Books › Violins, old & new, 1887 › scan 7
Scan 7
Violins, old & new, 1887
2 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Why is this? Had these makers a secret which no others had, which has been lost with them, and which no modern ingenuity or research can discover? There are those who say "Yes" without doubt or hesitation, but that is not our opinion. We believe that the violins of Cremona have attained their excellence, not from age, but because after years of study, Stradivarius and Guarnerius produced violins of a certain shape, made with woods of definite quality and grain, and varnished with varnish of a peculiar kind—though this last item is not by any means of such transcendant importance as some are disposed to think. The violin once made, constant use develops its qualities and perfects its tone; but even this item of "constant use" can be compensated for; and Otto, a German maker, wrote a book in which he stated that by sawing away with a tight and heavy bow on the various semitones of the finger-board, the effect of a century of ordinary use could be produced in three months by those who were willing to undergo the necessary "daily grind," and he offered to perfect violins in this way in his own workshop. The problem to be solved is: Given the precise quality and grain of wood, care in making, and ingredients of varnish, can a modern maker produce a violin equal to those of Stradivarius or Guarnerius? We answer, "Yes," without fear of sustaining contradiction. The New York Music Trade Review, quoting recently from a
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