There is no doubt that a certain class of violin players pay very little
attention to the care of their instruments, as they use them daily, and
few have time to bestow the necessary attention upon them. If a violin
is out of order, a musician or amateur who knows nothing about it
continues to play upon it. At length he perceives that the tone is not
the same as it was before. Many, therefore, often lay the blame on the
repairer, or on the violin maker, if it is a new instrument. It is
therefore desirable that players should always pay attention to their
instruments and examine them whenever they intend to use them, to see
whether everything is in order; that the neck has not sunk a little to
the front, causing the finger board to lie deeper on the top and the
strings to lie somewhat too high. Such deviations will occur,
particularly when the top is very much vaulted, as well as by change of
weather or climate.
As soon as the weather becomes moist it is advisable to keep a violin
in a box; when the weather is fine it should be taken out of the box for
a time every day; and even if it is a very old violin it is not good to
keep it always locked up. A violin should never lie on a floor, whether
in a box or not, but should always be kept on an elevated place and in a
moderately warm temperature.
Before using the violin it is advisable to rub it with a soft cloth or
chamois, so that neither dust nor perspiration may remain on it; it
should also be cleaned each time after being played upon. The sounding
post should also be examined, to be sure that it still stands
perpendicular. The bridge, too, must be looked at, and if it stands
obliquely it must be brought into its normal position again before
taking the bow. It usually inclines somewhat forward on the E string
after tuning it. If this is the case, pinch the E string between the
thumb and index finger, while the corresponding part of the bridge is
moved backward by the points of the fingers.
On good and excellent violins particular attention must be given to the
bridge, especially when it fits the instrument, for it is not always
easy to replace it with one equally good. A bridge which is qualified
to affect the violin and contribute to the charm of tone of the
instrument is more valuable than one would often think. Many consider a
bridge of as little consequence as a string, when it breaks on the
violin, and think they can restore the loss by a bridge which costs
three cents; for the correct model of a bridge is considered only as an
ornament by such people. Of course they do not know that this is one of
the most important parts of good violins, and that there are but few
violin makers who are able to make a bridge as it should be. But it is
the same with the bridge as with the violin.
It is not only the correct construction of the violin and bridge which
produces a good tone, but the right sort of wood must be found for the
purpose. Thus the bad form of a bridge made of fine wood is just the
same as a common fiddle made of fine materials. It therefore follows
that we should take as much care of a master bridge as of the violin
itself.
It some times occurs that the sounding post of the violin becomes
shorter by itself; in this case it may be advisable to relax the strings
entirely in order to see whether the sounding post does not fall. If
this is the case, a new one must be made of old wood by a skilled
workman. The cause of this is that the wood contracts more or less,
especially in dry weather; this may also be caused by a change of air,
which sometimes even produces a distortion of the swell of the top.
When such care is habitually taken, a violin will always be in good
order. Too low a sounding post causes a lower position of the top on
that side, which, when not remedied, will remain and will produce a
defect in the swell and tone. This is also the case when the sounding
post is too high, and many violins are seen where the swell is higher or
lower than it ought to be on the side where the sounding post stands.
This is also the case with the bass-bar or so-called "soul" of a violin,
which is just as mysterious a part of the violin as any one can imagine;
and its quality shows the skill or ignorance of its maker.
TO ILLUSTRATE HOW VIOLINS OF MY CONSTRUCTION MAY BE COMPARED WITH
THE OLD ITALIAN MASTER-VIOLINS.
From the foregoing treatises it will be seen with what energy I devoted
myself to the art of making violins, and I can declare to the world with
a good conscience that I have reached the standpoint in this art which
has been striven for in vain during a century.
I have studied all the characteristics in the construction of the
Italian master violins, and have had extensive practice in imitating
violins, as masters have made them, and have obtained an understanding
which enables me to unite all good qualities of tone in the
construction.
As I am able to judge from experience, nobody can confute me. All those
who doubt it or will dispute it can neither confute me scientifically,
nor prove what they say. I have had a great many opportunities to hear
and repair the best Italian violins myself, including Paganini's
wondrous violin at Vuilliaume's, in Paris, and I can affirm that my
"Kaiser" violin can be considered as wondrous a violin in regard to tone
and character as--nay, it is even to be preferred to--that of Paganini's
in many respects!
I also make a peculiar kind of Maggini violin. For this purpose I have
selected an older form than that which is generally known. I construct
these violins in a manner to include all good qualities of tone, and
they are, therefore, far preferable, because they surpass those of
Stradivarius in greatness of tone. Such distinctions prove that I have
made great progress in this art.
Most Italian violins are now of interest only to admirers of art, and
may be recommended to antiquarians, for there are only a very few still
existing which can be used for concerts, and although if even their
voice disappears more and more out of their body, they will always be
valued, kept as relics and admired by friends of art. But it is only
fancy which makes most of them adore what they do not understand, and
they trample down the blossom of the new productions which the world
brings forth.
Therefore, it will be of some interest to many to hear more minute
particulars about the method of construction of violins of the old
Italian masters, as many persons are still in darkness as to which
violins the best tone is to be ascribed. This want of knowledge comes
simply from the fact that a combination of uninjured instruments of the
best masters is a task very difficult to be effected, and these
instruments would by all means have to be put in proper condition by an
expert.
This has, perhaps, never been done yet, and a general comparison could
only be made as the opportunity presented itself.
As I acquired knowledge of the system, the forms and swells of violins
of the great masters, I also became so thoroughly familiar with the
characteristics of tone that I have found out what the present needs
require.
I will now consider in detail the different characteristics of tone of
the productions of the great masters, and state in what manner this
difference was obtained.
Jacob Stainer, at Absam, in Tyrol, was a pupil of Nicholas Amati, at
Cremona. Stainer and Amati made violins which were mostly demanded by
amateurs on account of their round, sweet, silver tone. This character
of tone they produced by a small, round and some what oblong swell, as
well as by a neat and somewhat smaller size than that of Stradivarius,
who endeavored to gain a greater sonority of tone. Stradivarius,
therefore, made the swell less high than Stainer or Amati, but of a
broader circumference, drawn oblong, by which he obtained a sublime tone
in an aristocratic and majestic form.
Joseph Guarnerius del Jesu.--As long as he made violins according to the
school of his great master, Stradivarius, his productions were of a
similar nature. Later, he made somewhat smaller models, sometimes with a
circumferential swell, by which he gained a somewhat smaller tone, but
with a striking, quick touch of a peculiar brilliancy. It is strange
that he gave a different form to each of his violins, the _f_, the
swells and the scrolls varying in almost every instrument. It is told
that he was imprisoned for a long time, and, under great deprivations,
he made violins secretly. In all his productions his great genius is
recognized.
Duffu Prugar, at Bonninien, lived in the sixteenth century. His violins
have a large and wide form, with interesting ornaments of carving work
and inlay; their swells are beautiful, and as high as those of
Stradivarius, and they produce a great and full tone. But as there are
only few still existing, many violins are imitated in France according
to this model, and they are spread far and wide.
Maggini's violins are mostly of a large size and of a higher swell and
fuller toward the extreme parts than all the other violins of the
Italian masters, therein producing a great fulness of tone; on the G and
D strings their color of tone is particularly deep.
Gaspard da Salo made very interesting violins of small and large size;
the former have a peculiar character of tone, not very strong but of a
very clear color. These violins have a beautiful, high and round swell,
similar to those of Jacobus Stainer, but those of a greater size are
flatter, producing more power of tone, and are therefore better adapted
for solo performances.
These celebrated masters left us a great choice of different forms and
swells, as well as their method of workmanship in regard to the top and
bottom of their violins, where the proof is to be seen that they always
made investigations in order to gain a greater perfection. Stradivarius
and Joseph Guarnerius have especially obtained a beautiful quality of
tone in their violins, yet in order to gain an easy touch of tone, they
worked the top pretty tender, and in many instances they made the middle
part of the top most thin, probably to further the easiness of sound
still more. Such violins do not answer for concerts.
It seems that at that time less attention was paid to such a power of
tone as is required now, because only few of them have been found with
an acceptable thickness of wood in the top and bottom. This is,
therefore, the reason that so many Italian violins produce too weak a
tone in concerts.
Although Maggini left the top and bottom thicker in the middle part,
still, most of his violins have not, on account of construction and deep
color of tone, been received with favor like those of Stradivarius and
Joseph Guarnerius. As only a few such Guarnerius and Stradivarius
violins were found which by reason of their thickness of wood answered
the purpose of solo violins, every one believed all their productions of
a like character.
Therefore, so many solo players often expose their ignorance by playing
on such violins in concerts.
Stradivarius instructed other pupils besides Joseph Guarnerius, who made
excellent violins, and many of these violins still exist. As the most of
them were made with the full thickness of wood, they produce a splendid
tone, often better than some of those made by their great master. This
teaches us that he who wishes to possess an Italian violin on account of
its tone cannot depend upon finding it by the name alone, but he has to
pay all his attention to the discovery of those in which the necessary
thickness of wood is found.
A solo player, therefore, should never play a violin on account of its
name alone, for if the violin produces a weak tone, the blame will be
laid on him, and so much the more because it is generally supposed that
such instruments must be master violins.