Books › A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments : together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments, 1875 › scan 37
Scan 37
A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments : together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments, 1875
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 21. See the scan on archive.org.
1excellent, and almost preferable to a Straduarius, as the belly on the side of the fourth string does not bend in like [many of] the latter. The wood used for the belly is not of a very fine grain in any of them; but the back, neck, and sides are formed of beautifully-figured maple. All those which have passed through my hands have been covered with a reddish-yellow amber varnish: I have never met with one of a brown colour.*
3The violins of Straduarius are distinguished for their very flat construction. The back and belly are not raised more than half an inch; consequently these instruments have the flattest model of all the Cremonese. Those which are uninjured possess a very beautiful, deep, and full tone. They are the most esteemed by public performers; for every virtuoso on the violin either has one already, or spares no expense in obtaining one. The reason of this probably is, that a flat-modelled instrument may be very thick in the wood and yet maintain a free and energetic vibration; and, indeed, it is an acknowledged truth, that an instrument which is thick in the wood possesses a much finer tone than one which has been scooped out.
5But there is no doubt that many of these instruments have been greatly damaged; for, as they are constructed very flat and thick in the wood, on acoustic principles, and have a weak and rather short bass-bar, it has happened with many of them that the belly, on the side of the G string, has sunk in a little; or, when they have been tuned too high, it has risen on the opposite side, under the E string. Really great artists regard this slight defect as the natural consequence
7* In the 1828 edition, Otto says: "They are mostly covered with a reddish-yellow amber varnish; I have only seen one brown."—Tr.
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