Books › The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904 › scan 12
Scan 12
The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904
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1J. B. Vuillaume—Pre-eminence of Stradivari; retrogression of his pupils—Mailand's treatise—his unfounded preconceptions—Quotations from authors of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries—their irrelevance to his contentions—Mailand's conception of a Cremonese varnish—Useful evidence adduced by Mailand—early use of water-bath and boiled linseed-oil—effect of heat in causing viscosity—pine- and fir-products used by old varnish-makers—ignorance of methods of colouring—The question of a secret and the possibility of its maintenance—Mailand concludes that the colours used were resins or resinous—is ignorant of their mode of introduction—Colouring matter admitted to be insoluble in oil of turpentine and other essences—Observation by Mailand that thin films of old varnishes are yellow; he attributes this to preliminary sizing—His reasons for sizing controverted—Descriptions by Messrs. Hill—Rough diagram showing the movements of the various characteristics of the varnishes—All the descriptions are shown to be referable to refraction effects, not to coloured varnish—Similarity between the dichroïsm of sunrise and sunset and that of the varnish explained—Unappreciated service of Mailand..pages 9—31
3CHAPTER III.
5THE TONE OF VIOLINS.
7Varnish affects tone—Tone of unvarnished violins transitory; confirmation of this view by Vidal (Vuillaume), Sibire (N. Lupot), Savart—Description of hypothetical vibratory diaphragms of varying properties—Old varnish penetrated the wood—E. J. Payne's description of the penetrating quality of Stradivari's varnish—The views of Félix Savart quoted and discussed; climatic influences; relation of wood to
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