Scan 37
Cremona: an account of the Italian violin-makers and their instruments, 1894
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 15. See the scan on archive.org.
1solution of the enigma, and possibly of the decay of Italian violin-making, is found.
3That the varnish has an influence over the quality of tone is a fact easily proved. If a violin is played before it is varnished, and then at a later stage after the varnish has been applied, in the latter case a substantial difference in the tone will be discovered. A stiff spirit varnish makes the tone shrieking and hard, while an elastic oil or amber varnish makes it rich and soft. It would be foolish, though, to conclude from this that a badly constructed instrument, which does not in itself possess the necessary properties for good tone, may be converted into a good instrument by means of good varnish: it may merely be asserted that the choice of wood, the construction, and varnish must harmonize, and such was certainly the case with the old masters.
5Great care must be taken not to re-varnish good old instruments. Without regarding the fact that the originality and integrity thereby vanish, it changes the tone, much to the disadvantage of the instrument. Every renewed coat of varnish makes the wood of the violin thicker; it was thick enough before, but it now becomes hard, and the violin necessarily sounds worse than before, and that so much the more as the varnish is laid on harder and thicker.
7It is also worth noticing that the Italian climate was highly beneficial for the purpose of drying. Oil and amber varnishes dry much more slowly in our climate; and according to the length of time that a freshly varnished instrument is exposed to dust, which will adhere to it, so the clearness and fire of the varnish are injured.
9Whether an instrument with oil or spirit varnish shall be obtained is not always an easy point to decide. Some well-informed violin-makers go too far, however, in asserting, among other things, that the Italian makers never used oil varnish, but dissolved their ingredients in spirits of wine; and opinions also differ on the point whether the colour is obtained through corrosion of the wood before the varnish is applied, or is contained in the varnish. So much is, how-
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