the finest of all fiddlemakers

[alocispepraluger102]

The finest of all fiddlemakers

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 05/09/2004

Martin Gayford reviews Stradivarius: Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius by Toby Faber

According to the great violinist Nicolo Paganini, Antonio Stradivari (better known as Stradivarius), to make his celebrated violins used only "the wood of trees on which nightingales sang". Others have made more prosaic suggestions - that the timber Stradivari employed was soaked in brine, or that it was of unusual density owing to the freezing conditions of the 17th-century "Little Ice Age" in which it grew. Some argue that his wood was endowed with special properties while it was being floated down river from the Alps in the form of logs. But there is still no agreement.

Nor is that the only mystery of these antique musical instruments. Their varnish, measurements and internal construction have been minutely examined since the 19th century. And still - 360 years after the birth of their maker - nobody really knows what makes the tone of these old fiddles so marvellous.

advertisement

Perhaps the most plausible explanation is that there is no "secret".Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) was just so skilful that no later instrument-maker has got close to equalling his achievement. Or so, at least, Toby Faber, the author of this new book, contends. Moreover, "the players who find new instruments work for them continue to be in a tiny minority".

One only has to look at a violin to see that it is a product of late Renaissance and Baroque Italy. It has the energetic yet graceful curves of a figure by Parmigianino or a church designed by Borromini. As a famous photograph by Man Ray demonstrates, the swelling curves of the violin resemble a human, especially a female, body. But - as was also true of the ornamentation of churches - the violin was a functional as well as an aesthetic object. Almost every detail was there for a purpose.

As Faber explains, the graceful f-shaped sound holes may look as gratuitously decorative as a skein of fluttering drapery on an angel sculpted by Bernini. But in fact it is hard to think of a better aperture from which the sound inside the instrument could escape. Their narrowness makes for strength, the circle at each end prevents splitting, and so on.

The violin - and its musical siblings the viola, cello and double bass - were market leaders. They were invented in the 16th century and evolved by generations of craftsmen in the city of Cremona, especially the Amati family. In time, they successfully ousted their more dulcet musical rivals, the viols.

Antonio Stradivari was a remarkable man. He lived to be 93, fathered 11 children and made some 2,000 instruments - mainly violins, but also cellos, a few violas and a single harp. He brought the tradition of instrument-making in Cremona to its apogee. But he was a also member of a community striving to improve and perfect the violin. And music, of course, is communal art, to which the composer, performers and instrument-makers all contribute their skills.

In this he resembled Italian artist-craftsmen in other fields, all striving to outdo each other, each taking account of the others' innovations. Perhaps it's no more surprising that Stradivari made exceedingly good fiddles than that Titian, say, produced supreme oil paintings.

But it was not until after his death that Stradivari's fame truly took off. His work was prized in his lifetime, and as a result he died a wealthy man. Yet it was not until the Romantic period of the late 18th and early 19th century that the full potential of the Stradivarius was appreciated.

The power and tonal richness of the Stradivarius made it ideal for many of the great virtuosi of the 19th and 20th centuries. Individual instruments acquired names, histories and almost supernatural reputations. They became extremely valuable, and were consequently traded, copied, faked, and over-enthusiastically restored.

In this book, after describing Stradivari's career and the history of the violin before his time, Toby Faber follows the fates of five violins and one cello through various hands, famous and otherwise. The result - though confusing until one has digested a mass of names, both of the internal parts of violins and of Central European musicians - is generally highly readable. It even has a twist or two, as one world-famous Strad is accused of being a forgery, and another turns out to be a case of mistaken identity.

It must be admitted that the Stradivarius does not suit all tastes. Paganini himself preferred to play an instrument by Stradivari's rival, Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu. There are those who contend that, tested blind-fold, a modern violin may sound as good.

But to this day, Faber claims, all attempts to duplicate the old fiddles of Cremona have failed. That is a vaguely comforting fact - like the inability of chemists to duplicate fine wine. But also a vaguely troubling one since, as Faber points out, the old violins eventually wear out. And it is far from clear how they can be replaced.

# Martin Gayford is the editor, with Karen Wright, of 'The Penguin Book of Art Writing'.

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright

[mikeweil]

Only problem is: all of these instruments were altered in the course of the 19th century to increase their volume to fill the larger modern concert halls. And they're too expensive for period instrument performers who would have them re-built to original measures. So what we hear today is certainly not the sound the maker intended. Furthermore, gut strings were used back then, etc. Get some info on violin making and you will understand. To my taste, a violin with gut strings sounds much sweeter.

Edited July 19, 2007 by mikeweil

[alocispepraluger102]

Only problem is: all of these instruments were altered in the course of the 19th century to increase their volume to fill the larger modern concert halls. And they're too expensive for period instrument performers who would have them re-built to original measures. So what we hear today is certainly not the sound the maker intended. Furthermore, gut strings were used back then, etc. Get some info on violin making and you will understand. To my taste, a violin with gut strings sounds much sweeter.

thanks for the insight.

Edited July 20, 2007 by alocispepraluger102