Scan 49
The violin & its story : or the history & construction of the violin, 1905
8 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 33. See the scan on archive.org.
1developed in Italy than in Germany are entirely wanting. When we read that Balthazarini, a Piedmontese, who died in 1570, had acquired such fame as a fiddler that Catherine de Medici sent for him to the French Court, we must not at once jump to the conclusion that he was a greater artist than Hans Judenkünig. Fétis went so far as to maintain that at the end of the sixteenth century the fiddle was but little known in Italy, seeing that its name appeared neither in the enumeration nor the analysis of musical instruments given by Cerrato in his book published in 1601. The first use of the real violin* is found in Monteverde's "Orfeo," which was produced at Mantua in 1607;† but the very use of the word "violin" by Monteverde leads us to believe that this metamorphosis of the violin into an orchestral instrument did not originate in Italy, for in his enumeration of their instruments which were to play the introductory symphony, he speaks of ten "violes da brazzo," three "knee-basses," two "contrabass viols," and two smaller fiddles "after the French style."
3When the immortal work of Prætorius appeared, Germany had already, long before, entered upon an epoch in her history more calamitous than any other; an epoch which destroyed the prosperity of her citizens, her time-honoured morals, and her political standing. Italy, on the other hand, had entered into possession of the noble inheritance handed down to her by Leo X. and the other great members of the Medici family. Here, under the happiest possible conditions, art was guided in the right direction to raise the aesthetic tastes of a talented people to the highest point of development. We shall show in our next section how these and other fortunate circumstances enabled a few genial spirits in Italy to elevate the art of violin-making to the pitch of its greatest perfection.
5* Our author of course means in Italy, though he does not say so. He pleads valiantly for his native Germany, as befits a true patriot; but later on our readers will be better able to judge of the claim he puts up for his own country.—Translator.
7† Mr. W. S. Rockstro says 1608. See Grove's Dictionary, Vol. II., page 358.—Translator.
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