Scan 161
Researches into the early history of the violin family, 1883
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 151. See the scan on archive.org.
1THE VIOLIN.
3The instrument resembled in shape and construction the grosse-geige, and it was made of three different sizes, which had respectively the following intervals for the open strings:—
5Treble. Alto & Tenor. Bass.
7To discuss further the history of the violin is unnecessary, as we are arrived here on well-trodden ground. Tempting as it may be to expatiate on the accomplishments of Amati, Guarnerius, Stradiuarius, and other eminent makers of the violin, to whom musicians look up with admiration, my remarks would probably contain but little which would be new to readers interested in the present investigation. Most of our treatises on the violin contain well-ascertained biographical notices of the famous violin-makers who, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, brought the instrument to the highest degree of perfection which it has ever attained, and which is not likely to be surpassed, unless the violin could be altered into an instrument which, retaining all its former excellent qualities, combined with them the compass of the pianoforte and the capability of producing harmony as well as melody in every imaginable combination.
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