Books › Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896 › scan 145
Scan 145
Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 125. See the scan on archive.org.
1born, when our dear father was a mere boy, he brought it back with him to England when he returned after his foreign course of study. So you see we have had it since the beginning of the century; it was purchased for him in 1819, four years after the battle of Waterloo, by his music-master, who had served with the Prussians in that campaign. I have a memorandum to that effect in one of my father's diaries under the date November 14th, 1819."
3"And what a splendid instrument it is, George! I never hear anything like it; still I think a great deal may be owing to your fine playing. Only last week, when Mr. Oldtim came to tune our piano, he heard you, and said he thought it had an exquisitely sweet and powerful tone, and he is a good judge, you know—but what do you mean by your discovery?"
5"Last year, you remember, I refused an offer of £500 for this violin, because the tone, as you say, is so fine, and the double notes are so beautiful, whilst the harmonics are so round and clear. And I have often thought that the possession of a fine Cremona violin is the greatest luxury in the world to a musician. Such violins are, of course, extremely rare. Besides all this, it is easy to play, the tone is smooth and equal on all the four strings; it is like a splendid mezzo-soprano voice. Then when the old label, Stradivarius fecit Cremona, anno 1717,
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.