Books › Grove's dictionary of music and musicians, 1904 › scan 364
Scan 364
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians, 1904
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 313. See the scan on archive.org.
1VIOLIN FAMILY
3to musical instruments, although most of them would require modifying, some being merely stains, whilst others are tender, but too heavy. Among colouring matters the author cites the staples of the modern luthier, sandal-wood and dragon's blood, also madder steeped in tartaric acid, log-wood, Brazil wood, all to be boiled and dissolved in potass lye and alum. He also states that 'Linseed oil will dissolve mineral and vegetable colours, but kills others.' Fioravanti, in a brochure called the Universal Mirror of Arts and Sciences, published at Bologna in 1564, gives the same directions as Alexis, as to colour and the solvent powers of linseed oil. It must be noted that these formulæ, and those mentioned in the following works, are post-dated, having been collected from earlier works. Among other early writers on the subject there was a priest named Auda, who wrote a pamphlet entitled Recueil Abrégé des Secrets Merveilleux, published in 1663, and one named Zahn, who gives two recipes in vol. iii. (p. 166) of his Oculus Artificialis, published in 1685. In Collectanea Chemicala Lyndensia, 1692, the Rev. Christopher Morley gives the following recipe under the heading 'Italian Varnishes': — 'Take 8 oz. turpentine and boil on a fire till it evaporates down to 1 oz.; powder when cold, and dissolve in warm oil of turpentine. Filter through a cloth before use. Lastly we find in the Jesuit Bonanni's Traité des Vernis, published in Rome in 1713, the commencement of the disastrous era of hard copal and gum-lac varnishes, designated most truly by Charles Reade as 'That vile flinty gum that killed varnish at Naples and Piacenza a hundred and forty years ago, as it kills varnish now.' Apart from the hard gums advocated for use in Bonanni's treatise and the fact that he eliminates from his list gum-elemi and gum-anime, as well as a few others that lend themselves specially to violin varnish on account of their tender qualities, his list is practically a catalogue of modern ingredients used in varnishes suitable to all purposes. From the foregoing works we can gather some idea of the materials which the old Cremona makers had at hand. To-day the question of varnish is just as much a matter for the individual luthier to decide in the way he thinks best, as it doubtless was in times gone by. Without doubt, no varnish can be made on an established recipe, as varnish so made is bound to come under the influence of temperature and climate. There are several varnishes of this character, all more or less scientifically compounded, on the market for the benefit of amateur violin-makers.
5O. Bachmann, Theoretisch-praktisches Handbuch des Geigenbaues; Victor Grivel, Vernis des Anciens Luthiers d'Italie; J. C. Maugin, Manuel du Luthier; J. C. Maugin et W. Maigne, Manuel Roret, Nouveau Manuel … du Luthier; N. F. Simoutre, Supplément aux Amateurs du Violon; Eugène Mailand, Bibliothèque des Professions industrielles . Série G. No. 17; Découverte des Anciens Vernis Italiens employés pour les Instruments à cordes et à archet, Paris, 1859, 2nd ed., 1874; Charles Reade, A Lost Art Revived; Leonardo Fioravanti, Miroir Universel des Arts et Sciences, Paris, 1586; original title: Dello Specchio di Scientia Universale, Bologna, 1564; A. M. Tripier-Deveaux, Traité théorique . sur l'art de faire les Vernis; Ercole Folegatti, Storia del Violino et dell Archetto, 2nd pt.; Giovanni di Piccolellis, Della Autenticità e pregio de taluni strumenti ad arco appartenenti al R. Istituto Musicale di Firenze; Alex. Rebs, Anleitung zum Lakiren von Streich Instrumenten; Das Cremoneser Geheimniss, National Zeitung, Berlin, March 8, 1885; Haagsche Stemmen, door Dr. Jan ten Brink, No. 40, Oct. 4, 1890, pp. 537–53; Blackwood's Magazine, vol. xli. 1839, p. 91; Heron-Allen, Violin-Making, etc.; T. Porter, How to Choose a Violin; George Fry, The Varnishes of the Italian Makers.
7E. H-A.
9When the varnishing and polishing are completed the finger-board is glued on, and the violin is then ready for its movable fittings. The peg-holes are now pierced, the pegs inserted, and the button prepared for the bottom block. The sound-post is made so as to fit the slopes of the back and belly and inserted in a perfectly vertical position; this is ensured by observation through the hole bored through the bottom block to receive the tail-pin and the sound-holes. The bridge is then prepared and fitted, the tailpiece looped on, and the violin is ready for stringing.
11Many of the best fiddle-makers, however, seldom make new instruments, which can be produced more cheaply and expeditiously by inferior workmen. Their principal and most profitable occupation is the purchase, restoration, and sale of old ones, which are preferred by modern purchasers, the best, because they really surpass in workmanship and appearance any of modern times, the inferior ones, because age has rendered them more picturesque to the eye, and easier to play. An old violin has generally to undergo many alterations before it is fit for use. If any part is worm-eaten, it must be renewed. If the blocks and linings are out of repair, or badly fitted, they must be properly arranged. Cracks must be united; if the belly or ribs have been pressed out of shape, they must be restored to shape by pressure on a suitably excavated mould: the damage to the belly, above the sound-post, which is sure to have occurred, must be repaired; if the old bass-bar remains, a larger and stiffer one must be provided, to enable the belly to bear the increased tension of a higher bridge. In almost every case the neck must be 'thrown back,' i.e. so
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