Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 131
Scan 131
The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871
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1with the following four members of the Academy of the Fine Arts, Messrs. Cherubini, Catel, Berton, and Le Seur. The account was drawn up by M. Biot, and the following is a translation from his own words, as given in the "Annales de Chimie et de Physique."
3"To assure themselves of this," states M. Biot, "the commission invited M. Lefebure, chief of the orchestra of the Theatre Feydeau, to make a trial of it before them. This able artist, whose performances on the violin—full of grace and sensibility—has been long known and appreciated by the world, yielded to our desire with much courtesy; he was willing to compare the violin of Savart with that of his own, and which is so full of expression in his hands. He played the one and the other in succession before us, and the new violin was found to possess a greater purity of tone, and a more perfect equality in the different tones—the last of which qualities is known to be very rare. The new violin, heard from a short distance, appeared to have somewhat less brilliancy than the other, but this brilliancy decreased at a greater distance. The better to assure ourselves of the comparison, we requested M. Lefebure to retire to an adjoining room, and play the same passages alternately on the two instruments, without telling us which he was about to play, when they were found so nearly equal that the most practised persons confounded the one with the other, or, if there was any difference, it was that the new violin had a little more sweetness of tone."
5Thus eminently did Savart's instrument stand such a rigid test as has been related, and such a violin can be
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