Books › The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904 › scan 67
Scan 67
The varnishes of the Italian violin-makers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and their influence on tone;, 1904
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1retical conclusions. There seems to be no doubt that not only does the production of satisfactory tone depend on the permeation of the wood by the elastic varnish with which the instrument is covered, but the particular quality of tone produced is influenced by the characteristics of the varnish which has been absorbed.
3A general impression appears to prevail that the tone of instruments of the violin family improves with age. The facts on which this opinion is based are not evident. The deterioration of the tone of some instruments by use and age seems to have been satisfactorily demonstrated, but evidence of the converse is wanting. It is admitted that the tone of many old instruments, especially those of Italian origin, is generally superior to that of modern instruments, but there appears to be no sufficient reason for supposing that with age the latter will become equal to or approach the quality of the former. It would appear that during the lifetime of Stradivari the superiority of his instruments was acknowledged and appreciated. There is no evidence that the artistes and amateurs who lived at that time, and who were quite capable of forming a correct judgment on the question, preferred the older instruments of Brescia and Cremona to those which came direct from his hands (especially between 1700 and 1725).
5Until real evidence is produced to the contrary, it would be more safe to assume that the old Italian instruments, which are so much esteemed to-day, owe their superiority to qualities which they have always possessed since they left the hands of their makers,
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