Books › Grove's dictionary of music and musicians;, 1904 › scan 341
Scan 341
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians;, 1904
42 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1who without being specialists or experts make a specialty of dealing in old violins.
3Violins may be divided broadly into two classes, those made on the 'high' and the 'flat' model respectively. The latter, which is characteristic of Stradivari and his school, including all the best modern makers, is undoubtedly the best. The 'high' model, of which Stainer is the best-known type, was chiefly in use with the German and English makers before the Cremona pattern came to be generally followed in other countries. It is, in fact, a survival of the Viol, for which instrument the high model is the best: even Stradivari used the high model for the Double Bass and the Viola da Gamba. But a high-modelled violin, however handsome and perfect, is practically of little use. The tone, though easily yielded and agreeable to the player's ear, is deficient in light and shade, and will not 'travel.' The flatness of the model, however, must not go beyond a certain point. Occasionally a violin is met with, in which the belly is so flat as to have almost no curvature at all. The tone of such violins is invariably harsh and metallic.
5The question is often asked, Are old Italian violins really worth the high prices which are paid for them, and are not the best modern instruments equally good? In the opinion of the original writer and reviser of this article the prices now paid for old Italian violins, always excepting the very best, are high beyond all proportion to their intrinsic excellence. The superiority of the very best class indeed is proved by the fact that eminent professional players will generally possess themselves of a full-sized Stradivarius or Joseph Guarnerius del Gesù, and will play on nothing else. There can be no doubt that these fine instruments are more responsive to the player, and more effective in the musical result, than any others; and as their number, though considerable, is not unlimited, the purchaser must always expect to pay, over and above their intrinsic value, a variable sum in the nature of a bonus or bribe to the vendor for parting with a rare article, and this necessarily converts the total amount paid into a 'fancy price.' But when we come to inferior instruments by the great makers, and the productions of makers of the second and third class, the case is widely different. Such instruments are seldom in request by the best professional players, who, in default of old instruments of the highest class, use the best class of comparatively modern violins; and the prices they command are usually paid by amateurs, under a mistaken idea of their intrinsic value. No one with any real idea of the use of a violin would pay £500 for instruments by Montagnana, Seraphin, or Peter Guarnerius, when he could buy a good Vuillaume, Pressenda, or Lupot for from £50 to £100: yet the first-named prices are often realised for Italian instruments of decidedly inferior merit.
7Though Tenors and Violoncellos of the highest class are as valuable as Violins, Tenor and Violoncello players can usually procure moderately good instruments more cheaply than Violinists. Not only are the larger instruments less in demand, but while old English Violins are useless for modern purposes, the Tenors and Violoncellos, which exist in large numbers, are generally of very good quality, and many players use Banks and Forster Tenors and Basses of these makers by preference. Double Basses by the great makers are rare and not effective in the orchestra: professional players usually choose old English ones, or modern ones by such makers as Fendt and Lott, who made the Double Bass a speciality.
9Fiddle-making is so little practised as a trade in this country, that a short explanation of the process may be useful. The question is often asked whether the belly and back of the fiddle are not 'bent' to the required shape, and the inquirer hears with surprise that on the contrary they are 'digged out of the plank,' to use the words of Christopher Simpson, with infinite labour and care. The only parts of the fiddle to which the bending process is applied are the ribs.
11In construction, the violin, tenor, and violoncello may be said to be identical, the only difference being in the size and in the circumstance that the ribs, bridge, and sound-post of the violoncello are relatively higher than those of the other instruments. The tenor is one-seventh larger than the violin, the violoncello twice as large: the double-bass is about double the size of the violoncello. The number of separate pieces of wood which are glued together for the fixed structure of the violin is as follows:—
13<table>
14 <tr><th>Back</th><td>2 pieces (sometimes 1)</td></tr>
15 <tr><th>Belly</th><td>2 ,, (sometimes 1)</td></tr>
16 <tr><th>Blocks</th><td>6 ,,</td></tr>
17 <tr><th>Ribs</th><td>6 ,, (sometimes 5)</td></tr>
18 <tr><th>Lining</th><td>12 ,,</td></tr>
19 <tr><th>Bar</th><td>1 ,,</td></tr>
20 <tr><th>Purfling</th><td>24 ,,</td></tr>
21 <tr><th>Nut</th><td>1 ,,</td></tr>
22 <tr><th>Finger-board</th><td>1 ,,</td></tr>
23 <tr><th>Handle or Neck</th><td>1 ,,</td></tr>
24 <tr><th>Lower Nut (Rest)</th><td>1 ,,</td></tr>
25 <tr><th>Total</th><td>57</td></tr>
26</table>
28The movable fittings comprise thirteen additional parts:—
30<table>
31 <tr><th>Tailpiece</th><td>1</td></tr>
32 <tr><th>Loop</th><td>1</td></tr>
33 <tr><th>Button or Tailpin</th><td>1</td></tr>
34 <tr><th>Screws</th><td>4</td></tr>
35 <tr><th>Strings</th><td>4</td></tr>
36 <tr><th>Sound-post</th><td>1</td></tr>
37 <tr><th>Bridge</th><td>1</td></tr>
38 <tr><th>Total</th><td>13</td></tr>
39</table>
41The violin thus consists of seventy different parts, all of which, except the strings and loop,
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