Books › Guarnerius del Ges�, Stradivarius and other notable violins and violas "Seven rare and valuable stringed instruments", 1932 › scan 22
Scan 22
Guarnerius del Ges�, Stradivarius and other notable violins and violas "Seven rare and valuable stringed instruments", 1932
15 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 12. See the scan on archive.org.
1[Number 7]
3ANTONIUS STRADIVARIUS
4CREMONA: 1644-1737
6*7 VIOLIN: THE JOACHIM
7Cremona, 1714
8Length, 14 inches; width upper bout, 6 5/8 inches; width lower bout, 8 1/8 inches; width middle bout, 4 1/2 inches; string length, 13 inches. The back is formed by two pieces of very handsome curly maple, joined in the centre, the figure of which extends upward from the centre joint. The top is of spruce of the choicest selection known to this maker; the sides are of the same maple as the back. The scroll is especially fine.
10This is a thoroughly representative specimen of the "golden period" of Stradivarius—of the culminating year, according to some experts, of that period. Hill's comments describe how the young Joachim longed for and finally acquired this instrument at a price which up to that time was the highest ever paid for a violin. Joachim used it in all his concerts for many years. At those musical feasts, the London "pops" in the '60s and earlier, it was an honored guest with Madame Schumann, Rubinstein, and Chopin. It was the beautiful voice with which Joachim spoke during that rich period in the history of music when he and his friends Mendelssohn and Schumann, and later the young Brahms, were rediscovering the instrumental works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert and making them household words in Europe. And so about this violin clusters much of the richest tradition of musical performance.
12Accompanied by certificates of authentication from W. E. Hill & Sons of London and The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company of New York
14[See illustrations]
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.