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Musical Courier 1892-12-21: Vol 25 Iss 668, 1892
31 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 92. See the scan on archive.org.
1From Cremona to New York.
2VIOLIN MAKING AFTER THE OLD MASTERS.
4IT is a "far cry" from Cremona in the sixteenth century to New York in the nineteenth, yet the art and mystery of violin making has stretched down through the centuries until the work is better accomplished perhaps in the metropolis of America to-day than it has ever been elsewhere since the time of Amati.
6It is curious that in this practical age, and in this mechanical country, the most powerful and delicate and capable of all musical instruments should be made in its uttermost perfection. Of course, this is not saying that anything original has been devised in the way of constructing the violin. This is one of the few cases in which it would appear that completeness was reached long ago; but for absolute accuracy and excellence in the imitation of the old masters New York to-day holds the palm. Vast numbers of violins are still made in Italy and in France, and myriads of them in Germany. But there is no record of anything having been accomplished in the direction of this art of late years to compete with the Gemünder violins made in New York, and which have obtained celebrity and recognition wherever the instrument is used.
8The origin of the violin is unknown; but it is certain that it was in use at the time of the Crusades. At first it had only three strings, and it is not on record when the fourth string was added. Strangely enough, too, although the best violins were made in the sixteenth century, it was not until late in the eighteenth that a great artist discovered its qualities and its powers among musical instruments. This musician was Jean Marie Leclair, a Frenchman, who was born at Lyons in 1697.
10The violin is made to-day as it was made in the earliest period of its construction—the top of spruce and the sides, back and neck of maple. The only differences that have occurred in the structure of the instrument have been in its form, and those have been so few and so slight as to be imperceptible to anyone but a connoisseur. Although the violin existed during the Middle Ages—originating, doubtless, in ancient instruments of a similar character—it was not until the sixteenth century that its manufacture became of any importance, either in trade or in art. In fact, it was not until the following century that the great masters in the structure of the instrument produced the works which have ever since been recognized, not only as the best existing, but probably representing perfection, so far as this manufacture is concerned.
12It is to be said that the qualities of all these instruments, made by the great masters of the art, include not only matters of form, which must, of course, have to do with the tone, expression, sonorousness, and general power of the violin, but also—and this possesses great importance—the use of such varnishes as distinguish the works of the leading makers from those of all others. The amber varnish used by the old Italian makers might also be considered something lost to art, if it were not for the fact that it has been so successfully imitated in modern times as to render this special quality undistinguishable from the work of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is also interesting to know that, while but eight or ten of the old Italian violin makers are generally known by name—and these mainly from Cremona—as a matter of fact, 180 makers in Italy alone are on record in the two centuries named.
14Of these 180 more than one-half are esteemed to be beneath the notice of the connoisseur; and yet, absolutely, there are as many as sixty makers of that period who have a reputation for their work. The very earliest violins known of real value and merit are those of Gaspar da Salo, in Lombardy, between 1650 and 1710. In the seventeenth century the celebrated family of the Amati—including Andrew, his sons Jerome and Antonio, and Nicolo, the son of Jerome—produced violins which were the wonder of succeeding times. They wrought at Cremona, as did Antonio Stradivarius, who was a pupil of Nicolo, and who is said to have even surpassed in his work that of the Amati. After these eminent makers came the families Guarnerius and Ruggieri. The violins made by Stradivarius and Joseph Guarnerius, with those of the Amati, hold to-day the first rank in the history of this instrument. After the Cremonese violins, in the estimation of connoisseurs, stand those of the Tyrolese makers, Jacob Stainer and Matthias Klotz and his son. Next, perhaps, comes the workmanship of Nicholas Lupot, a Frenchman; a very fine instrument was made also by Januarius Gagliano, who was a pupil of Antonio Stradivarius. Paolo Maggini is also not to be forgotten. Walter Damrosch possesses a fine specimen of one of his instruments; and just here it may be mentioned that the favorite violin used by Ole Bull was a Gaspar da Salo.
16There are few, if any, manufactures, whether in the interest of art or of utility, which show so little progress as that of violins. And this, of course, is not to speak depreciatingly, for the art shows the extraordinary feature of having, as it were, leaped to perfection at one bound. Nothing has been done since Cremona to advance the capacity of this marvelous instrument; just as nothing has been done to improve upon the beauty which it obtained three centuries ago. The best that can be accomplished in these days in the art of making violins is to successfully and accurately imitate the work of the masters whom we have named. Such imitation of itself, however, evinces the possession of actual genius. No one can carefully examine the earlier violins without recognizing instinctively the wonderful knowledge, almost amounting to intuition, which went to their construction.
18When it is remembered that the compass of one of these instruments is six octaves it will be seen what a remarkable combination of elements must go to a result which approaches excellence, not to say perfection. "The violin is the most important instrument in the orchestra. Eminently flexible, it associates itself with and accommodates itself to instruments of every sort without losing anything of its own superiority. It displays every species of expression, all the forms of execution, all the kinds of musical effect. There is almost no passage in music, however difficult, which cannot be executed upon it with ease; in fact it permits the artist to surmount the greatest possible difficulties. All of these advantages peculiar to the violin have caused the most eminent composers to select this from among all instruments for the proper execution of their most difficult works."
20Of the few musical instrument makers who have succeeded in imitating with success the violins of the Cremonamakers, only one, Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, who was a pupil of Lupot, had made any special reputation up to the time of the Gemünders. He exhibited in the Paris Exposition of 1867 specimens of his work which were highly recommended. Altogether the French were more successful, so far as the French expositions went to show, than the makers of any other nation. After them ranked those of Belgium, Germany, Italy, Bavaria and Saxony, in that order. In the meantime it was extraordinary at what low prices really excellent instruments could be purchased, running between 5 and 30 frs. each. Quite satisfactory and pleasing imitations of the old masters were purchasable twenty years ago for about $30, either in Paris, Leipsic or London.
22At this time, also, a violin by Joseph Guarnerius, of Cremona, with plain wood and pale varnish, was worth about $350; another by the same maker, with handsome wood and red varnish, was valued at $1,000. A third, with fine wood, red varnish and without a crack, could not be bought for less than $1,500. A very fair specimen of Amati was worth $200; while a Carlo Bergonzi, an excellent maker, brought only $75. It was by no means in Cremona alone, in Italy, that excellent violins were made two or three centuries ago. There were makers of merit also in Parma, Mantua, Padua, Verona, Turin, Florence, Naples, Rome, Milan and especially Venice.
24There are tricks, too, in the violin trade as in all others. It was not an unusual thing for London dealers, not many years ago, to buy up old instruments in Italy and ship them by the careful to London, where they were manipulated and doctored by local artisans, and afterward put on the market as genuine Cremonas. Again, not an unusual thing was to take a positive Guarnerius or Stradivarius or Amati to pieces and make two violins out of one; of course giving each instrument the credit of being the work of the master who had made half of it.
26The mere artistic structure of the violin, if it were practicable to go into its consideration in a popular article, would be found to possess very interesting features. The work, however, is exceedingly technical, involving a knowledge of acoustics, of vibration, and of tension sufficient to render it exceedingly difficult to handle in a paper designed only for popular reading. It is worth while, however, to mention that the pressure of the bridge on a violin is equivalent to 36 pounds; while the tension of the strings is rated at 71 pounds; the E string, 26 pounds; the A string, 18 1/2; the D string, 14, and the G string, 12 1/2 pounds. Moreover there is not a swell, curve, bend, or dimension of any sort existing in the instrument which has not been the result of the deepest and most comprehensive study on the part of artists who have devoted their lives to its manufacture; while, as has been seen, the art has been carried through families—from father to son and grandson—in the most important instances in the course of its history.
28This has been the case with the Gemünders, father and son, who are certainly deserving of recognition and historical record for having made the art of violin construction something for America to be proud of, through the character of the work which they have accomplished. August Gemünder, the founder of the house, was himself the son of a violin maker, and was born in Württemberg in 1814. He practiced his art in Germany until 1846, when he came to America and settled in Springfield, Mass. Afterward he established himself in New York, where he has produced his greatest successes in imitations of Stradivarius, Guarnerius and Amati—copies which have received the highest commendation from such experts as the late Leopold Damrosch, François Boucher, Edward Mollenhauer, Alfred Vivien, Carl Richter-Nicolai, and other well-known and eminent violinists.
30The Gemünders have in their possession violins of undoubted authenticity, the manufacture of the Amatis, Gagliano—a pupil of Stradivarius—Paolo Maggini, Jacob Stainer and Nicholas Lupot. Of important instruments in New York it may be mentioned that Mr. Henry Havemeyer possesses both a Stradivarius and a Guarnerius; Mr. Mosenthal, president of the Mendelssohn Glee Club, has a fine Nicholas Amati; Adolph Brodsky is the owner of a Joseph Guarnerius; Walter Damrosch possesses a fine specimen of Maggini; and the late Dr. Henry Tuttle, of Brooklyn, was the owner of a beautiful Amati.—"Illustrated American."
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