Scan 19
Georg Gemünder's Progress In Violin Making 1881, 1881
12 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1CHAPTER II.
3ACCOUNT OF THE MOST EMINENT GERMAN MAKERS, WHO HAVE SO SUCCESSFULLY IMITATED THE VIOLINS OF THE CREMONESE AND THOSE OF THE CELEBRATED JACOB STEINER, THAT THEIR INSTRUMENTS CAN ONLY BE DISTINGUISHED FROM THE GENUINE ONES BY THE MOST EXPERIENCED PERSONS.
5Those who understand the construction of the violin may possibly deem the previous observations superfluous; but I have frequently been asked, whether the back and belly were pressed or screwed up in moulds to bring them into the required shape;* and this question, which shews that many good violinists are unacquainted with the construction and the various component parts of their instrument, has induced me to give a minute description of them.
7Musicians frequently enquire why violins are not now made equal in quality to the old Cremonese;† and many attribute
9* This is now said to be done in the manufacture of common instruments.—Tr.
11† Welcker von Gontershausen believes that the best violins, especially those of Germany, are as well made in the present day as those of Amati, Stradivari, and others, when they were first turned out of hand. Abele also thinks that, with good wood, and by scrupulously following a good model, it is still possible to produce as finely made instruments as formerly. (See Die Violine, p. 99.) The Abbé Sibire attributes the superiority of the instruments of the old Italian makers more to the exquisite choice of the wood used for them, than to their age. The general opinion, however, now entertained (as will be seen further on) is that age and careful use combined are the chief requisites for bringing well-made instruments to maturity.—Tr.
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