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Scan 29
The violinist, 1903
20 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 7. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1Dr. Alfred Stelzner's New String Instruments
3Written expressly for The Violinist
5…BY…
6E. van der Straeten
7London
9THE violin family, as we know it, is the result of empirical evolution. The sense of beauty of line and shape, the empirical knowledge of the acoustic properties of certain kinds of wood, etc., have, in the course of time, produced our modern violin family, which reached its highest point of perfection under Antonio Stradivari in the earlier part of the eighteenth century. Positive science could do nothing to assist in their development, as the only science which would have done so—the knowledge of acoustics—is of such recent date that it could have no part in it.
11The only theoretical work, which is used by all instrument makers, is a book by Antonio Bagatella, who gives a number of useful average measures taken from recognized Italian models. But all attempts to construct by rule instruments possessing the beauty of tone of the originals, combined with equal or even increased power, had proved futile.
13These facts induced Dr. Alfred Stelzner of Dresden, an eminent acoustician, to apply himself seriously to the solution of this problem. His researches led him to the conclusion that the beauty of tone in the works of the great Italian masters does not proceed from the fact they present all the most favorable conditions for its production, but merely from the fact that they are the NEAREST APPROACH to acoustically perfect models, and that age has meellowed their inherent faults. By unflinching zeal in the pursuit of his studies Dr. Stelzner succeeded eventually in producing a model combining all the qualities which form the highest ambition of the fiddle maker—beauty and power of tone.
15A PEEP INTO STELZNER'S WORKSHOP
17Now we shall try to peep into his workshop, and see how he has arrived at this marvellous result; and he has very kindly given the writer a few pointers which will help us to understand his mysteries. The oscillation of air molecules produces sound waves in the body of a musical instrument, and upon the energy of their action depends the quantity of tone; while the quality is determined to a very great extent by the coincidence of their "foci," or centering points. To find these points by acoustical calculations in a circle or its sections (upon which the outlines of the older instruments are based), is impossible. In the ellipse and the parabola, on the other hand, they can be determined with certainty. Dr. Stelzner proceeded, therefore, to modify the outlines of his model in accordance with those requirements which led eventually to the present shape of his instruments, which differs from that of the familiar pattern only in four points: (1) the outline; (2) the shape and purpose of the end blocks connecting table and back; (3) the ribs; (4) the soundholes. The accompanying illustrations will explain these points more clearly. Fig. I (a, b, c) shows the elliptical curve of Dr. Stelzner's instruments, while the dotted line marks the semi-circular shape of the Italian school. The upper and lower ellipses bear distinct and minutely fixed relative proportions, and the sound-waves reflected by one ellipse are strengthened by those emanating from the one opposite, thus increasing the power of tone. In closest connection with this problem stands also the shape of the end blocks, Fig. 1 (A). The curves d-e of these blocks form parabolæ, whose foci, axes and diameters bear such relation to the corresponding points of the ellipse that an increased power of the sound waves results therefrom. The end block in the older instruments is of an arbitrary shape, merely serving to connect the table and back in the instrument, without taking any notice of the sound waves, with the development of which they greatly interfere. (See Fig. 2.)
19The parabola also plays an important part in the shape of the ribs. In the Italian models they are either of the same width all round as shown in Fig. 3 by the line f-g-h, or, at most, imperceptibly wider at the lower end. The latter form was chosen merely from aesthetic reasons. The Stelzner instruments, on the contrary, show the parabola in the shape of the ribs in simple as well as in compound form. The former is shown in the curve k-l-m, while the latter is shown in the curve w-l-o. The lower brim of the ribs, which are considerably higher than in other instruments, shows also a slight parabolic curve. The table is perfectly straight, according to the general rule, and is forced on to the ribs when being glued on. The fibres of the wood by this tension become more sensitive in responding to the oscillation of
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