end, so as to
leave only a little slit for the escape of the air, it was
found, by placing the flat end of this apparatus over one
of the f holes an d blowing through the other end,
that the air always produced a sound corresponding to
5 1 2 vibrations in a second, which was that of [middle]C, in the time of Stradivarius ; but which, in 1 8 3 8 ,
when Savart made his experiments, answered to B
natural [a sem itone below] . Through the excess iverise in the pitch for about the last eighteen years, thesound produced by 5 1 2 vibrations is now nearly in unison
with B flat . All the excellent violins of Stradivarius
an d Guarnerius have yielded the same result . This,
then,i s another fact acquired for science : the air con
tain ed in a violin should produce a sound equal to 5 1 2
vibrations in a second, when set in motion by the appa
ratus of which we have spoken . If the intonation of the
air be higher, the grave sounds of the instrument aredry ; if lower, the sounds of the first string are of dith
cult emission, an d those of the fourth resemble those of
the alto .
8 6
care which this great artist took to establish a perfectharmony in al l the parts of his instruments
,so that they
might be always in a state of equilibrium . We know
what absolute regularity he has always displayed in the
cutting of thef holes, invariably so true an d graceful !Sometimes this great master departed from his ac
customed dimensions, either for the sake of experiment,
or to gratify the taste of artists an d amateurs whodesired of him a certain special quality of tene but
precisely in such instances is found the most striking
demonstration of the excellence of the principles which
guided him in the construction of so large a number ofhis perfect instruments . There are some violins of
Stradivarius perceptibly larger than his ordinary pattern,an d in which the mass of air is not in exact relation with
the resonance of the b ack an d belly ; as a consequence,
these instruments are inferior to the others . The reason
of the excellence of the violins, altos, an d basses of
Stradi varius — _ or , to speak more correctly, of al l in stru
m ents of this species- lies in the perfect equilibrium of
al l the parts . So, be it observed, that two violin s, oneof Stradi varius an d the other of Guarnerius, having
considerable analogy in their forms an d dimensions, an dboth possessing the like harmonious proportions, have aremarkable resemblance in their tone, an d equally rank
among the best instruments which have emanated from
these great masters .
The necessity of harmony in the proportions is
observable throughout . If the back or the belly be too
thin,the tone of the instrument will be feeble ; if too
8 7
thick, the emission of the sounds will be laborious an d
obstinate : the excess of thi ckness will null ify the advan
tages which the wood should present by its rapid trans
mission of sonorous waves an d its very acute specific
sonority . If too great a bulge be gi ven to the bell y, or
the arching be too elevated, the equil ibrium of the massof air will be destroyed
, an d the tone of the instrument
will become dull an d nasal .
The height of the sides is lik ewise of the greatest
importance ; for it isi
that which determines the capacity
of the“
chest in its relations w ith the model of the backan d belly, an d which, consequently, decides the quantity
of air introduced in the instrument . And it is here that
the action of the mas s of air contained in a sonorous
chest displays its importance in regard to the production
of the sounds . In giving to a violoncello proportionaldimensions to those of a violin, an d in the relations
previously indi cated, the back an d belly should be 3 5inches [long] , by 20 inches w ide ; because the A of this
instrument is a twelfth below the first string of the violin,
an d it is requisite that the volume of sound should beproportioned to the gravity of the in tonation ; but these
great dimensions would be inconvenient for playing .
Stradivarius gave to the back an d belly of his violoncellos
a length of only 2 6 or 2 7 inches, an d a width of 1 5 or
1 6 , at the most ; but he provided, in the height of the
sides, a compensation necessary for the mass of air, in
making them 4 in che s instead of three, which wouldhave been the exact proportion if the back an d belly hadbeen larger . It is compulsory to adept th e proportions
8 8
of Stradivarius an d Guarnerius for the height of the
sides of violins,in order to put the sound of the mass of
air in harmonic relation with that of the back an d belly .
The b ar glued under the belly of the violin, on the
left of the bridge, is n ow too weak in the old in stru
ments, particularly in those of Stradivarius an d Guar
n er ius : in al l of them it has been found necessary to
replace it by a stronger one . But we must not conclude
that these masters were mistaken in this part of their
work : they preportioned the b ar to the pressure'
of the
strings on the belly, conformably to the pitch of their
day . Tartini found, by experiments made in 1 7 3 4, that
the pressure of the four strings on the instrument was
equal to 6 3 pounds . It must be observed that thestrings of Tartini were smaller than those with which
violins are now mounted, an d that his bridge was lower,so that the angle formed by the strings was considerablyless . Twenty years ago,
* the first string required -
a
weight of 2 2 pounds in order to bring it up to pitch,an d the other strings a little less ; so that the total
pressure was, then, about 80 pounds . After 1 7 3 4, thepitch was raised a semitone, the instruments were
mounted with thicker strings, an d the angle which they
formed on the bridge was more acute : hence the n ecessity of r e-barring the violins . Since then, so excessive
h as been the rise in pitch, through the craving for abrilliant sonority, that there is nearly a difference of a
semitone between t he pitch of 1 8 3 0 an d that of 1 856 .
Th is was written by M . Fétis i n 1 855 .— TE .
90
to a viol with seven strings, the body of which is not
cut out, except at the two sides (F ig . an d the other
Fig . 1 .
obtained from a viol with five strings, cut through in
every part next, two violin bridges, the
F ig . 2 .
from a small-pattern violin of the ancient school of
9 1
Anthony Amati (F ig . the other having been used
in fitting up a Nicholas Amati (F ig . The two latter
already belong to the definitive form of the bridge, but
with certain variations, either in the number of the
incisions, or in their shape . It_
was Stradivarius who
definitively establi shed the existing form, represented
below (F ig . Delicate experiments, made with the
92
minutest care, have demonstrated that an y modifications
introduced into this“
model tend to impair thes on or ityof a good instrument .
Thus, it appears that the beautiful experiments ofSavart have proved, to a demonstration, the excellence
of the principles which guided Stradivarius in themaking of the fine instruments produced by him from1 700 t o 1 7 2 5 . Nor did he swerve from them in his
later works ; but the great age to which he had attained
g raduall y diminished his firmness of hand . The formis n ot essentially changed in his latest instruments, but
the workmanship betrays timidity . His finest in stru
ments known are : 1 st . That which belongs to the
Grand Duke of Tuscany ; 2 n d . M . Alard ’ s ; 3 rd .
V iotti’
s, now belonging to M . Brochant de Villiers ;
4th . A r tot’
s, which is in the possession of the Count
de Cessol , at Nice ; 5th . M . Boissier’
s, of Geneva ;
an d, lastly, those of Messrs . Betts , C odin g, Plowden s,an d Fountain, of London .
These principles, so rich in results, the mastercommunicated to h is b est immediate pup il sf at the
h ead of whom stand Joseph Guarnerius, an original
b ut capricious genius ; next, Char l esi
Bergon z i, the most
exact imi tator of his master, an d of whose make there
are some excellent instruments . Francis Stradivarius
h as likewise made some good violins, which, from 1 7 25
to about 1 740, bear his name ; but we know others
made by him in conjunction with his brother, Omobono,which bear this inscription : S otto la discip lin a d
’
A .
S tradivar ius, Cremon a . Omobono Stradivarius was moreparticularly occupied with the repair an d fittin g-up of
instruments . than with t heir manufacture . He died
94
Among the Italian vi olin makers of the third class,some were pupils of the Amati school ; others were
formed by the immediate pupils of Anthony Stradivar ius . These m ay be placed in the foll owing chronological order
Pietro della Costa, of Trev isa . 1 6 6 0 to 1 6 8 0
Michael An gelo Garan i, of Bologn a . 1 6 8 5 to 1 7 1 5
D avid Teekler, of Rome . 1 6 9 0 to 1 73 5
Carlo Guiseppe Testore, of Milan . 1 6 90 to 1 700
Carlo An tonio Testore,of Milan . 1 70 0 to 1 73 0
Paolo An ton ie Testore,of Milan . 1 7 1 0 to 1 74 5
N icole Gal ian e,of Naples . 1 70 0 to 1 740
Gen n aro Galian o, of Naples . 1 7 1 0 to 1 7 50
Spiritus Sursan o, of Con i (Cun co) 1 7 1 4 to 1 72 0
Tom aso Balestiere, of Man tua . 1 72 0 to 1 750
Ferdin ande Gal ian e, son of N icelo, of Naples . 1 740 to 1 78 0
Giovan n i Battista Guadagn in i, of Piacen za . 1 75 5 to 1 78 5
Carlo Lan dolfi, of M ilan . 1 750 to 1 76 0
Alessan dro ! an ti,of Man tua . 1 770
Lauren tius S turion us (Storion i) , of Crem on a . 1 78 0 to 1 79 5
Some m akers, born in foreign countries, wereformed in Italy in the school of the Amati, or in
that of Anthony Stradivari . At their head stands
James Stainer,* originally from the Tyrol, an d founderof a school of violin makers in that country . He was
Th is m aker is better kn ow n in E n gl an d as J acob S tain er (orS tein er), b ut the Latin l abel s on h is in strum en ts read in g “ J aco b usS tain er i n A b som &c . justifyM . Fétis, both here an d in h is Biograp hie
des Musicien s,”in cal l in g h im J ames ( J acques) . For addition al rem arkson h is v iol in s, see the tran sl ator‘s ed ition of O tto
’
s Treatise on the
S tructure an d P reservation of the Vio l in ,”publ ished by Messrs . Cocks
C0 .— TE .
95
born at A b som , near Hall, about three quarters of a
league from I n spruck, an d in his youth worked at
Cremona, with Nicholas Amati . The history of thi s
artist is enveloped in obscurity an d has the appearance
of romance ; but it m ay be confidently asserted that he
was a great master . His glory was obscured, an d hi s
instruments have not the commercial value whi ch be
longs to such as real ly came from his hands ; for the
Tyrolese makers of the thir d class often put his nameon their inferior instrum ents, in order to raise the
price of them . Most of the spurious Stainer in struments in the market have this origin . The genuine
instruments of this master were formerly classed by
Lup ot, an excellent maker, of Paris, an d by the violinist
Cartier, in three periods . To the first belonged theviolins dated from Cremona, which have labels written
an d signed by the hand of Stainer himself ; these are of
the greatest rarity . They ar e know n by the followin g
characteristics a small pattern ; small an d narrow
f holes ; a less elongated scroll than that of the Amati,
an d larger in front . The wood has a broad grain, an d
the varnish is like that of Nicholas Amati . A fine
instrument of this period passed from M . D esen tel les,
late Intendant of the King’
s privy purse,into the hands
of Gardel, first Ballet-master at the Opera, fin d a
d istinguished amateur of the violin . It bore the date
1 644 .
So much obscurity han gs over th e second period
of Stainer, an d circumstances are related in such a
contradictory man ner, that, in the absence of authentic
documents, we can only pass it over . All the informa
96
tion that can be gathered from the genuine instrum entsproduced during this period is, that Stainer lived an d
worked at A b som from 1 6 50 to 1 6 67 . It is said that
he was then assisted in h is labours by his brother, Mark
Stainer, who was a monk . A violin which had belonged
to the Marquis de l a Rosa, a grandee of Spain, an d
which had been in the hands of Lup ot ; that of Coun t
de Marp , an amateur of the viol in at Paris ; anotherwhi ch belonged to Frey, late a member of the opera
orchestra, an d a music publisher ; an d lastly, an ad
mirable alto which was in the possession of Matrot de
Preville, late governor of the port of Lorient, wereformerly the only instruments of the second period ofStainer kn own as genuine, at Paris . At present, thecelebrated violinist, M . Alard, possesses one of the
greatest beauty .
According to tradition, Stainer retired to a Bene
dietine convent, after the death of his wife, an d there
passed the remainder of his days . It was there that h ewished to close his career by the construction of twelve
violin s of a superior finish, which he sent to the twelve
Electors of the Empire . I saw in the hands of Cartier,in 1 8 1 7 , a violin, which had formerly belonged to th eDuke of Orleans, grandfather of King Louis Philippe,an d had afterwards passed into the possession of the
violinist Navoigill e, an d lastly in to that of Cartier : it
was said to be one of those twelve precious instruments .
The tone — pure, silvery an d clear— was charming . The
varnish had a beautiful gilded appearance .
There is now, at Paris, a genuine Stainer in stru
ment, which I have heard S ivori play upon, an d which,
98
instruments from his father, an d labouring in the workshops of Cremona, he made many instruments which
have been esteemed nearly equal to those of the Amati .
Gerber,who confounds him with his father,mentions two
violins by him, which belonged to the violinist an d com
poser Al binoni, one dated 1 702 , an d the other 1 709 .
There was another Albani who worked in Sicily
during the first half of the seventeenth century. His
instruments bear no Christian name, an d nothing is
known of his life . There is, in Brussels, a small violin
possessing a brilliant volume of tone, an d bearing within
the inscription — S ign or A lb an i in P alermo, 1 6 3 3 .
Matthias Klotz or Clotz , a Tyrolese maker, was the
best pup il‘
of Stainer . After the death of his master,he manufactured instruments, the forms of which are in
general imitated from Stainer, but the tone of them h as
less distinction . Most of the violins of Klotz were madebetween 1 670 an d 1 6 96 . However, there ex ist some
instruments which bear the n ame of Matthias Klotz
an d a later date ; but it is‘
thought they were made by
the sons of this artist, an d that they did not put their
own names on the violins an d altos which came fromtheir workshops, until after the death of their father .
George, Sebastian an d J Egides (Egide) Klotz , sonsof Matthias, have m ade violins which are not devoid of
merit,but they are less sought for
,in Germany, than
those of their father . It is said of these artists, that,
when an instrument of their make turned out superior
to others, an d better finished in the details of its form,
they had the hab it of putting the name of Stainer uponit ; to which fraud is attributed the counterfeit Stainers
99
which are found in the market . A l l the Klotz family
l ived in the Tyrol,an d there formed numerous pupils,
the founders of all the manufactories of instruments inthat country .
There ex isted a maker of the name of George Klotz ,in 1 7 54, at Mittenwald on the Iser, near Landshutin Bavaria. I have seen one vi olin of his, dated from
that place, in that year . There is nothing to indicate
whether he was the grandson of Matthias .
Among the makers foreign to Italy who had workedunder Anthony Stradivarius,we distinguish l st,Medard,who afterwards worked at Paris,an d then at Nancy, from
1 680 to 1 7 20 . He was the founder of the trade in
Lorraine . 2 n dly , Ambrose Decombre, of Tournay
(Belgium),who, on returning to his own country,worked
at his business from 1 700 t o 1 7 3 5 . He is particul arlyknown for his good basses, which are held in esteem .
3 rdly, Francis Lupot, of S tuttgard,who wrought in thatcity from 1 7 25 to 1 7 50 he was the father of the maker
of the same name, who established himself at Paris, in
the second half of the eighteenth century . 4thly, an d
lastly, John Vuil laum e, of Mirecourt, who made good
instruments from 1 700 to 1 740 .
1 02
his patterns an d in the details of manufacture ; but his
instruments are of good quality an d esteemed .
Peter Guarneri, second son of Andrew an d brotherof the p rehedin g , worked from 1 6 90 to 1 7 25 . His firstproductions are dated from Cremona, but later he esta
b l ished himself at Mantua, where he made a great
number of instruments which are not without merit, butwhich have the fault of too high an arching, an d are
also wanting in brilliancy .
There was another Peter Guarneri, son of Joseph,an d grandson of Andrew . Violins an d basse s exist
of his make, dated from Cremona, from 1 7 25 to 1 740 .
During these fifteen years he produced but few . His
instruments resemble those of his father,whose pupil hewas, but they have les s finish .
It remains for me to Speak of the great artist ofthis family, J osep h A n thon y, commonly called in Italy
G iusepp e del J esz‘
t, because many of his violins bear the
monogram IHS upon the label . Up to this time, no
positive information has been obtainable of this celebratedmaker, so that only vague rumours, more or less ro
mantic, could be gathered concerning his life . He
himself had given the most direct indication of h is
origin, in informing us that he was the nephew ofAn drew, by this inscription placed in his instrumentsJ osep h Guarn er ius A n drew n ep os but we had no indica
tion of the date of his b irth . Thanks to the persevering
researches of M . Vuil laum e, an authentic document has
been found which dispels al l doubt on the last point .
It is now proved that Joseph Anthony Guarneri, legiti
mate son of John Baptist Guarn‘
eri an d Angela Maria .
1 03
Locadell a, was born at Cremona on the 8 th of June,1 68 3 , an d was baptiz ed on the 1 1 th of the same month,in the parish of St . Donato, at the chapel of ease of theCathedr al .
J ohn_1_3aptis_ t Guarneri, father of Joseph del J esu, of
whom mention i s here made,was the brother of Andrew .
It appears beyond doubt that he was a stranger to the
manufacture of instruments, for not one i s known which1 8 S i gned with his name . It even seems that his rela
tions wi th the members of his fami ly were not intimate ;for it was neither wi th Joseph, nor yet with Peter
Guarnerius that hi s son learnt his art, but with Anthony
Stradivarius .
Joseph Guarnerius del J osi‘c worked at Cremona
from 1 7 2 5 to 1 745 . His first attempts were not marked
by an y characteristic sign of original ity, except a certainindi fference in the choice of hi s materials, in the formswhi ch are variable — an d in the varnish . Some years
later, we find his instruments made wi th care : the woodused for the s ides an d the back is of excellent quali ty,
an d cut on the quarter (sur w attle) the deal of the belly
has been well chosen ; the varnish, of fine complexion
an d elastic quali ty, i s of the loveliest tint an d rivals thatof Stradivarius . The instruments of this period are of
small pattern their outlines are happily designed ; the
arching, sl ightly elevated, subsides by a gentle cur ve to
G'
uar n er i (G iuseppe A n to n io ) flg l io d e'
l egittim i con jugi G iovan n i Battista G uarn eri ed A n gela Maria Locadel la n acque n el la
parecch ia di S an D o n ato aggregata a l la cattedral e i l giorn o 8 G iugn o1 683 e b attez ato ii giorn o 1 1 del detto mese .
— Libro d i n ati (MW 1 669
al 1 692 . G .— D al la cattedrale d i Cremon a, l i 1 9 settembre 1 855. S ign é
F rwetl i G iul io vico .
1 04
the purfling ; the inner parts are formed of good deal .
It is only in one respect that criticism is applicable tothese in struments
,namely, the degrees of th ickness,
particularly in the middle of the back, are too great ; a
radical defect,which impairs their elasticity, the freedom
of their vibration, an d, consequently, the brilliance of
their sound . Mounted according to the style of the
period when they were constructed, these instruments
must have been wanting both in power an d in distant
transmission of sound . The stamp of originality is apparent in them, n otwithstanding the variable forms i n
which the artist still indulged .
In the third period of his career, Joseph Guarneriuspresents a still more surprising variety in the forms of
his instruments, while yet preserving that originality
and independence of character by which his genius is
revealed . During this period, he produced some ad
mirable instruments of a large pattern , made with
excellent wood cut on the quarter ( sur mai lle) , an d
conformably to the best conditions possible, in respectto the arching an d the degrees of thickness . A beautiful
varnish , as remarkable for its fineness an d elasticity, as
for its color, protects these excellent instruments,whichequal in merit the most beauti ful productions of AnthonyStradi varius, after b eing subj ected to the alterations
made necessary b y the requirements of the pr'
eslen t'
tin ie .
All at once, immediately after this glorious period
in his career, Guarnerius became so inferior to himselfin the instruments which left his hands, that it would
be impossible to recognise his productions, if the stampof originality, which he preserved to the last,
“
in certain
1 06
the varnish with which he covered his violins ; an d this
explain s the reason of the variety of composition an d
tints which are observable in these productions of a
disastrous period .
The reputation of Joseph Guarnerius was not esta-s
b l ish ed in Italy until after his death ; an d it has beenmuch more tardy in France . I remember that, in myyouth, while the price of a fine Stradivarius was a
hun dred louis that of the best Joseph Guarneriusdid not exceed twelve hun dredfran cs but, latterly,
their qualit ies of grand sonority have been recognised,which have caused them to be sought after, an d have
advanced the price of choice violins to six thousan dfran csAmong the best violins of this great master, we
m ay place in the first rank that on which Paganinihabitually played at his concerts, an d which he b e
queath ed to the city of Genoa, hi s native place* . that
which belonged to the celebrated violinist M . Alard,an done possessed by M . Leduc, an amateur, of Paris ; lastlythose belonging to Messrs . Godi n gf an d Pl owden s, of
London .
Some Italian makers have imi tated the style ofJoseph Guarnerius, particularly Paul Anthony Testore,of Milan, Charles Ferdinand Lan dolfi, of the same city,an d Laurence S torioni, of Cremona but their productions rank only among instruments of the third class .
A n in terestin g an ecdote of this cel ebrated in strum en t is rel ated inth e charm i n g H istory of th e V iol in an d i ts Professors” by Mr .
D ubourg, 4th Edition , p . 3 59, publ ished by Messrs . Cocks 0 0 . S ee
al so th e A ppen d ix to th is Wo l ‘k .-TR .
i Th e in strum en ts of th e l ate Mr . God in g were sol d in February1 857, by Messrs . Christy an d Man son , of Ki n g S treet, S t. James’sS quare — Ta .
1 07
Here ends the history of the man ufacture of stringedinstruments of the Cremonese school, the phases of
which have been so b r il lian t for nearly two centur ies .
At the present day , the city of Cremona, whose historiccelebrity is due to the labors of certain ar tists of that
professm n , no longer offers anythin g whi ch recall s thi s
ancient splendour of the art . With the exception of
some select citiz ens, the popul ation has not even pre
served the remembrance of the Amati, of Stradivarius,or of Guarnerius .
1 1 0
where the hair is fastened, an d a nut fixed in a dove
tail notch in the stick .
The figure of a bow- instrument drawn from a manu
script of the ninth century by the Abbot Gerb ert, an d
reproduced in this work, shows an inverse dispositionof the bow ; for the head has a considerable elevationwhere the hair proceeds from, which is then carried onan d attached to the stick right under the hand of th e
performer . Bows of the same kind, but larger, are seenin some monuments of the eleventh century ; but in the
century following, an d especially in the thirteenth, considerab le ameliorations are introduced in it : we see at
this period, in the drawings of some manuscripts, an d incertain archi tectural monuments, bows in which the nutis as high as the head, an d which are nearly straight .
The bows of the reb ecs are arcs formed with little care ;
their construction m ay enable us to judge of the slight
skill of the minstrels who used them .
In the six teenth century, the bow began to improve ;we then see the stick— sometimes round, at otherspentagonal — become small er in approaching the head,which latter is immeasurably elongated . In the foll ow
ing century, the art of playing bow-instruments hadimproved, an d the necessity -was felt of modifying the
d egree of tension of the hair, according to the musicwhich had to be executed ; whi ch requirement was metby the invention of the cre
’
maillere, a band of metal
placed on that part of the stick where the nut is fixed,
an d divided into a certain number of notches . A move
able loop of iron or brass wire, attached to the nut,
served to catch the latter to one of the notches of the
1 1 1
cre’
mai lle‘
re, hi gher or lower, accordin g to the tension
whi ch the performer wished to give to the hair . At
thi s period, the head was always very elongated an d
ended in a point whi ch tur ned back a little . The stick
was always more or less bent Such was the
bow of Corelli , an d that of Vivaldi . These two masters,
who l ived at the commencement of the eighteenth cen
tury, had not yet experienced the necessity of renderingthe stick flexible, because they had no idea of impartin g
to the ir music the varied shades of expression [of more
modern t imes] they were acquainted wi th but one sort
of conventional effect, whi ch consisted in repeat ing a
phr ase p ian o, after it had been playedfor te.
It is a remarkable thing, that the construction of
bow — instruments had arr ived at the hi ghest point of
perfection, wh ilst the bow itsel f was still relatively ina rudimentary state .
f
Tartin i, whose style was more
varied than that of Corell i an d Vivaldi, about 1 7 3 0,
made some happy ameliorations in this agent, on which
depends the production of the sounds . He caused the
bows to be made less clumsy, an d out of lighter wood
than those which had been previously used ; he adoptedthe straight stick, instead of retaining the bent form,
shortened the head, an d made [small longi tudinal]grooves in that part of the stick which is [held] in the
hand, so as to prevent its turning between the fingers .
The viol inistWo l dem ar , pupil of Mestrino,* who becameremarkable for his eccentricities at the en d of last century
NV o ldemar is stated to have been th e pupil o f [m l/i, bo th o n the
titl e-page o f h is w ork Le n e iw ei art ( l e t'
fl r chet an d i n M . Fétis'
s
B z’
oy rap h ie flea .l/usicien s, vo l . v iii, 1 8 1 4.
— Ta .
1 1 2
an d in the early years of th e present, made a collection
of bows of the celebrated ancient violinists of Italy ; hegave engravings of those of Corelli, Vivaldi, Tartini,Locatelli an d Pugn an i , i n his Method f or the Violin ,
[a work] which met with no success an d which is now
unfortunately of excessive rarity . It is to be regretted,in this respect, that this indigested work has left the
market ; for it was not without interest to compare .the
progresswe, though slow, ameli orations of the bow . The
result of al l the information that can be gathered onthis subject is, that no serious attempt was made to
improve the bow, until towards the middle of theeighteenth century.
D isp lay of the successive amelioration s of the hows of the
seven teen th an d eighteen th cen tur ies .
No . 1 ,— Mersenne
,1 6 2 0 .
No . 2 .— Kircher, 1 6 40 .
No .
'3 .-Castrovillari, 1 6 6 0 .
No. 4 ,
— Bassan i, l 6 8 0 .
1 1 4
His youn ger brother, Francis Tourte, long known
by the name of Tourte Jun fl , was born in Paris, in1 747 , in St . Margaret
'
s Street, an d died in the month
of April, 1 8 3 5, at the age of eighty-eight years . I n
tended » b y his father for the business of a clockmaker,he entered when very young into a workshop, n eglected
every other study, an d never knew either how to reador write . Perhaps he was indebted to the trade which
he at first followed, for the skil l an d delicacy of hand
which he afterwards displayed in the manufacture of
bows .'
Disgusted with his condition, after havin g passed
eight years in the clock-making workshops, because h edid not there meet with suficien t remuneration for hisneeds
,he took to the busin ess of his father an d brother .
At this period, the distinguished artists resident inPari s were making progress towards the art of s ingingon their instruments, with the shades [of expression] of
which the great Italian vocalists had gi ven the example ;an d they all desired bows which should answer better tothe effects which they wished to produce, an d which
should possess at the same time greater lightness,spring
an d elasticity . Francis Tourte made his first essays
with wood from the staves of sugar-casks, with a view
t o determine the forms of the bow an d to acquire skil l
in working,without making use of expensive materi als .
He sold these early products of his manufacture for 2 0or 3 0 sous [1 0 or 1 5 pence] . Being an indefatigable in
vestigator , an d fully sensible of the important action of
the bow in the production of the sounds, he subsequentlytried all kinds of wood which appeared to him proper
to realis e his views ; but he. was not long in di scover in g
that Fern am b uc wood alone would yield the results
whi ch he sought to attain, an d that it alone comb inedstiffness with lightness .
The peri od of th e first an d important di scoveries
of Tourte, extends from 1 7 7 5 to 1 780 . U n for tu
n ately, the marit ime war s of Fran ce an d England
then presented a serious obstacle to the importation
of Fern am b uc wood on the continent : an d the price
of this valuable article, used for dyin g, rose to s ixfrancs a pound [about 4 3 . Fern am b uc wood in
tended for dying purposes is exported in bill ets ; that
whi ch is richest in color ing matter is l ikewise the best
for the manufacture of bows : but it is rare to find
billets which are straight an d only sli ghtly defective ;for thi s wood is nearly al ways knotty, cracked inside,
an d crooked in every direction . Sometimes eight or ten
thousand kilogrammes [nearly 8 or 1 0 tons] of Fer
mambuc wood scarcely present an y pieces wi th a straight
grain an d suitable for making good bow-sticks .
The rarity of this wood, at the period here men
tion ed, explains the enormous price which Tourte asked
for his bows : he sold a bow, the nut of which was made
of tortoise shell , the head inlaid with mother-of-pearl,an d the mounting of th e nut an d button of gold, for 1 2louis (of 24 livres) 4s . 6d ] his best bows,mounted
in silver, with an ebony n ut, were sold at 3 h louis
53 . 52d ] ; an d, lastly, ordinary bows, without an yorn ament , were charged 3 6 francs 8 3 . 1 0d]U p to 1 7 7 5, n either the length nor the weight of
bows , nor yet their cond itions of equilibrium in the hand
had been determ ined : enlightened by the counsels of1 2
1 1 6
celebrated artists, by whom he was surrounded, Tourtefixed the length of the stick of the violin bow
,including
the button,at 74 or 7 5 centimetres or
that of the alto, at 74 centimetres an d that
of the violoncello at 7 2 or 7 3 centimetres or
At the same time, also, he determined thedistance of the hair from the stick by the heights of the
head an d nut, an d obtained by these proportions theangle requisite to the hair for the attack of the strings ;
avoiding the inconvenience of th e latter being touched
by the stick . In these bows, the head, more elevatedthan formerly, an d consequently heavier, obliged
”
Tourte
perceptibly to'
in crease the weight of the lower part, in
order to bring the hand again near the centre of gravity,an d to put the bow in perfect equilibrium . It was withthis obj ect that he willingly
-
loaded the nut an d button
w ith metallic ornam ents which augmented the weight of
them . Henceit follows that, notwithstanding the light
n ess of the plain bows, we prefer those which are
ornamented, although heavier in'
appearance ; for, in
the former, the centre of gravity being removed from
the hand, the weight is more perceptib l e’
towards the
upper end of the stick ; while, in the others, it is foundin the lower
"
part . In bows which possess the m ost
satisfactory equilibrium, the length of the hair is 65
centimetres in .] for th e‘
viol in , an d the centre of
gravity is at 1 9 centimetres in .] from the nut ; in
the violoncell o bow, the length of the hair is from 600 :
to 6 20 millimetres to an d the
centre of gravity is from 1 75 to 1 80 millimetres
to in ] from the nut .
1 1 8
subj ected it consisted in scouring it wi th soap ; he thenput it into bran water, an d lastly, after removing the
heterogeneous particles which had adhered to it, heplunged it in to pure water, lightly colored with blue .
His daughter was almost constantly occupied in sorting
the hairs, rej ecting such of them as were not perfectly
cylindrical an d equal throughout their length : this is adelicate an d necessary operation ; for not more than
one-tenth of a g iven number of hairs is fit for use, th egreater portion having one side flat an d presentingnumerous inequali ties . At the period when Viotti
arrived in Paris, the hai rs of the bow nearly always
clustered together in a round mass, which im paired
the quality of the sounds . Af ter making his observations on this point, Tourte conceived the possibil i ty of
compelling the hairs to preserve the appearance of aflat plate, l ike a ribbon, by pinching them at the nut
with a ferrule which he at first made of tin, an d after
ward s of s ilver . Sub sequently, he completed thisimport an t ameli oration by a little plate of mother — of
pearl, which covered the hair from the beginning of the
mort ise in the nut to the ferrule by which it is r etained .
Bows fur nished wi th thi s plate were cal led, archets a
recouvremen ts .
* The number of hair s determined on by
Tour te for his bows was rather less than has been
adopted since players have endeavoured to draw thegreatest amount of sound possible from their in struments : this number now varies between 1 75 an d 2 50,
according to the siz e of the hairs .
The l ittl e pl ate or coverin g over th e n ut, here described, is cal l ed ,i n En gl an d , the sl ide— TR .
1 1 9
It is in the distribution of forces an d the perfection
of his sticks that Tourte has shown himself superior
to o ther b ow-makers . We natur ally inquir e, at the
present day, how a
‘
man destitute of al l instruction, an d
whose education had been neglected to the extent of his
b e in g unable e ither to read or wr ite, could determine,by the mere power of his instinct an d the certaintyof his eye, the proportions of the progres sive dim in u
tion of the stick an d its swell towards the head . His
faculties never failed him , in this respect ; as is in con
testab ly proved by the preference accorded to his bows
by the most skilful art is ts over al l productions of the
same kin d, an d by the hi gh price which is given forthem in the market . Their fame is universal . The
difficul ty which is exp erienced in procuring one of them,
an d the necess ity of compensat ing for them by otherswhi ch should equal them in quality, have aroused the
attention of s cience, an d we have forthwith appli ed
ourselves to the theory of the production of sound by
the act ion of the bow on the strings . Without here
enterin g in to al l the developments of the researches
which have been made, an d of the analyses to which
this subj ect has been submitted, I shall remark that
l earned men have recognised the following fundamental
points
If the continued action of the bow on a string doesnot step i t from vibrating, whilst the least contact of a
finger suffices to check it s vibrations, it i s because the
b ow ,in passing over it, does not touch it in a continuous
manner, but by a succession of very rapid shocks, which
a r e so regular that they keep up the motion instead of
1 20
destroying it . The regularity of the phenomenon de-y
pends on the particular. elasticity of the hair, on
'
the
action of the particles of resin with which it is coated,an d especiall y on the ability of the performer ’ s hand .
This explains the purpose of the resin which is rubbed
on the hairs of the bow, deprived of which coat ing the
hairs glide over the string without producing an y sound :
but the roughness occasioned by the resin deposited on
them gives rise to those rapid an d regul ar shocks from
whence results the continuity of the vibration .
It . is mainly owing to this result that science has
been enriched with the theory of the bow ; for hitherto
she had not furnished the law of the pro gressive
diminution in the siz e of the stick, found instinctively
by Tourte, an d so essential to the production , of all the
phenomena of power, lightness, delicacy an d expressionby which the artist manifests his talent . We
~
are
indebted to M . V uill aum e,‘
of. Paris, for the r ecent
di scovery of this law , a discovery induced by his
intelli gent an d attentive observations, an d of which he
has demonstrated the reality by some very ingenious
geometrical constructions : the resul ts of which will be
appreciated on the perusal of the following anal ysis, bykeeping in view the plate in which these geometricaloperations are represented .
1 23
they might be found with certainty ; an d by which,
consequently, bows mi ght be made whose good condition s should be always settled 61, p r ior i . This b e
attain ed in the foll owing manner :At the extremity of a right lin e A B, equal to 0m ,700
that is to say, the length of the bow, rais e
a perpendi cul ar A 0 , equal to the length of the cylindricalportion, namely Om ,1 1 0 in .] At the extremi ty B
of the same lin e, raise another perpendicular B D , of the
length in .] an d unite the upper extremitieso f these two perpendiculars or ordinates by a right l ine
0 D , so that the two lin es A B an d c D m ay li e at a certaininclination to each other .
Take the length in .] of the ordinate A C,with the compasses, an d set it off on the line A B, fromA to E from the point thus obtained, draw another
ordinate (parallel to A c an d perpendicul ar to A B) until
it meets the line 0 D . Between these two ordinates A c
an d E F — the latter of which is necessaril y less than theformer — li es the cylindrical portion of the bow, whose
diameter, as before stated, i s Om,008T06Then take the length of the ordinate last obtained
E F an d set it off, as before, on the line A B, from F to e ,
an d at the point G draw a third ordinate G H, the lengthof which must also be set off on the line A B, to determine
th ereon a new point I , from which draw the four th
ordinate I J ; th e length of which l ikewise, when set off
on the l in e A B, determines the point where the fifth
ordinate K L is to be drawn . The latter, in like manner,
determines the sixth M N, an d so of the others, to the last
but o n e ! z .
1 24
The points a I KM 0 Q s U w ! so obtained, starting from
the point E ,. are those where the diameter of the bow is
succes sively reduced {6 of a millimetre in .] Now,these poin ts
'
have been determined by the successively
d ecreasing lengths of the ordinates drawn from the same
p oints, an d their respective distances progressively de
crease from the point E to the point B.
If we su b j ect these data to calculation, we shall
fin d that the profile of the bow is represented by a
logarithmic curve of which the ordinates increase in.
arithmetical progression, while the ab scissae increase in
geometric progression ; an d lastly, that the curvature of
the profile will be expressed b y-the equation :
y log . 90 ;
an d, in varying x from 1 75 t o 7 65 tenths of millimetres,the corresponding values of y will b e ithose of the radii
{or semidiameters of the transverse circular sections
of the bow at corresponding poin ts in the axis]In this manner is formulated th e
'
r igorous theory
of the violin bow . By an analogous geometrical con
struction , it will be easy to d etermine the decreasing
proportions of the bow of the alto, an d of that of the
violoncello .
The val ues of y in ten ths of m i l l imetres obtain ed from th e aboveequation (th e ord in ates,that is, of the profi le of the b ow) m ay b e reduced to theirequival en ts i n En gl ish in ches by m ul tipl yin g each resul tby .003 93 7 . S o al so th e abscissae 1 75 an d 765 . I n en terin g the tab l e,val ues of m in E n gl ish i n ches m ay b e con verted in to ten ths of m i l l im etres Fren ch , by mul tiplyin g by th e reciprocal of th e form ermul tipl ier— TB
F TN I S .
1 27
A PP E N D I X.
No . I .
LETTER OF ANTH ON! STRAD IVARI, D ECIPH ERED FR OM
TH E FA C-S IM ILE .
*
Molto S tim .
m ° e molto R ev .
d o mi c Sig .
r Padrone Ill .
Compat irala tardan z a del vi olino, perche e stato la
causa per la vernice per l e gran crepate che il sole non l e
faccia aprire, perc‘
) V 3 Sig .
a l o ricevera ben aggiustat o
dentro la sua cassetta e mi spiace che non ho potuto far
di p in per renderla servita, e per la m ia fattura,V .
a Sig .
at
mi mandera n u Filippo che merita di p in m a per servire
la di lei persona mi contento . Cosi qui resto con
r iverir la di tutto cuore e s e valgo in altro la prcgo
delli suoi comandi e l o bacio la mano .
D ivotissim o Servitore
Di Vostra Molto Ill .m a S ig .
ia
A NT.
0 STRAD IVARI .
Cremona,
i 2 Agosto 1 7 08 .
Th is task has been accom pl ished by S ign or Man fred o Magg io n i,
who has al so ob l igi n g ly corrected the tra n s l atio n w h ich fo l lows — Tu.
1 28
No . II .
TRANSLATION OF TH E PRECED ING LETTER .
Most Esteemed, Very Reverend, an d Illustrious Sir,
Pardon the delay of the Violin, occasioned by the
varnishing of the large cracks, that the sun m ay not re
open them . However, you will now receive the in stru
ment well repaired in its case, an d I r egret that I could
n ot do more to serve you . My charge for the repair
will be a Philip .
* It should be‘
more,but
,for the
pleasure of serving you, I am satisfied with that sum .
If I can do anything else for you, I beg you will
command me ; an d kissing your hand,
I remain,
Most illustrious Sir,
! our most devoted S ervant,
A NTH ON! STRAD IVAR I .
Cremona, August 2 , 1 708 .
l ip p o— A silver coin then curren t i n Lombardy, of the val ue
of five shi l l in gs .
1 3 0
I acceded to his desire, an d went to his house forthe purpose of taking off the belly of his violin .
It is impossible to describe the torture which Paganini endured during the progres s of the work . He
twisted about on his chair, made grimaces, an d sufferedlik e a martyr ; uttering exclamations which plainly
showed the affection he entertained for his instrument,an d the dreadful fears which he experienced at each
crack, caused by the breaking away of the glue, as it
yielded to the action of the thin knife used in rem ovm gthe belly . The task having been accomplished with
unexpected success, he entrusted me with this violin,the renown of which was equal t o that of its master .
I then resolved to analyse this famous instrument
in every part, to take the precise dimensions of it, an dt o make a similar one . I had some woods of first-ratequality an d very old, an d could find a back an d belly so
exactly like those of Paganini’
s violin, as regards th efigure of the maple an d the grain of the deal, that Ifelt assured I should attain a satisfactory result as toquality of tone .
Paganini allowed me three days for the repair of hisinstrument, an d that time sufficed for m aking mine- at
least, the most essential parts of it . I then returnedhim his violin,with which he was enchanted, an d begged
me to call again to see it . On proceeding to do so, a
few days afterwards, I met him on the Boulevards,whenhe took my arm an d said to me : I thank you
,my dear
friend ; it is as good as it was before . He then drewfrom his waistcoat pocket a little red morocco box
, say
ing, I have had two pins made, the one for the doctor
1 3 1
of my body, the other for the doctor of my violin I
opened the little box,an d found the pin was ornamentedwith a capital P . formed w ith twenty-three diamonds .
Astonished at such generosity for so small a labour,an d wish ing to testify my appreciation of it, I concluded
by sayin g to Paganini I woul d offer him the violin whichI had comm enced mak ing like his an d on the model
of it .
Some months afterwards , I went to his house . He
was pract is in g, but, on seeing me enter,he laid hi sviolin on the table . I took mine from its case, an d
placing it by the side of hi s, begged that he woul d
accept it . The scene was strange an d unaccountable .
Pag anini became serious an d immoveable . A look of
doubt an d fear overspread his feature s . Then he seemed
surp rised . He turned about the violins ; changed theirplaces ; an d, more than once, took the imi tation for the
original . He was evi dently but little pleased to see aviol in so s imil ar to his own . At length he seiz ed his
bow to try the new violin, an d, on sitting down , ex
claimed, “ It is very good, it i s lik e min e, it has the
same tone — the same quality ; it is my violin , leave it
with me .
Some time afterwards, he came to express his entire
satisfaction, an d asked me how much I would charge to
m ake him another violin exactly l ike the former . I
repli ed 500 francs He then went to Nice, an d
wrote to me from that place, in the kindest an d most
fri endly manner, enclosing a cheque for the above sum,
for another instrument, which I m ade with the sam e
care as the first, an d forwarded to him at Nice ; b ut
1 3 2
Paganini had just expired as the viol in arrivedThis instrument is either at Genoa, or at Parma,residence of the Baron Achilles Pagan ini, the son
illustrious master .
The first of the two violins which I made for
nini is that on which S ivori plays .
END OF TH E APPEND IX.
