Books › Violins and violin makers. Biographical dictionary of the great Italian artistes, their followers and imitators, to the present time. With essays on important subjects connected with the violin, 1866 › scan 109
Scan 109
Violins and violin makers. Biographical dictionary of the great Italian artistes, their followers and imitators, to the present time. With essays on important subjects connected with the violin, 1866
4 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 101. See the scan on archive.org.
1His best violins, which are known by the title of Grand Amatis, are those which approximate closely to the very best instruments of Stradivarius and Guarnerius. There can be no doubt therefore, that in these fine specimens of his skill, he had hit upon the same principles which afterwards guided those distinguished artistes in the construction of those most renowned violins which now command the admiration of violinists throughout the world.
3We have said that the chief characteristic of the Amati violins is a sweet but not powerful tone. It is necessary to qualify and explain this remark. From their excellent construction and beautiful wood, which has evidently been selected with the greatest care for its resonant quality—their age and long and careful use, their tone is divested of all extraneous properties, and become fine and pure. Notwithstanding therefore their original small tone, when fitted with the modern appliances of larger bars and higher bridges, some have been found quite competent for all purposes. In 1861 the celebrated instrument by Antonius Amati, which was presented by George IV. to
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