Books › The Story of the Violin, 1914 › scan 182
Scan 182
The Story of the Violin, 1914
6 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1guished though they be, and in some instances showing originality in certain details—were more than faithful and clever imitators of the Italian and Tyrolese masters. Indeed, from a pure imitation point of view, it must be conceded that they were, generally speaking, inferior to their French neighbours. Probably the climate had something to do in the case of wood and varnish, just as it has in the manufacture of gut-strings, which deteriorate in proportion as they are made farther away from the genial climate of the Gaglianos.¹
3Germany's (including Austria's) contribution to the fiddle-making art is also on the whole of an imitative nature, but with this difference, which places her at an advantage over other countries outside Italy, that she can trace the origin of the art directly back to one of her own sons, Jacobus Stainer. This Tyrolese master is truly and indisputably the founder of German lutherie, for, although it may be urged that even Stainer primarily reflected only Italian art (viz., Nicolaus Amati), he is sufficiently original to deserve that distinction. The influence of the Cremonese schools began somewhat later to assert itself in Germany as elsewhere. In Stainer's modest Absam workshop lay the sources of activities one of which has since grown into a stately river of national income and national pride. One
5¹ Most prominent manufacturers of strings in Italy, descendants of the famous violin-maker of the same name, Alexander Gagliano. See Stradivari's pupils.
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