Books › The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904 › scan 97
Scan 97
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 57. See the scan on archive.org.
1Chapter V
2Carlo Bergonzi, 1685-1747
3The Tarisio Bergonzi
5N the estimation of the public, Carlo Bergonzi stands next to the great trio, Amati, Stradivari, and Joseph Guarneri, and many would place him higher in the scale than Amati. This exalted position, in our opinion, he has not earned, but, nevertheless, Bergonzi will always rank as one of the greatest of violin builders because of certain special works of the highest merit. Limited in number, they were constructed on broad lines, and equal in originality and boldness, as well as in workmanship, the best work of the great triumvirate. Bergonzi was the first of his family to take up the art. He was born about 1685, probably in Cremona. His parents are thought to have occupied the house next to that of Stradivari on the Piazza S. Domenico, where in later years he made his home. At an early age he became a pupil of Stradivari, and he continued to work under that master for a number of years. His own violins are dated from the year 1716, but it does not follow because of this that he had early established himself in business on his own account. In fact, from the scarcity of his work (so far as we have positive knowledge he produced only about forty violins), it may safely be assumed that much of his time was devoted to the services of Stradivari. His violins, so much more rare than those of any of the other great masters, naturally gain in value from the fact that they are. He worked actively up to 1747, so with moderate industry he should have a far larger number to his credit than to-day he possesses. A European authority estimates the world's supply of his violins to be about sixty, which is surely too high a number. Admitting, however, that he made this number, the total is still very small and arouses speculation as to the manner in which he employed his time. For one thing, the repair of violins was in itself a very important means of income, and therefore may have received much of his attention. The Italian market, after a century and a half of industry on the part of an ever-increasing number of violin-makers, must have become fully supplied. The political sky was o'ercast with ominous signs, and industry languished. Prices for new violins fell to the lowest point, while the repairing of violins offered a lucrative field. So eminent a factor as Bergonzi in the violin world of Cremona would naturally attract much of such work, for in the shop of Stradivari he must have had a good schooling. From the documentary evidence still extant, it is known that Stradivari had many instruments forwarded to him by important personages in different parts of Italy. The endeavor of Bergonzi seems to have been to produce a violin tone which would come between that of Stradivari and that of Guarneri—which would combine the rich singing quality of the one with the virile sonority of the other. That he suc-
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