Books › The Strad; a monthly journal for professionals and amateurs of all stringed instruments played with the bow, 1890 › scan 49
Scan 49
The Strad; a monthly journal for professionals and amateurs of all stringed instruments played with the bow, 1890
30 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1concert in Leipzig. The Signale says that this young pupil of Joachim's shows a quite remarkable advance upon his previous efforts a year ago in the same town, and may now look confidently forward to a brilliant future as a violin player.
3It is said that Senor Sarasate will visit England during the season and give at least four concerts in St. James's Hall, while in the autumn he will make a tour of the English provinces.
5Little Bronislaw Hubermann has quite captivated the Viennese. The Musical Standard says that all the seats for his fifth concert were purchased before he had given his fourth performance, a month elapsing between the two; and that half of the tickets for the sixth concert were sold before it was even announced to take place. The little fiddler has refused an American offer of £8,000 for a tour of the States.
7Herr David Popper, the distinguished violoncellist and composer for his instrument, has achieved an enormous triumph in Vienna on the occasion of his annual concert.
9Up to the time of writing when three or more of the "Hauptprüfungen" of the Leipzig Conservatorium have already taken place, a noteworthy feature has been the absence of English names from the lists of performers. Even the Americans all seem to have German patronymics. Miss Herman from Colorado Springs played the Mendelssohn concerto. Time was when English students figured frequently at these performances or examinations; and it will be no difficult task to name several hundred hard working English musicians who have done so. It would be vastly interesting to know how the number of English students in Leipzig now compares with that of ten years ago.
11Viola.
13RECITAL AT THE BROMPTON HOSPITAL.
15A most interesting recital of ancient and modern music on ancient and modern instruments was given by Messrs. G. and H. Saint-George, on Tuesday evening, March 19th, in the charming entertainment room of the above institution. The programme contained, amongst other items of interest, several delightful pieces from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries for Viola d'Amore and Viola da Gamba. Messrs. G. and H. Saint-George are to be congratulated on possessing instruments of such power and fulness; and the rich and varied effects produced by these gentlemen called forth rapturous applause, as did also their finished performance of Bach's wonderful concerto for two violins. They were ably assisted by Miss von Kornatzki on the pianoforte, and the vocal element was charmingly sustained by Miss Cissie Cransford.
17IS IT AN IMPROVED VIOLIN?
19An improvement in violins, violas, violoncellos and similar stringed instruments, has been recently patented in the United States by Bruno E. Wollenhaupt.
21The appearance of the instrument is the same as that of the ordinary violin, but within its body is arranged an auxiliary vibrating device sounding sympathetically and in unison with the outside strings when the latter are played on by the bow. Only those parts of the auxiliary vibrating device are sounded as are tuned in harmony with the corresponding main strings when the latter are played on. The auxiliary vibrating device consists of twelve metallic strings, representing an octave of twelve half tones, tuned from C-B, or from G-F sharp, and these strings are stretched longitudinally within the body and can be tuned to the required pitch from the bout by a key, the strings being sounded by means of a short, thin stick passed either through the f holes or through openings in the sides of the body, the openings being normally closed by small plugs. A feature of the invention is the dampening device, completely under the control of the player, and consisting of a transverse brush or dampening bar supported on a lever pivoted in the body and carrying on its rear end an upwardly extending rod passing through apertures in the top of the body and tailpiece, to be engaged at its upper end by a small block held on a flat spring.
23This block can be pressed by the player's chin to cause a swinging of the lever, so that the brush or dampening bar is moved in contact with all the strings of the auxiliary vibrating device, thus stopping the sounds emanating from the latter. When the player lifts the chin, then the brush falls back to its normal position, that is, out of contact with the vibrating device, and the latter again sounds sympathetically as soon as the outside strings are played on by the bow. Instead of using strings for the auxiliary vibrating device, a metallic comb may be employed.
25When the instrument is played, every tone, from the highest pitch to the lowest pitch, will cause the corresponding auxiliary string, or prong of the comb, to vibrate sympathetically, and, therefore cause a prolongation and increase in volume of the tone played. All harmonics, natural or artificial, respond and prolong the sound produced by the bow passing over the main strings; but in succeeding chords it is advisable to apply the damper to prevent disharmony.
27During a trip to Europe last summer Mr. Wollenhaupt played on his new violin before Prof. Joachim, in Berlin, and this authority speaks in the highest terms of the improvement. A like testimonial is given by Prof. J. von Bermuth, in Hamburg, and Dr. Koenig, in Paris, the well-known authority on acoustics, considers the invention a perfect success.
29THE HIGHEST NOTES OF THE VIOLIN.—A correspondent tells us that one of the highest notes of the violin is that which is produced by rubbing the palm of the left hand briskly over the varnish on the back of the instrument. When the scale is performed from the low open G of the fourth string to the highest F sharp attainable on the E string, and the left hand is then allowed to drop suddenly from the neck along the varnish on the back, the high G will be produced as a clear harmonic, thus completing the scale. He adds that Paganini was not acquainted with this note (neither is it taught in any of the schools of music!) and in trying the experiment with a valuable instrument it must be held very firmly by the chin, or it would be likely to find its way suddenly to the floor!
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.