Scan 281
Antonio Stradivari, his life and work (1644-1737), 1909
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 253. See the scan on archive.org.
1the sorry traces of the bad performance of this ever-delicate operation. More than one fine Stradivari instrument bears the mark where the knife has passed right through the belly; and many are the cracks and fractures one could point to as having been similarly produced. B cheerfully undoes that which but a few years—or even months—previously had been thoughtfully carried out by A. Then C, the sounds of whose trumpeter have fallen on sympathetic ears, is called upon to set A and B right. The climax is reached when D, a workman with a telling long grey beard and gold spectacles—his sole credentials—is recommended to the unfortunate owner by a distinguished artiste, and undertakes without a moment's hesitation to undo the bungling of A, B and C, and to substitute his own work founded on his own fallacious theories. Mark, readers, we beg you, that during this time the real stamina of the instrument is being steadily impaired.
3We have drawn a sad picture; yet the sadness is not exaggerated, and it is difficult to say whether the violin-maker or the player be the more to blame. The former is at times swayed by mercenary motives, and very often by a sense of self-importance mingled with a certain amount of curiosity; for he imagines that he can by studying the interior of a celebrated instrument enrich his store of knowledge. Players have yet to learn that they themselves are more often at fault. They should administer treatment to themselves, and not to their instruments, when these seem irresponsive.
5As an example, on the other hand, of the way in which a violin may be preserved, though kept in continual use, we would cite the Stradivari dated 1724 of the late Señor Sarasate—a violin which was the solo instrument of that distinguished player for upwards of forty years. Known to us for twenty years, the condition of this instrument is as
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