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Scan 523
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1927
19 lines. Read by computer on 4 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 473. See the scan on archive.org.
1own, in which the narrow and rapidly widening waist, the peculiar set of the sound-holes and a more brilliant varnish are prominent features. Some points first traceable in his work were adopted by Giuseppe 'del Gesù.'
3(4) Pietro (b. 1695; d. 1765) is known as 'Peter of Venice' to distinguish him from his uncle 'Peter of Mantua.' He adopted his uncle's methods in a general way and did some good work, but as years passed he was inspired by the environment in which he lived, and has left some very meritorious instruments. He incorporated various features of the Venetian school with his own.
5(5) Giuseppe (b. 1687; d. 1745) was the greatest of the Guarnieri family of violin-makers, and second only to Stradivari among all violin-makers. He came to be known as 'Giuseppe del Gesù' to distinguish him from the son of Andrea, the term being taken from the 'I.H.S.' which is added to his name on his labels. This may perhaps have originated with the vogue in Italy at that time connected with the Jesuit movement, by which the sacred monogram was frequently attached to works of art. Many new and interesting details concerning his parentage and biography will shortly be published by Messrs. Hill, whose tireless researches have brought to light so many new facts concerning him and his entire family. It can only be said here that the statement that he was the son of G. Battista will be found to be an error.
7It is sometimes erroneously said that he was a pupil of Stradivari; his work has nothing whatever in common with that of Stradivari. It is more likely that he was a pupil of Joseph, the son of Andrea. His attention seems to have been early diverted from the school of Amati, on which his own relatives, as well as Stradivari himself, founded their style, and his inspiration was drawn from the early Brescian makers, such as Gasparo di Salò and Paolo Maggini. Thus, whereas the Amati family had made a special feature of the development of true geometrical curves coupled with extreme fineness of finish and other features which made for mellowness of tone, Giuseppe Guarnieri revived the bold and rugged outline and the masterly carelessness, and with it the massive build and powerful tone, of the earlier Brescian school.
9Perfection of form and style had been attained by others; tone was the main quality sought by Giuseppe and the endless variety of his work, in size, in model, and in cutting of sound-holes, gives some indication of the many ways in which he sought it. He was sedulous in the selection of sonorous wood. Many of his instruments were made from a particular piece of pine; the tables of all these violins have a stain or sap-mark running parallel with the finger-board on either side. This special block of wood may well have been regarded by the craftsman as a mine of wealth. Some of the 'del Gesù' violins exhibit a special degree of finish; these finer examples predominate in what has been termed the 'second period' of his work. But throughout his career he worked with no uniformity as to design, size, appearance or degree of finish, and without any guide but his own genius and the principles which he himself wrought out by experiment. It remains to say something about those rough instruments which are sometimes described as 'prison Josephs.' There is no question that these roughly made instruments are his genuine handiwork, but the romantic stories about his imprisonment are not borne out by research. It seems probable that the shakiness of hand and general deterioration of workmanship so conspicuous in these instruments were the effect of dissolute habits, and this explanation is all the more probable when the temporary nature of these lapses is borne in mind.
11One of the finest violins by Giuseppe Guarnieri is that which Paganini habitually played upon. This instrument was bequeathed by Paganini to his native town, Genoa, and is exhibited in the Sala Rossa of the Municipal Palace. It is said to be the only example of a 'del Gesù' violin in the whole of Italy at the present time. No violoncello by Giuseppe Guarnieri has ever been known.
13BIBL.—Henry Wenstenberg, Joseph Guarnerius del Gesù Cremona 1687–1745. Abbildungen und Beschreibungen seiner Instrumente aus seiner drei Perioden. With a hitherto unknown portrait of Paganini. Berlin, 1921. one of two readings
14Bibl.—Henry Wenstenberg, Joseph Guarnerius del Gesù Cremona 1687–1745. Abbildungen und Beschreibungen seiner Instrumente aus seiner drei Perioden. With a hitherto unknown portrait of Paganini. Berlin, 1921. one of two readings
16E. H. F., founded on E. J. P., with information from Alfred Ebsworth Hill.
18GUDEHUS, Heinrich (b. Altenhagen, near Celle, Hanover, Mar. 30, 1845; d. Dresden, Oct. 9, 1909), singer, the son of a schoolmaster at Altenhagen. He was at first a schoolmaster himself, and ultimately organist in Goslar. He was taught singing, first at Brunswick by Malwina Schnorr von Carolsfeld, widow of the tenor singer, and in 1870 at Berlin by Gustav Engel. On Jan. 7, 1871, he first appeared on the stage at Berlin as Nadori in a revival of 'Jessonda,' and subsequently as Tamino, and was well received; but feeling the necessity of further study, retired for a time and studied under Fräulein Luise Ress of Berlin from 1872–75. In 1875 he reappeared at Riga, and sang there during the season 1875–76, and afterwards was engaged at Lübeck, Freiburg, Bremen, and in 1880 at Dresden, where he remained till 1890. During these ten years Gudehus played in many operas of Mozart, Weber, Meyerbeer, Wagner, Auber, Méhul, Bellini, Boieldieu, Verdi, etc. On leave of absence he sang with success at Vienna, Frankfort and Bayreuth, where he made his reputation on July 28, 1882, at the second performance of 'Parsifal,' and in 1884 at Covent Garden, where he made his début,
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