Books › The Strad; a monthly journal for professionals and amateurs of all stringed instruments played with the bow, 1890 › scan 18
Scan 18
The Strad; a monthly journal for professionals and amateurs of all stringed instruments played with the bow, 1890
17 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.
1Messiah," he, too, paid for what the Rev. H. R. Haweis has described as "a little wood, varnish, paint." But, more than this a great deal, he paid "for what no money can produce;" "for conditions that have passed away;" "for the inspiration of a matchless workman and a subtle soul infused into elements which seem beggarly, but which have become priceless."
3Yet more than this, Mr. Crawford (by whose kind permission we reproduce in the current issue of The Strad a counterfeit presentment of his priceless possession), in paying £2,000, paid not only for a Stradivari violin, instruments which always fetch good (not to say high) prices when in good condition: but also for a Stradivari violin with a history; for a violin that has over and over again been pronounced by the most competent experts to be absolutely unique. In the course of the present article we will endeavour to show how and why "The Messiah" Strad is unique. one of two readings
4Yet more than this, Mr. Crawford (by whose kind permission we reproduce in the current issue of THE STRAD a counterfeit presentment of his priceless possession), in paying £2,000, paid not only for a Stradivari violin, instruments which always fetch good (not to say high) prices when in good condition: but also for a Stradivari violin with a history; for a violin that has over and over again been pronounced by the most competent experts to be absolutely unique. In the course of the present article we will endeavour to show how and why "The Messiah" Strad is unique. one of two readings
6Antonio Stradivari was born in 1644, but the instruments made by him which enjoy the highest reputation were made between 1700 and 1725, that is, when Stradivari was upwards of fifty years of age. Of these instruments it is said that "only one now exists which is perfect as it was made," and that is "Le Messie." The label affixed to "Le Messie" testifies to the date of the creation of the instrument—"faciebat Anno, 1716." A writer in The People's Friend, August 11th, 1890, says: "The work was so carefully executed that a magnifying glass could not reveal a flaw, a careless turn, or a slip of the sharp tools; and when all was done, Stradivari was so much in love with the instrument that he refused to sell it or to allow it to played upon." After the death of the elder Stradivari, no less than ninety-one instruments of his own make became the property of his sons, and it was not until 1775 that the remnants of this collection were sold. In that year Count Cozio di Salabue purchased ten instruments from Paolo Stradivari, among which was the famous "Le Messie."
8"Le Messie" remained in the collection of the Count until 1827, when it passed into the possession of Luigi Tarisio, a peasant carpenter with an extraordinary passion and capacity for collecting old violins. In the course of his wanderings, Tarisio went to Paris to sell any or all of his possessions except his one particular unique gem. This even he, like Stradivari himself, refused to permit any eyes but his own to see; and while bargaining with the Parisian dealers,
10Tarisio was wont to declare that the violins shown to him were very excellent and choice, but that he owned one which surpassed them all. After a time this instrument and its owner became a bye-word among violin dealers in Paris, and it is related that when on one occasion Tarisio was discoursing to Vuillaume on his favourite topic, Alard overheard the conversation, and said, "Ah ça, votre violon est donc comme le Messie; on l'attend toujours, et il ne parait jamais." Thus was the violin baptised "Le Messie"—the one that was to come!
12After the tragic death of Tarisio, Vuillaume became the owner by purchase of six violins—a Strad, a Guarneri, a Carlo Bergonzi, two Guadagnini, and "Le Messie." Vuillaume at once recognised the truth of all that Tarisio had said as to the wonderful superiority of "Le Messie," and he immediately set to work to purchase the whole of the Italian's collection. This he effected at length for £3,166 only! For twenty years Vuillaume preserved his precious possession "as the apple of his eye." "He kept it for inspection in a glass case, and never allowed it to be touched even by the most experienced hands," says the author of a charming monograph on "The Salabue Stradivari," published by Messrs. W. E. Hill, of Bond Street.
14Surely no better proof of Vuillaume's tender care of his instrument can be adduced than that being in terror for its life, as it were, during the Franco-Prussian War, he buried it enclosed in a box, and did not bring it into the light of day again until peace was signed. At Vuillaume's death in 1875, "Le Messie" became the property of his two children, the elder of whom was the wife of Alard, the violinist. The instrument had been valued for purposes of probate at £1,000, and in 1877 Alard bought his sister-in-law's share for £500, and became sole owner. When Alard died in 1888, "Le Messie" passed into the possession of his widow and daughters, and on the death of the former, the two latter, through M. Croué, the husband of one, sold "Le Messie" for the sum of 50,000 francs to Mr. R. Crawford, of Trinity, Edinburgh, in whose possession it now remains.
16The writer in the journal mentioned above declares that "the first glimpse of this remarkable violin is startling." "The varnish is of a mahogany red colour, and just as it came from the brush; being neither polished nor worn, and so does not show its greatest brilliance or transparence. There is scarcely a scratch upon its surface, and the exquisite
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