Scan 265
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1909
13 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 207. See the scan on archive.org.
1"In 1715, on the 10th of June, Giovanni Battista Volème, director of the private orchestra of the King of Poland, arrived in Cremona, by special order of the King, to await the completion of twelve Violins, which had been ordered of Stradivari, and he remained here three months; and when all the instruments were ready, he took them with him to Poland."
3Arisi doubtless refers to the Belgian musician Jean Baptiste Volumier, who was musical director to Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, famous as a patron of music and the arts. It was Augustus who appointed Francesco Maria Veracini as his solo Violinist in 1720, and on the title-page of the charming Sonatas of Veracini we read—
5"Dedicata
6a sua Altezza Reale,
7il Serenissimo Principe Reale di Pollonia
8et Elettoreale di Sassonia.
9Francesco Maria Veracini Fiorentino
10Compositore di Camera di sua Maestà."
12The blending of the names of Stradivari, Augustus, and Veracini, serves to carry our thoughts into channels overflowing with interesting musical records. Volème (Volumier) is said to have taken the instruments from Cremona to Poland. It
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