Scan 83
The violin & its story : or, the history & construction of the violin, 1905
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 67. See the scan on archive.org.
1'cellos at £7 10s. and violins with inlaid work at as low a figure as 7s. 6d. each! Although made in a tasteless fashion, these instruments had still a good sound tone. With cheap instruments like these, the violin may well become a part of the children's school curriculum; quartets are no longer the monopoly of the rich; and the good influence of Haydn or Mozart can be brought into play in the meanest village home. Music makes people better, more moral; and the more of such instruments as these are made, the less likelihood is there of children growing up to be drunkards.*
3The above sketch of the history of the art of violin making, and of some of the most famous masters of that art, sets forth only the leading features of the subject; but it is sufficiently extensive to show, amongst other things, that the art of violin-making reached its highest pitch of perfection in the hands of a few men of genius—such as the Amati, Stradivarius, Guarnerius, and Stainer. Further we find after a century and a half, that in spite of the universal progress made in the technical arts and trades, and the vast improvements effected in the manufacture of musical instruments generally, the violin is the one instrument which has not been bettered. In the manufacture of the violin the combined art and science of our own day can only show its highest perfection in imitating as closely as may be the perfect works turned out by those renowned masters. That the instruments made by the above named artists cannot be improved upon, has long been a universally accepted truth; and the countless attempts which have been made to beat the productions of these celebrated makers have one and all resulted in absolute failure.
5In connection with these attempts at improvement mention must be made here of the experiments of Savart, the famous acoustician, of Paris. He converted violins
7* Abele is quite right as to the power of music to brighten, sweeten, and generally improve the manners and morals of a people; and a volume might well be written on this topic.—Translator.
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