Books › The violin : how to choose one, 1893 › scan 55
Scan 55
The violin : how to choose one, 1893
10 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 51. See the scan on archive.org.
1others, like an amateur of my acquaintance, make every violin they touch sound poor, though it should be a Cremona of the first water. Instead of drawing the tone out they push it in, and bow and fingers alike act as dampers or mutes. I know a fine player in the heart of England who deals in violins, and who can sell the veriest wreck of a violin at a good price simply by playing a few solos on it in public. Some trustful amateur hears him play, and foolishly imagining that the tone is in the violin buys it straightway, but never gets the same effect again. The violin thus sold is like the famous parrot sold by the ventriloquist, which spoke with amazing eloquence and wisdom till it was sold, and then became for ever dumb.
3A Lady's Violin.
5In advertisements of high-priced violins we frequently notice the phrase "a nice instrument for a lady." When this instrument is examined, it is generally found to be a small-toned instrument of the Amati tribe, perhaps very fine in quality, but so weak and thin that no man would buy it. Now, why should a weak-toned instrument be foisted upon a lady? Is the lady-player gifted with so powerful a muscle that she can bring a large tone out of any weak instrument which may be placed in her hands? It is exactly the reverse. The tone produced by the lady player is smaller than that produced by a man, all other things being equal, and her muscles are weaker. Physiologists indeed tell us that there is one muscle entirely absent from the female arm, and that that is the reason why a woman throws a cricket ball in a fashion so peculiarly her own. The violin, therefore, for the lady player ought to be the most powerful in tone that can be got compatible with freedom and ready response. This last quality is most important, as there are many grand violins which yield their best tone only to the most muscular arm, but these are the exception. The violin with a large, full tone, which comes easily, is therefore the violin for a lady player.
7The Price to Give for a Violin.
9The price of an old violin is a varying quantity, depending on the needs of the seller, and also upon his conscience, which
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.