Books › The heart of music : the story of the violin, 1906 › scan 183
Scan 183
The heart of music : the story of the violin, 1906
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1and late upon instruments that should be as exquisite as jewels. The courtiers laughed at his devotion to his occupation; the ladies were less mockingly interested. What woman does not love the creator of sweet sounds? Tieffenbrücker might have played at hearts at court, if he had had eyes for any loves save his violins and lutes; but his was no fickle passion. But alas for the trust that genius will always insist upon putting in princes! François accepted the instruments, praised the maker, made him an honoured guest at court, and showed his prizes to everyone whom they might be likely to impress; but he never paid for them!
3It is about this point in his history that we find the significant statement that the viol maker left Paris "because the climate did not agree with him." Poor Tieffenbrücker!
5He went to Lyons and established himself there permanently; and it was there, indeed, that he made his finest instruments—notably one with a scroll composed of a horse's head exquisitely carved and finished, and one ornamented with a design representing a man bending over an hourglass. There, too, he executed his famous "geographical viol," with his map of Paris upon its back, all in finest inlaying.
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