Whoever takes an interest in violin making will undoubtedly be pleased
to hear more particulars in regard to dilettanti violin makers and their
patrons. There are some dilettanti violin makers in America who consider
violin making their business, and there are others who do not make it
their chief business. They have their own particular patrons, who in the
knowledge of violins are on the same level with themselves; but it
cannot be denied that in the productions of some of these violin makers
there is talent discernable; if these persons could have had proper
instruction, more good violin makers would be found than are now in
existence. But as long as dilettanti violin makers remain as such, only
dilettanti violins will be produced; for without proper instruction it
is impossible to obtain either a correct knowledge of the exterior
formation or a correct knowledge of the production of tone.
It is true, that every piece of wood over which strings have been
stretched will sound, and every such instrument will have its admirers.
There are, however, dilettanti violin makers whose self-conceit and
boldness is simply astonishing. The professional will understand this,
for if a self-conceited man could see clearly and look into the matter,
he would be astonished at his workmanship, as I was once myself.
As dilettanti usually lack that practice which is peculiar to the
regular violin makers, they very often experiment in all kinds of
machines by which they expect to lighten manual labor; their object,
however, is mostly reached in a very roundabout manner, although they
believe to have made an improvement, and this improvement they announce
to the public as a great success. As most of their patrons have no
knowledge of the matter, such a dilettante appears to them as an
extraordinary genius. This supposition would perhaps not be disputed if
it did not take considerably more time to execute with their machines a
certain amount of work than the practical workman requires simply by the
dexterity of his hand.
A dilettante violin maker can never be a thorough workman, and is
entitled to be considered only as a "jack-of-all-trades;" he has a
great many kinds of tools which the regular violin maker never uses.
Many dilettanti are presumptuous enough to believe themselves further
advanced in theoretical knowledge concerning tone than the most
experienced violin maker of the present day. Some of them ask, in
consequence, a great deal higher price for a violin of their own make
than does any regular violin maker for his. But it seems to me that such
persons are often only the tools of Ole Bull, a once celebrated
violinist with extravagant ideas, who misled them. They, however,
believe to have learned from him the true secret of the art of violin
making. He also tried to persuade them into the belief that when _new_
violins sound well and are serviceable for concerts they are made of
chemically prepared wood. If such pretended wise man would have some
knowledge of wood, he ought to be able to distinguish wood which is
chemically prepared and that which is not! About this point I have
already sufficiently explained my opinion.
To give the wood the old natural color which is peculiar to the Italian
violins, in a great measure depends on the material used, for not every
wood intended for violin making has the necessary qualifications.
Violins made from such selected wood are therefore especially valuable.
It cannot now appear strange that the general public has so little
knowledge in the judging of violins, when a world renowned violinist
like Ole Bull shows such ignorance. Here in America the latter preferred
the company of dilettanti violin makers, for the reason that they were
generally willing to listen to his ideas, and some of them have studied
now so much that they cannot see any clearer nor hear any better.
Dilettanti violin makers form a peculiar class of violin makers in
America; and they seem to be born for the sphere of such knowledge as is
here shining forth. Their patrons write articles for them in which they
try to instruct the public by their ignorance, as we find, for instance,
in the Philadelphia _Times_, of August 30th, 1879: "Gemuender refuses to
state the source of supply for his wood, and it is a well-known fact
that he and others use at times chemical preparations for the purpose of
changing the character and the appearance of their wood."
The writer of this notice made a statement without any foundation. Had
he and his train a proper knowledge of the matter, they would be able to
perceive that the material of my violins is not chemically prepared and
the character of the wood has not undergone any change whatever. It is
presumptuous in ignorant persons to make such statements against a man
of long experience, for the purpose of bringing his productions into
discredit; productions which are proofs in themselves that not a single
violin can come into the condition of those manufactured of chemically
prepared wood, as those of Vuilliaume in Paris. But such individuals
manifest not only a prejudice against a better understanding, but also
are impertinent, from which stupidity and meanness emanate; and thus
they unmask themselves as false experts.
The cause for this assertion will have to be found, and for the
disbeliever there is no other ground in the advantages I have gained by
my studies, which to them seem impossible; and as the Italian violins
are generally acknowledged the only good instruments, they try almost
anything to oppose what has proven itself so gloriously, rather than
acknowledge it as a fact.
Truth, however, can never be overruled, and the time will come which
will impose silence on such individuals! Since mankind inhabits the
earth their characters are as different as we find different plants.
Many a flower is not fragrant, and how many stately and celebrated men
are heartless! Those, therefore, who are void of generosity are able to
do evil. Those classes who are as it were idle weeds, for the kinds are
both useful and hurtful to men; all that nature produces has a meaning.
If we could fathom all the secrets of nature we would also be able to
understand the meaning of them, and idle weeds could be less hurtful.
But in nature there lies a wisdom which remains a secret to mortal man.