Books › Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896 › scan 243
Scan 243
Famous violinists and fine violins : historical notes, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1896
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 223. See the scan on archive.org.
1out of the instrument, and then draw the bow over the strings. He will find that he can now produce only a very weak sound, and a sound that, in most cases, is of an atrocious quality. Hence the English term "sound-post" is not so inappropriate; for without it there is no sound worth speaking of, and the quality of sound a violin will produce depends almost entirely on the manner in which this said sound-post is placed in the instrument.
3After telling the student what kind of violin he should seek to obtain for solo-playing, the great Spohr goes on to say that he should next devote attention to the position of the sound-post. He tells us what a difficult thing this is to carry out properly, and how much depends upon it. Still, it is scarcely to be recommended to the young musician who may happen to possess a really valuable instrument; indeed, it is not difficult to permanently injure a violin by moving the sound-post about too often, and for this purpose it is best to engage the services of a competent violin-maker, unless considerable experience has been acquired by operating upon instruments of slight value.
5What I may term the secret of the sound-post was discovered by a gentleman in London many years ago, and with considerable advantage to himself. It was at the time I had the honour of acting for four years as president and violin solo to the Bohemian Orchestral Society. When we gave
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