Books › British violin-makers classical and modern; being a biographical and critical dictionary of British makers of the violin from the foundation of the classical school to the end of the nineteenth century, 1904 › scan 322
Scan 322
British violin-makers classical and modern; being a biographical and critical dictionary of British makers of the violin from the foundation of the classical school to the end of the nineteenth century, 1904
18 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1He was married in the year 1868, to Miss Mary Anne Stirzaker, at the church of St. Joseph, Preston.
3He served an apprenticeship at the trade of cabinet-making. In the year 1870 he went to Mr. Francis Booth, of Wakefield, to learn the trade of organ building, and later to the firm of Messrs. Gray & Davidson. He is a practical pianoforte-maker and organ builder, as well as violin-maker, and his workshop at 83 Friargate Gate, is well known in and around Preston.
5He has made up to date fifty violins, one tenor, one 'cello, and one guitar. He makes on different models, mostly on that of Stradivari, but sometimes on an adopted model of his own, based on the lines of Maggini.
7The workmanship is excellent. The wood is well chosen for its acoustic properties, and is generally handsome in appearance. The sound-holes in the instruments, made on original lines, are a hybrid between those of Strad and Joseph. The scroll is beautifully carved and exceedingly graceful per se, but when viewed as a part of the whole, it impresses the mind with a sense of longing after the bold and the massive. It is too slender for this giant model.
9The button is not of the usual modern British type, but is somewhat smaller and more elongated.
11One of Mr. Worden's instruments has a Panormo back cut from a partly worked block, which was discarded by the noted Vincenzo owing to a few worm-holes.
13There is ample evidence that it is a block out of the famous billiard table. It is magnificent wood, with beautiful cloud-like coruscations, and a broad, vivid flame. This fiddle is on the Strad lines, well-made and full of character.
15Mr. Worden uses Whitelaw's varnish in the various colours, and also Walton's. The tone is beautifully sweet and velvet-like. The Panormo back fiddle has a round, clear, and penetrating tone.
17This maker has led a very active musical career. In 1883 he founded the Preston Harmonic Society, which society still exists and is conducted by its founder. In 1884 he was
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