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Scan 71
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
7 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Chapter III
2Nicola Amati, 1596-1684
3The Goding Amati
5N influence on the violin-making history of the world, the Amati family is easily foremost, a position due very largely to its most distinguished member, Nicola. The potency of the name of Nicola Amati among the mass of violinists, professional and amateur, of his day was greater than that of any other in the world. He was in fact the Nestor of the craft, and, as the result of his work, by far the greatest number of violins made during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in all countries, partake, more or less, of the Amati style. Nicola Amati had for pupils a splendid group of men. His following was unrivaled both as regards personnel and number. Their work and that of their pupils and followers constitute in a large measure the product of the violin-builders not only of Italy, but of Germany, England, and France, though it may be said of the latter that it is much smaller than in the two previously named countries. In Germany and England, in an effort to improve on Amati's form, many makers exhibited original ideas which now seem grotesque and even absurd. In France a more correct artistic sense of proportion obtained, which lifts the work of the early makers of that country above Germany and England. Before we enter upon the consideration of the life of Nicola Amati, let us first review what had been accomplished by the older members of the family. Andrea Amati, the founder, takes us back to the earlier days of the art, almost to its inception. The date and place of his birth are unknown. M. Francois Fetis, the eminent French littérateur, basing his judgment on the instruments he found in the collection of the Venetian banker, Carlo Carli, formerly in possession of the Count Cozio de Salabue, places it between 1520 and 1525. It is interesting to note that Fetis at the same time established the date of the birth of Stradivari, from Stradivari's own statement, written on the label of one of the instruments of the same collection, dated 1737. The name of Andrea's master is obscure. Judging from some characteristics of his work, especially his varnish, manner of cutting his wood, etc., it is argued by many that Brescia was the source of his knowledge, and that Gasparo da Salò was his teacher. In this view we cannot agree without reservation. If he had been a pupil of Gasparo, and loyal to him, the world to-day would be far richer in violins of larger tone. If he had been for any length of time under da Salò's influence, it is but natural to believe that he would have continued to construct his violins on the same lines after he left the shop of his master. What did he do? Exactly the contrary, for he adopted a model, the tonal quality of which is quite opposed to the da Salò idea. The probability is that Andrea was a maker of lutes and rebecks, and of other instruments of the day, and that as the violin came into use, and the one of two readings
6N influence on the violin-making history of the world, the Amati family is easily foremost, a position due very largely to its most distinguished member, Nicola. The potency of the name of Nicola Amati among the mass of violinists, professional and amateur, of his day was greater than that of any other in the world. He was in fact the Nestor of the craft, and, as the result of his work, by far the greatest number of violins made during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in all countries, partake, more or less, of the Amati style. Nicola Amati had for pupils a splendid group of men. His following was unrivaled both as regards personnel and number. Their work and that of their pupils and followers constitute in a large measure the product of the violin-builders not only of Italy, but of Germany, England, and France, though it may be said of the latter that it is much smaller than in the two previously named countries. In Germany and England, in an effort to improve on Amati's form, many makers exhibited original ideas which now seem grotesque and even absurd. In France a more correct artistic sense of proportion obtained, which lifts the work of the early makers of that country above Germany and England. Before we enter upon the consideration of the life of Nicola Amati, let us first review what had been accomplished by the older members of the family. Andrea Amati, the founder, takes us back to the earlier days of the art, almost to its inception. The date and place of his birth are unknown. M. Francois Fetis, the eminent French littérateur, basing his judgment on the instruments he found in the collection of the Venetian banker, Carlo Carli, formerly in possession of the Count Cozio de Salabue, places it between 1520 and 1525. It is interesting to note that Fetis at the same time established the date of the birth of Stradivari, from Stradivari's own statement, written on the label of one of the instruments of the same collection, dated 1737. The name of Andrea's master is obscure. Judging from some characteristics of his work, especially his varnish, manner of cutting his wood, etc., it is argued by many that Brescia was the source of his knowledge, and that Gasparo da Salò was his teacher. In this view we cannot agree without reservation. If he had been a pupil of Gasparo, and loyal to him, the world to-day would be far richer in violins of larger tone. If he had been for any length of time under da Salò's influence, it is but natural to believe that he would have continued to construct his violins on the same lines after he left the shop of his master. What did he do? Exactly the contrary, for he adopted a model, the tonal quality of which is quite opposed to the da Salò idea. The probability is that Andrea was a maker of lutes and rebechs, and of other instruments of the day, and that as the violin came into use, and the one of two readings
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