Books › The violin, how to make it, 1880 › scan 66
Scan 66
The violin, how to make it, 1880
15 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 60. See the scan on archive.org.
1"By the sweet muse of music I could vow
2I do believe it smiles upon me;
3See it full of unuttered music, like a bird,
4Rich in invisible treasures, like a bud
5Of unborn sweets and thick about the heart
6With ripe and rosy beauty—full to trembling:
7I love it like a sister. Talk to me,
8Lovely one! answer me, thou beauty."
10In former times when Stradivarius, Amati, and Guarnerius flourished, along with many other celebrated makers, the making of such musical instruments was purely an art, for truly such makers were genuine artists; whilst at the present time Violin-makers, generally speaking, are only traders in it, and instruments, as a consequence, are now ostensibly made for the furtherance of this art, and are thus sent wholesale into the world, faulty and careless in construction; crude, immature, and harsh in quality. The Violin is a favorite, and ever will be, and in view of this alone we shall try to investigate, to the best of our frail ability, its mechanical structure, its workmanship, and its known acoustical principles.
12The Violin is, as a general rule, composed of seventy different parts, but this is not essential as we find many of the Cremona instruments had no such number, the back being often in one piece and technically termed a "whole" back, in contradistinction to that formed from two separate plates, or pieces, united. At other times we find the corner-blocks omitted, and the backs made from wood cut slabwise, as in the instruments of Andrew Amati, who never deviated from this method. The proper selection of wood of the finest acoustical qualities was a matter of the utmost importance with the ancient artists. In many of the old Cremona instruments the backs, as well as breasts, have been formed, or "pieced," from quite a number of different parts, all united with the most skilful care and workmanship, and plainly demonstrating, that sonority was the sine qua non, as in Italy there was little or no difficulty in obtaining wood in sufficient quantity, although not at all times of sufficient quality.
14The following table will show distinctly the different parts, along with those which are sometimes omitted:—
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