Books › Old violins, 1910 › scan 54
Scan 54
Old violins, 1910
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 46. See the scan on archive.org.
1school far behind. The double purfling of Brescia is also gone, but the brothers purfled very beautifully, with a bend of perfect regularity and smoothness.
3The violins of Antonio are better than his brother's, but the joint violins are the best, and have been oftenest forged.
5The brothers indeed made excellent violas, but, as the fashion then was, too large. They have been sometimes cut down. Sir Frederick Gore Ousely once had a fine specimen, which I remember playing upon many years ago at Tenby—tone very full and mellow.
7Richard Blagrove, a brother of Henry Blagrove, the admirable early Monday Popular violinist, was a viola player, and used a reputed Amati, but it was really a Gagliano. Many of us (1897) can remember how richly it contributed to the triumph of a quartet, of which Joachim, Riess, and Piatti were often the other members.
9Her late Majesty the Queen had a fine painted Amati, unfortunately cut down; and Miss Seton's Geronimo Amati is a rare specimen, and from the MS. of Ascenzio, a priest at Madrid, we learn that it was a favourite violin of Charles IV. of Spain.
11Geronimo, after separating from Antonio, reduced the arching of his bellies, but, singularly enough, without improving his tone-power. The over-arching of the early makers and scooped side-curves are generally supposed to be a vice in acoustics finally overcome by the gentle natural curve and flatter models of Nicolo, but it is perhaps possible to ride a theory too hard. I have certainly played on instruments deeply grooved,
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