Scan 315
Critical & Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern, 1928
22 lines. Read by computer on 5 October 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1was born at Fusagnano in 1653 and died at Rome in 1713. Apart from being a virtuoso, this great artist was a very distinguished harmonist. Geminiani and Locatelli were his pupils. After them came the celebrated Tartini (1683-1770), who brought both the mechanism and the art of bowing to their perfection, then Nardini and Pugnani. Lastly Viotti, Kreutzer, Rode, Baillot and others who made the violin the interpreter of the noblest inspirations.
3» The old makers were therefore in advance of their time and their productions were superior to the musical standard of the epoch. » (Mordret, La Lutherie Artistique, 1885).
5THE BOW
7The Bow is composed as follows:
9a) The Stick — in Pernambuco wood for those of first class work — and its mounting which comprises the Frog, the Hairs and the Lapping.
11b) Head, in which are fixed the hairs, maintained by a small wedge in the mortise of the head, is covered by a double plate of ivory and ebony, pearl or metal. This plate is intended for strength as well as for ornament.
13c) The Frog, in ebony, ivory, mother of pearl or shell is used to tighten the hairs by means of a screw with an octagonal nut attached. It is held in a box by a small wedge, as in the head. The hairs are concealed by a small plate of wood covered with a sheet of mother of pearl, called the Slide.
15d) The Hairs, affecting the form of a ribbon, may be roughly estimated at 150. One has often wondered why hair is used in preference to any other substance. Helmbolz, in his treatise: Théorie physiologique, demonstrates that hair is provided with small teeth, invisible to the naked eye. The fact of being rubbed against the strings, upsets their natural balance and causes them to vibrate.
17Rosin increases the adherence of the hairs to the strings.
19The average length of a violin bow is 0m 75 (29 1/2"), that of the viola 0m 74 (29 1/2") and the 'cello, 0m 72 (28 1/2").
21The Metal Lining is the part of the Frog which rests on the stick, fitting it to enable easy sliding. François Lupot contrived to give the Frog this metal lining and it has been used ever since.
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