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[Illustration: Paganini]
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
OF
NICOLO PAGANINI,
WITH AN
Analysis of his Compositions,
AND A SKETCH OF
THE HISTORY OF THE VIOLIN.
BY
F. J. FÉTIS.
_SECOND EDITION._
WITH PORTRAIT AND WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
LONDON:
SCHOTT & CO., 159, Regent Street, W.
Paris:
MAISON SCHOTT.
Bruxelles:
SCHOTT FRÈRES.
Mayence:
B. SCHOTT’S SÖHNE
Frankfort-o-M.:
SCHOTT & CO.
Index.
PAGE
SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE VIOLIN 1
ART AND ARTISTS 15
NICOLO PAGANINI 26
PAGANINI APPRECIATED AS A COMPOSER. ANALYSIS OF HIS WORKS 79
Illustrations.
PORTRAIT OF PAGANINI, AFTER POMMAYRAC, 1838.
ENGRAVINGS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS OF PAGANINI’S VIOLIN IN THE MUNICIPAL
PALACE AT GENOA. (_From_ “THE VIOLIN: ITS FAMOUS MAKERS AND
THEIR IMITATORS,” _by kind permission of_ MR. G. HART.)
[Illustration]
SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE VIOLIN.
The Instrument.
Despite all contrary assertions, based upon pretended monuments,
Oriental, Greek, and Roman antiquity was unacquainted with instruments
played with a bow. Neither India nor Egypt furnish the least traces of
them; nor do Greece and Italy; nor, in fact, does the whole of the old
civilized world. As I stated in the “Résumé Philosophique de l’Histoire
de la Musique,” the bow comes from the West; it was introduced into
the whole of Europe by the western nations. Though Viols are found
among the modern Arabs in Persia and Turkey, they were taken there
by Europeans in the time of the Crusades. The Goudock of the Russian
peasant, and the Crwth of the ancient Irish, appear to proceed from the
highest antiquity, and to have been the type of instruments of this
nature. The Irish chroniclers speak of musicians who, in the sixth
century, were celebrated for their talent on the Crwth, a species of
Viol with six strings; and Venance Fortunat, a Latin poet who wrote in
609, states distinctly that this instrument belonged to Great Britain.
It is not my intention to follow up here the various transformations
of bow instruments in the middle ages; it will suffice to observe
that there were frequent changes in them from the thirteenth to the
sixteenth century; as much in the common kinds, vulgarly called in
French Rebec, and in German Geige ohne Bunde (Violins without band or
side pieces), which possessed only three strings, as in the improved
Viols, the body of which was formed of belly and back joined by side
pieces, as in our Violins, Tenors, and Basses. The smaller kinds also
possessed only three strings; the larger kind had four; there were also
others with five, six, and seven strings.
In the middle ages, the Rebec, called Rubebbe, possessed but two
strings. It is the same instrument which in Arabia acquired the name of
Rebab. From the fifteenth century it is found with its three strings.
This instrument took nearly the form of a mandoline; the neck and the
body being formed of a single piece, the finger-board being as wide
as the entire instrument, and reaching within a short distance of the
bridge. No passage was left for the bow in the body of the instrument,
but the body was very narrow, and the bridge formed a point for the
middle string to rest upon, so that this string could be touched by
the bow without touching the others. Like all instruments later than
the fifteenth century, the Rebec was made of four different sizes,
the smallest of which was called Discant, or upper; then followed,
in progressively larger proportions, the Alto, the Tenor, and the
Bass. The dancing-master’s Kit, of the latter years of the eighteenth
century, was all that remained of the ancient Rebec.
The Viol was called Vielle in the middle ages. This is the Viola of the
Italians, and the Vihuela of the Spaniards. There were several kinds.
As early as the fifteenth century, one of this kind had a flat belly,
and a place for fixing the strings similar to that of the Guitar. As
in the Lute, and all stringed instruments played with the fingers,
the finger-board was divided into distances for placing the fingers.
From the fifteenth century the bellies of Viols assumed the raised or
vaulted form, the backs remaining flat. The cavities at the side, which
had formerly been very large and straight, were made in the shape of a
section of a circle, and were reduced to the dimensions necessary for
the use of the bow. The raised bellies rendered it necessary to alter
the bridge into the bridge-shape, so as to incline towards the ribs.
Hence the term Bridge, which is called by the Italians, from its form,
Ponticello. The divisions for the fingers on the finger-board were
retained on the Viols up to the second half of the seventeenth century.
During the fifteenth century the vaulted form of Viol possessed five
strings; in the commencement of the sixteenth it had six. The first
string was called in Italy Canto, the second Sotana, the third Mezzana,
the fourth Tenore, the fifth Bordone, and the sixth Basso.
The Viol was divided into three kinds, which were called Upper or
Soprano, Tenor, and Bass. The Tenor was used also for playing the
second upper part, or Alto; it was then tuned a note higher: the tuning
of the upper Viol was, commencing from the first string, D, A, E, C,
G, D; that of the Tenor tuned to Alto, A, E, B, G, D, A; the same
instrument tuned to Tenor, G, D, A, F, C, G; and the Bass, D, A, E,
C, G, D. At the commencement of the seventeenth century, the use of
instruments specially for accompanying the voice became general; there
was added to the other Viols a Double-Bass Viol, which was called
Violone, that is, large Viol. This also had six strings, and was tuned
a fourth lower than the Bass Viol, thus A, E, B, G, D, A. Prior to
1650, this instrument was rarely used in France, it was then called
“Viole à la mode de Lorraine.”
In imitation of the vaulted form of Viol, there was made, already in
the fifteenth century, a small instrument of the same kind, which the
Italians called Violino, that is, small Viol. This is the instrument
which was called Violon in France, and Geige in Germany.
It is probable that the Violin originally had the same number of
strings as the other Viols; that these were tuned a fourth above the
upper Viol, viz., G, D, A, F, C, G; and that the neck also possessed
divisions for the fingers; but it was soon discovered that the
finger-board of the Violin was not wide enough to allow any one to play
with facility on so large a number of strings; and that the space for
the fingers to produce the notes was too narrow to admit of divisions.
These were removed; the strings, reduced to four, were tuned in fifths;
making the first string E, as it is at the present day. It cannot be
doubted that these improvements originated in France; for on reference
to the list of instruments employed in the “Orfeo” of Monteverde,
it will be seen that the Violin was called in Italy, at the end of
the sixteenth century, and the beginning of the seventeenth, “Violino
piccolo alla francese.”
The oldest maker of Violins on record was a native of Brittany, named
Jean Kerlin. He followed his trade about the middle of the fifteenth
century. La Borde, author of the imperfect and voluminous “Essai
sur la Musique,” relates that he saw in Brittany a Violin with four
strings, the neck of which did not appear to have been changed, and
which, instead of the ordinary tail-piece, had a small piece of ivory
inlaid, pierced with four holes. This Violin was thus labelled, “Joann.
Kerlino, anno 1449.” It was afterwards brought to Paris, and Koliker,
a musical instrument maker of that city, had it in his possession in
1804. The belly was more raised than in good modern Italian Violins,
and was not equally rounded at the upper and lower extremities; the
sides were ill-formed and flattened. Its tone was sweet and muffled,
and resembled that of instruments made by Antonio Amati at the close
of the sixteenth century. After Jean Kerlin, there is a lapse of sixty
years in the history of the manufacture of Violins, for the only
maker of this instrument whose name has come down to us is Gaspard
Duiffoprugcar, born in the Italian Tyrol, who commenced making his
Violins at Bologna about 1510, working afterwards in Paris, and at
Lyons. One Violin only of the large pattern which bears his name is in
existence; it is dated 1539. The quality of tone of this instrument
is powerful and penetrating, but when played upon for some time, it
loses its intensity. Like an old man, it needs repose to recover its
faculties. The scroll represents the head of a king’s jester, with
a plaited frill. This Violin belonged to M. Meerts, formerly first
solo violinist of the Theatre Royal, Brussels, and professor at the
Conservatory of that city.
Gaspard di Salo, thus called from being born in the small town of Salo,
on the lake of Garda, in Lombardy, worked in the second half of the
sixteenth century. He was specially celebrated for his Viols, Basses,
and Double-Bass Viols, then more used than the Violin. Nevertheless, an
excellent Violin of his make, dated 1576, was met with in a collection
of valuable instruments which were sold at Milan in 1807; and the Baron
de Bagge was in possession of one of which Rodolphe Kreutzer often
spoke with admiration. These instruments, of rather a large pattern,
possess a powerful tone, approximating to that of the Alto.
Contemporaneously with Gaspard di Salo, the two brothers, Andrea and
Nicolo Amati became famous for the excellence of their Viols and Bass
Viols; they also made excellent Violins, the tone of which was mellow
and agreeable, but they were wanting in power, like all the instruments
made by the members of this family. Andrea and Nicolo, about 1570, made
Violins of a large pattern for the chamber music of Charles IX. King
of France. These instruments were remarkable for the beauty of their
form, and perfection of finish. They were covered with an oil varnish,
of a golden colour, shaded with red. Two of these were seen in Paris
by Professor Cartier about 1810. The successors of Andrea and Nicolo
Amati retained in the family the fame of those artists for more than a
century and a half. Antonio, son of Andrea, Geronimo, his brother, and
Nicolo, son of Geronimo, were instrument makers of high repute, but the
sonority of their Violins and Basses, admirably adapted for the music
of their time, is much too weak for the modern noisy system; however,
Paganini possessed a Violin of Geronimo Amati, of large pattern, which
he prized most highly.
Two Italian makers were also famous at the beginning and towards
the middle of the seventeenth century for their Violins: the first
is Giovanni Paolo Maggini, who had an establishment at Brescia, his
native town. His instruments are dated from 1612 to 1640. The pattern
of these Violins is generally very large; although there are some of
the small size. The bellies are raised, the back, rather flat at the
extremities, swells out exceedingly towards the sides, which are very
wide; the curves being well rounded towards the angles. A double row of
purfling runs round both belly and back, terminating in some instances
in an ornament at the upper and lower parts of the back. Most of
Maggini’s Violins are varnished with spirit of wine, of a deep gold
colour. Their tone is less mellow than that of the Stradiuari, and
less powerful than the Guarnieri; it has more analogy to the tone of
the Viol, and its character is somewhat melancholic. The second maker
of that period celebrated in Italy is Giovanni Granzino; he resided
at Milan, and worked there from 1612 to 1635. His Violins, of large
pattern, resemble those of Gaspard di Salo.
The fame of Italy for the construction of bow instruments attained its
zenith between the middle of the seventeenth century and the first
half of the eighteenth. To this period belong the names of Stradiuari
and Guarnieri. Antonio Stradiuari, better known under the Latinised
name of Stradivarius, the most celebrated maker of Violins, Viols,
and Basses, was born at Cremona in 1664; he reached his eighty-third
year, working until his death in 1747. A pupil of the Amati, he
worked a long time with them, and upon their models. Towards 1700 he
left them, and from that time changed his proportions, increased his
form, lowered the bellies, and was as fastidious in the degrees of
thickness of the wood as he was in the choice of the wood he employed.
Contrary to the principles of the older Italian masters, his thickness
increased towards the centre, in order to give support to the bridge
upon which the tension of the strings bears, and diminished gradually
towards the sides of the instrument. All is calculated, in the works
of this excellent artist, for the better production of tone. To these
advantages are superadded equality in all the strings, grace of form,
finish of details, and brilliancy of varnish. In a large concert room
a good Violin of Giuseppe Guarnieri has more power of sonority; but in
a drawing-room nothing can possibly equal the brilliant mellowness of
a well-preserved Stradiuari. Unfortunately many have fallen into the
hands of unskilful workmen for repairs.
The family of the Guarnieri or Guarnerius has also become illustrious
for the manufacture of bow instruments. This family was also originally
of Cremona, and constantly resided there, with the exception of Pietro
Guarnieri, who settled at Mantua, and still resided there in 1717.
The most celebrated of these makers is Giuseppe Guarnieri, called in
Italy “Guarnieri del Gesu,” from his Violins bearing the mark IHS.
He was born at Cremona at the close of the seventeenth century. It
is said that he learned his trade in the workshop of Stradiuari, but
he never attained his master’s delicacy of finish; on the contrary,
his work evinces very frequently great carelessness. His sound-holes,
nearly straight and angular, are badly shaped; his purfling badly
traced; in fact, his instruments carry no masterly appearance, and one
is tempted to believe that the excellent quality of their tone arises
more from the happy choice of material than from studied principles.
Nevertheless, on close inspection, it is evident positive principles
guided him in the construction of his instruments; he has copied no
maker who preceded him. He had two patterns, one small, the other
large. The instruments of small pattern are the most numerous, their
bellies are slightly raised, and their thickness rather exceeds that
of the Stradiuari. The large patterns which proceed from Giuseppe
Guarnieri are few in number, and rarely met with. It was upon one
of these Violins that Paganini played at all his concerts. The tone
of these instruments is exceedingly brilliant, and carries to a
great distance, but is less round and mellow than the instruments of
Stradiuari, and pleases less near than at a certain distance.
After Stradiuari and Giuseppe Guarnieri, the art seems to have remained
at its highest point of excellence, and the Italian makers appear
not to have sought to improve, contenting themselves with copying
the one or the other of these masters. Lorenzo Guadagnini, a pupil
of Stradiuari, copied the small pattern of his master. The first
and second string of his Violins possess brilliancy and roundness,
but the third is unfortunately muffled. He had a son, who worked
at Milan until towards the end of 1770, following the style of his
father; but his instruments are less sought after. The Gagliani also
copied the Stradiuari, but their instruments are far from equalling
those of the master, doubtless from want of care in the selection of
material. Ruggieri and Alvani copied the form of Giuseppe Guarnieri;
they produced good Violins, which are less valuable, however, than the
Stradiuari.
The Tyrol lays claim to some excellent makers of bow instruments, the
chief of whom is Jacob Stainer, who was born about 1620, at Absom,
a village near Inspruck. This celebrated maker, at three different
periods, changed his make. Firstly, while pupil of the Amati of
Cremona: the Violins of this period are admirably finished, and are
extremely scarce. The belly is more raised than in the Amati, the
scrolls longer and wider in the lower part. All the labels of these
Violins are written and signed in his own handwriting. One of these
magnificent instruments, dated 1644, was the property of Gardel,
ballet-master of the Opera at Paris, who performed upon it successfully
in the ballet of “La Dansomanie.” Secondly, when established at Absom,
after having married, he produced an immense number of instruments
carelessly finished, from 1650 to 1667. However, after having led a
life of poverty for several years, obliged to hawk his own Violins,
which he sold for six florins each, he received orders from some
noblemen, which improved his position. His genius from this period
took a new flight, and he produced some splendid instruments, which
are recognised by scrolls that represent heads of animals, by the
close veining of the bellies, by the close and even small ribs, and
by the varnish, resembling red mahogany faded by time into a brown
colour. Stainer was assisted at this time by his brother Marcus, who
later in life entered the order of the Brother Hermits, by the three
brothers Klotz (Mathias, George, and Sebastian), and by Albani, all of
whom were his pupils. The reproach attached to Stainer’s instruments
of possessing a nasal tone applies only to this period, the labels of
which are printed; there are, however, some admirable instruments of
this time, which were in the possession of the violinist Ropiquet, of
the Marquis de las Rosas, a grandee of Spain, of the Count de Marp, a
Parisian amateur, and of Frey, an artist of the Opera, and publisher
of music. There is an excellent Tenor of this period, formerly the
property of M. Matrôt de Préville, governor of the port of L’Orient.
The third period of Stainer’s career commences from his retiring into
a convent after the death of his wife. In the tranquillity of the
cloister, he determined to close his artistic life by the production
of _chefs-d’œuvre_. Having obtained some wood of the first quality
through the medium of his superior, he made sixteen Violins--models,
combining every perfection; sent one to each of the twelve chiefs of
electorates of the Empire, and presented the remaining four to the
Emperor. Since then, these instruments are known under the name of
Stainer-électeurs. Their tone is pure, metallic, and aerial, like the
beautiful voice of a woman; they are graceful and elegant in form,
exquisitely finished in all the details, and have a transparent varnish
of a gold colour; such are the qualities which distinguish these
productions of the third and last period of Stainer’s talent. The
labels are in the hand-writing of this celebrated maker. Three of these
rare instruments only are now to be met with; the fate of the others
remains unknown. The first was given by the Empress Maria Theresa to
Kennis, a Belgian violinist from Liège, after whose death it was taken
to England, and became the property of Sir Richard Betenson, Bart.
Another Stainer-électeur was purchased in Germany in 1771 by the Duke
of Orleans, grandfather of King Louis Philippe, for the sum of 3,500
florins. Afterwards, this prince, having discontinued playing the
Violin, gave it to the younger Novoigille, in token of the pleasure he
experienced in hearing him accompany Madame de Montesson. This precious
Violin became the property of the violinist Cartier in 1817; it was
in the hands of this artist when I heard and saw it. The third Violin
Elector was in the possession of the King of Prussia, Frederick William
II.
After leaving Stainer, the Klotz family copied his models of the
second period, and these instruments are not unfrequently mistaken
for those of the master; they are, however, readily distinguished by
the varnish; that of Klotz, instead of a deep red, has a black ground
shaded with yellow; the tone of Mathias Klotz’ instruments is silvery,
but of little power. These artists produced many pupils in the Tyrol,
who imitated the Cremona models; but these imitations are easily
discoverable by the inferior quality of the wood, the varnish, which is
very dark, and the tone, which is deficient in every quality.
The ancient manufacture of musical instruments in France, incontestably
inferior to that of Italy, is represented, during the reigns of Henry
the Fourth and Louis the Thirteenth, by Jacques Bocquay, born at
Lyons, who settled in Paris; Pierret, his townsman, who produced more
instruments, but of inferior finish; Antoine Despons, and Adrien Véron;
these makers generally copied Amati. The Violins of the successor of
Bocquay, Guersan, his pupil, are of small pattern, and finely finished.
They have become extremely scarce; it is supposed that there are not
more than twenty which can be considered as his own make; these are
varnished in oil. The others were made in his workshop by his pupils;
they are of inferior quality, and varnished in spirits of wine. The
contemporaries of Guersan at Paris were Castagnery and Saint-Paul,
whose Violins were formerly esteemed for accompaniment. After these
came Salomon, whose instruments rivalled those of Guersan. Towards the
end of the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, Lagetto enjoyed a certain
reputation. As regards the ancient manufacture in the provinces of
France, there is nothing which rises above mediocrity, with the
exception of Médard, a contemporary of Geronimo Amati, whose models
he copied. He lived at Nancy at the commencement of the seventeenth
century. Lambert, surnamed “Charpentier de la Lutherie,” lived a
century later in the same town. He produced nothing of any note.
Saunier, his pupil, surpassed his master in finish; but in general
Lorraine was the country of industry, not art.
In the modern manufacture of instruments at Paris, Finth is specially
distinguished. He was a German, who worked about 1770, and followed
the proportions of Stradiuari; all his Violins, varnished in oil,
are finished with care. They were greatly sought after in the first
instance, but a change of taste followed, and opinion fell into a
contrary excess. After Finth came Picte, a pupil of Saunier, whose
Violins were given as prizes to the pupils of the Conservatory of
Paris, at the beginning of the present century; they have been esteemed
of little value. Not so with Lupot, who came from Orleans to settle in
Paris in 1794. He studied, with great perseverance, the proportions
of Stradiuari, incontestably the best, and selected the finest wood
that could be obtained. Lupot made the manufacture of Violins his great
study, and their finish a work of love. They are highly esteemed, and
stand next in value with artists to good Cremona instruments.
Thus far we have only seen the manufacture of bow instruments
cultivated by inspiration or by imitation; science was not brought to
bear as an element in the construction of these instruments; but we
have arrived at a period of transition in this respect, less perhaps,
from the results obtained, than from the foundations which have
been laid: and I will first advert to the several essays which have
been made with the view of dispensing with certain portions of the
instrument, considered as obstacles to the free production of vibration.
The first essay of this kind was made in 1816 by François Chanot,
the son of an instrument-maker of Mirecourt, afterwards an engineer
in the navy. Convinced that the best means of producing vibration in
all the various parts of the Violin was to preserve, as far as it was
practicable, the fibres of the wood lengthwise, he concluded that the
shoulders of the ordinary Violin, with their angles, were insuperable
obstacles to a free and powerful quality of tone; he believed, also,
that the hollowing out of the belly to give it the vaulted form was
contrary to theoretical principles, and consequently a radical error.
He was persuaded, moreover, that short fibres favoured the production
of acute tones, and long fibres grave ones. Upon these principles he
constructed a Violin, the belly of which was only slightly raised, the
sound-holes nearly straight, and, in place of sloping the instrument
after the ordinary form, he depressed the sides gradually, similar to
the body of a Guitar. With a view of favouring as much as possible
the vibration of the belly, he attached the strings to the lower
part of it, instead of to the ordinary tail-piece. This done, Chanot
submitted his Violin to the Academies of Sciences and Fine Arts of the
French Institute, and a favourable report of the essay was published
in the “Moniteur Universel” on the 22nd of August, 1817. The judgment
pronounced by these institutions has not been confirmed by the opinion
of artists.
It is to be remarked, that what Chanot conceived to be a discovery was
simply returning to the form of Viols of the middle ages; that the
form had been adopted by able makers, and that there is still extant
a Bass Viol of Gaspard di Salo, the angles of which are removed, in
the possession of M. Frazzini at Milan; that another Bass of the same
form, constructed by Pietro Guarnieri, belongs to M. Cappi at Mantua;
and that M. de Rovetta of Bergamo, possesses an old Violin of the same
form. The artists who made these essays discovered that the results did
not answer their expectations.
A retired officer of the Italian army, M. Galbussera, reproduced
the pretended invention of Chanot in a Violin which he exhibited in
the Palace of Brera at Milan in 1832. M. Antolini, of that city,
a distinguished artist, criticised in a small pamphlet the false
principle which led to this return to primitive forms.[A]
Some years after Chanot’s Violin had been consigned to the department
of the museum specially devoted to this object, Felix Savart, a
physicist of eminence, struck with the discoveries of Chladni on the
communication of vibrations and regularity of sonorous waves, devoted
himself with great ardour to the application of these discoveries in
the construction of bow instruments, and after several experiments,
made with great sagacity, he arrived at the following deductions:--1st,
When two or a larger number of bodies, whatever they may be, come
into immediate contact, and one is directly put into motion, they
all produce the same number of vibrations at the same time; 2nd, All
these vibrations follow parallel directions; 3rd, The increase of the
sound of any kind of body--for example of a string--depends upon the
simultaneity of the vibrations of the bodies with which this string is
in contact; and this increase is carried to its highest point when the
bodies put into motion by communication are in such conditions that, if
they were directly put into motion, they would produce the same number
of vibrations as the body acted upon in the first instance.
The chief consequences of these principles are, that the vibrations
produced by the strings of the Violin are communicated to the belly by
the bridge, from the belly to the back by the sounding-post; and that
the oscillations, in equal number, of all these bodies, cause equal
vibration, and, by similar numbers of oscillations, to the mass of air
held in suspension within the body of the instrument; hence it follows
that the object in the construction of this sonorous box is to favour
as much as possible the communication of the sound-waves, and to bring
them into harmony. In seeking the application of this theory to the
manufacture of bow instruments, Savart fell into error in the first
pamphlet he wrote upon this subject,[B] when he expressed the opinion
that the curves, the angles, and the raised belly adopted by the old
manufacturers could only have proceeded from the prejudices of routine;
but he discovered this error while prosecuting the continuation of his
studies, and he ultimately extolled the proportions of Stradiuari,
which he first believed to be only favourable to good effects from
considerations which the celebrated maker had not perceived.
A manufacturer of the greatest intelligence, M. Vuillaume, sen., born
at Mirecourt, and settled in Paris, devoted himself to the principles
of constructing bow instruments, at the very time Savart was occupied
in endeavouring to discover them. These two ingenious men, in constant
communication with each other on this subject, reciprocally aided each
other. The artist brought to the man of science the tribute of his
experience, and the man of science to the artist the result of his
meditations. Vuillaume had been for a lengthened period engaged in
experiments on the density, homogeneity, and the elasticity of various
woods, convinced of the importance of this matter for the solution of
most of the problems of acoustics relative to the sonorous quality
of instruments. He was thus enabled to discover the most suitable
wood to be used in the repairing of ancient instruments, as regards
their quality or their defects, and the most signal success crowned
his researches. Many instruments of great price, after having been
deteriorated by unskilful hands, recovered their former value through
the ability of this distinguished maker. What he acquired in this
respect, he applied to all instruments of his own manufacture, and
his deep study of the proportions of the best ancient instruments,
joined to his knowledge of the special nature of woods, and the laws
of vibration, has enabled him to produce a multitude of very superior
instruments, which require only time to be stamped with excellence.
It will be seen, from what has been said, that the art of constructing
bow instruments has departed from the prejudices of routine, working
in the dark, and by imitation, to pursue the wake of science, of
observation, and of calculation. There can be no doubt that this is a
real progress; but to shield this progress from all contestation, the
effect of time is requisite. To bring a good instrument to that state
of equilibrium which will make its qualities manifest, on the one hand
it is necessary that the materials employed in its construction should,
for a lengthened period, be submitted to the action of the various
states of temperature and atmosphere; and on the other, that the
elasticity of its various parts should have been put for a long time
into action, to acquire all its development.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Art and Artists.
When singers possessed only part-songs, such as madrigals, and glees
for four, five, or six voices, positive instrumental music was unknown.
Instrumentalists played the voice parts in unison, either on bow
instruments, or the Organ and Spinett, or on wind instruments, such
as Oboes, Flutes, Horns, or Cromorns; for each instrument was then
divided into upper, high, counter, tenor, and bass. The ricercari
and dance tunes for four, five, or six Viols, formed the only
instrumental music properly so called. Little skill was necessary in
the execution, and artists required no greater amount of talent than
the music itself displayed. As regards the Violin, few persons then
cultivated it. In Italy one Giovanni Battista, surnamed Del Violino,
is constantly cited, on account of his Violin performance. He lived in
1590. As regards Giulio Tiburtino and Ludovico Lasagrino, who were in
high repute at Florence about 1540, and of whom Ganassi del Fontego
speaks in his “Regola Rubertina,” they were performers on the Viol,
and not Violinists. The same may be said of Beaulieu, Salmon, and
others, who were at the court of France. According to Mersenne, the
French distinguished themselves as violinists at the commencement of
the seventeenth century. He speaks in terms of great praise of the
elegant playing of Constantine, King of the Violins; of the vehement
enthusiasm of Boccan; of the delicacy and expression of Lazarin and
Foucard. These artists lived in 1630. However, France soon afterwards
lost its superiority in that respect. In 1650, Father Castrovillari, a
monk of Padua, became distinguished by his performance on the Violin,
and by the music he wrote for that instrument. The art of executing
difficulties upon it must have attained a high degree of progress
in the north of Europe, even as far back as 1675, for Jean Jacques
Walther, principal Violin soloist at the court of Saxony, published at
this period several works, among which one is peculiarly remarkable,
and bears for its title “Hortulus Chelicus” (Mayence, 1688, in oblong
quarto of 129 pages), containing sonatas and serenades, to be performed
on a single Violin, with double, triple, and quadruple strings. This
work, which displays great invention, consists of twenty-four pieces.
The title of the last may serve to show the novelties which Walther
introduced to the art of playing the Violin: “Serenade for a chorus
of Violins, Trembling Organ, small Guitar, Bagpipe, two Trumpets and
Kettle Drums, German Lyre, and Muted Harp, for a single Violin.” The
various effects of this piece for a single Violin prove that Walther
was the Paganini of his day.
Giovanni Battista Bassani, a Venetian composer, was a pupil of
Castrovillari for the Violin, and became celebrated for the excellent
style of his instrumental music. Among many other compositions of
various styles, there is a set of his sonatas “da camera” for Violin
and Bass, published in 1679, and thirteen sonatas for two Violins and
Bass, excellent of their kind, and which fixed the style of music for
bow instruments at the period at which they appeared. Bassani had the
honour of being the master of Corelli, the great artist, possessed of
immense talent, who by the elevation of his ideas, and the perfection
of his style, placed himself at the head of the Violin School, and
hastened the progress of the art considerably. Arcangelo Corelli, a
name justly celebrated in the annals of music, will descend to ages
unborn without losing a particle of its glory, whatever revolutions
may be effected in the domains of art. The great artist who bore that
name, no less celebrated for his compositions than for his marvellous
execution at that period, was born in 1653, at Fusignano, a small
town in the States of the Church, and died at Rome, on the 18th of
January, 1713. His contemporaries were not jealous of his glory, for
the whole of Europe welcomed his talent with unanimous acclamations;
his countrymen deposited his remains in the Pantheon, and erected a
monument to him close to that of Raphael. At the expiration of a
century and a half, Corelli is still considered as the primitive type
of the best Violin schools; and although the art has been enriched by
many effects unknown in his day; although its mechanism has attained a
high degree of perfection, the study of his works is still one of the
best for the acquirement of a broad and majestic style. His fifth work,
composed of twelve sonatas for the Violin, with the continued Bass for
the Harpsichord, printed at Rome in 1700, is a masterpiece of its kind.
The art of playing the Violin, and the composition of music for this
instrument, continued during the whole of the eighteenth century to
progress rapidly. At the commencement of this century in almost every
town of Italy, a distinguished violinist was met with. The genius of
Corelli roused that of every artist. At Pisa, Costantino Clari, equally
remarkable as composer and executant; at Florence, Francesco Veracini;
at Bologna, Geronimo Laurenti; at Modena, Antonio Vitali; at Massa
di Carrara, Cosmo Perelli and Francesco Ciampi; at Lucca, Lombardi;
at Cremona, Visconti, whose counsels greatly aided Stradiuari in the
manufacture of his instruments; at Pistoia, Giacopino; at Naples,
Michaele Mascitti. Others, as Matteo Alberti, Tommaso Albinoni, Carlo
Tessarini, and Antonio Vivaldi, all pupils of Corelli, were in their
day not only _virtuosi_ of the first order, but admirable writers of
instrumental music. Vivaldi was one of those predestined artists who
impress upon the art of their time a new direction. To him may be
attributed the first improvement of the concerto; for the _concerto
grosso_ of Corelli is a work in which all the parts agree together, and
each in turn partakes of its interest. “L’Estro Armonico” of Vivaldi,
composed of twelve concertos for four Violins, two Viols, Violoncello,
and Thorough-Bass for the Organ, follows this model; but in his sixth,
seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth work, the genius of
the author takes another flight, and although there is no division of
_solo_ and _tutti_, the principal Violin part governs all the rest. The
melodies of Vivaldi bear a modern complexion that Somis and Geminiani
imitated.
Among the above-mentioned galaxy of distinguished talent, the model
violinist of the first half of the eighteenth century was Giuseppe
Tartini, born at Pirano, in Istria, on the 12th of April, 1692. His
early days were beset with difficulties, but having had the opportunity
of hearing the celebrated violinist, Veracini, who happened to be at
Venice when he was there, his vocation revealed itself. He withdrew
to Ancona to practise uninterruptedly; and he applied himself in
solitude more especially to the fundamental principle of bow movements,
principles which have since served as the basis of every Violin school
of Italy and of France. Settled in Padua in 1721, as principal soloist
and chapel master of the celebrated church of St. Anthony, he passed
forty-nine years of peace and comfort, solely occupied with the labours
of his art, and died there on the 16th of February, 1770. In 1728,
he established a school in that city, which became famous throughout
Europe, and from which issued a multitude of violinists, among whom the
following may be cited: Nardini, Pasqualino Bini, Alberghi, Domenico
Ferrari, to whom is attributed the invention of harmonic sounds,
Carminati, Capuzzi, Madame de Sirmen, and the French violinists, Pagin
and La Houssaye. Tartini not only contributed towards perfecting the
art of playing the Violin by his compositions for that instrument,
but by the pupils he formed. His style is generally elevated; his
ideas varied, and his harmony pure without being dry. The number of
his published concertos and manuscripts amounts to nearly one hundred
and fifty. There are also nearly fifty sonatas of his, among which is
his “Sonata del Diavolo,” the anecdote of which is not dissimilar to
that told of Paganini. Tartini thus related it:--“One night in 1713,
I dreamt that I had entered into a compact with the devil, who was
to be at my service. All succeeded to my utmost desires. My wishes
were always anticipated, my desires surpassed, by the services of
my new domestic. I thought of giving him my Violin, with the view
of discovering whether he would play some fine things upon it; but
what was my surprise when I heard a sonata so exquisitely beautiful
and original, executed with such consummate skill and intelligence,
that my deepest conceptions could not find its parallel. Overcome
with surprise and pleasure, I lost my breath, which violent sensation
awoke me. I instantly seized my Violin in the hope of remembering some
portion of what I had heard, but in vain. The piece which this dream
suggested, and which I wrote at the time, is doubtless the best of all
my compositions, and I still call it “Sonata del Diavolo,” but it sinks
so much into insignificance compared with what I heard, that I would
have broken my instrument and abandoned music for ever, had my means
permitted me to do so.”
Among the pupils of Corelli, one of the most distinguished was
Geminiani, who was born at Lucca, about 1680. Having terminated his
studies under this celebrated master, he went to England in 1714, made
some good pupils there, and died in Dublin, the 17th of September,
1762, in his eighty-third year. His execution was brilliant and solid,
but his compositions were wanting in imagination, being only a weak
imitation of Vivaldi’s style. Somis, another pupil of Corelli, was born
in Piedmont, towards the close of the seventeenth century, and had
visited Rome and Venice in his youth, for the purpose of learning under
the _virtuosi_ of that period. Corelli made him study his sonatas, and
Somis at first became attached to his style, but when he heard Vivaldi,
he modified his style, and copied him in his compositions. Somis was
the founder of the Piedmontese Violin school, which, after the death of
Tartini, greatly influenced the art of playing upon this instrument.
Baptiste Anet, better known as Baptiste, who received lessons from
Corelli, came to Paris about 1700, and was considered a prodigy,
not at all surprising at a period when, according to Lully, “the
best violinists of the opera, and of the king’s band, were incapable
of playing their parts without previous study.” Rather a mediocre
musician, Baptiste made but one pupil, Senaillé, so that he effected no
improvement in the formation of a French school of violinists. Besides,
he resided only five years in Paris, having accepted a position in
Poland which was offered to him.
The glory of laying the foundation of a Violin school in France was
reserved for Jean Marie Leclair, pupil of Somis, and a celebrated
violinist. He was born at Lyons in 1697. He at first used the Violin
as a dancing master, for in his youth he appeared as a dancer at
Rouen; but having been engaged as ballet-master at Turin, Somis, who
was pleased at hearing him play some dance tunes, gave him lessons,
by which he made rapid progress. After two years’ study, the pupil
surpassed the master. Leclair continued his practice perseveringly, and
ultimately became a celebrated performer. Arriving in Paris in 1729,
he was engaged in the orchestra of the Opera, and afterwards in the
king’s band. The pupils he formed, and the publication of his sonatas,
his duets, and trios, are the starting points of the school of French
violinists. Jean Baptiste Senaillé had also some part in influencing
the first development of this school. Born in Paris, the 23rd of
November, 1687, he took lessons from Queversin, one of the twenty-four
violinists of the king’s great band, and afterwards became the pupil
of Baptiste Anet. The great fame of the Italian violinists of that
period induced him to proceed to Modena, where he received lessons from
Antonio Vitali. He produced a great sensation in that city, and became
attached to the Court, through the influence of the Grand Duchess.
Returning to Paris in 1719, he made some excellent pupils, among others
Guignon, and probably Guillemain, who obtained a certain degree of
celebrity for some admirable sonatas for the Violin.
Of all Corelli’s pupils, the one who departed the most from his
master’s style, and by his daring arrived at most extraordinary
results, was Pietro Locatelli, justly celebrated as a violinist, born
at Bergamo in 1693. He could have received but few lessons from his
illustrious master, being scarcely sixteen years of age when Corelli
died. Bold and original, he invented new combinations in tuning the
Violin, in double notes, arpeggios, and harmonic sounds. The most
important work in which he put forth the result of his discoveries in
these various matters, bears the title of “Arte de nuova modulazione.”
The French editions of this work are entitled “Caprices énigmatiques.”
If Locatelli, who died in Holland in 1764, did not produce many pupils,
he had many imitators, Lolli, Fiorillo, and above all, Paganini, whose
talent was the most complete development of this model.
The Piedmontese school, founded by Somis, was destined to become the
most fruitful in first-class talent. Besides Leclair, his nephew
Schabran, or Chabran, became celebrated at Paris in 1751. Giardini,
a model of grace, and above all Pugnani, who, endowed with a highly
developed organisation, exercised a great influence upon the art, by
the grandeur of his executive style, the variety of his bowing, and the
improvements he introduced into the form of the concerto, as regards
the effect of solos. Having become the leader of the Piedmontese
school, Pugnani arrived at the zenith of his glory in maturing and
forming the purer, beautiful, and brilliant talent of Viotti, who
subsequently became both the model and despair of the violinists of
every country.
Contemporary with Pugnani, Gaviniès effected for the French school
at Paris what the Piedmontese violinist effected at Turin for the
Italian school. Mechanism of the bow, which renders every difficulty
easy, perfect intonation, imposing style, expression replete with
charm and feeling; such were the qualities which excited Viotti when
he heard Gaviniès, whom he called “le Tartini français.” The talent
of this artist was especially appreciated at its full value upon
various occasions at concerts of sacred music, where other violinists
of incontestable merit had performed. He bore away the palm after
contesting it with Pugnani, Domenico Ferrari, and John Stamitz.
The arrival of Viotti in Paris produced a sensation difficult to
describe. No performer had been heard who had attained so high a
degree of perfection--no artist had possessed so fine a tone, such
sustained elegance, such fire, and a style so varied. The fancy which
was developed in his concertos increased the delight he produced in his
auditory; his compositions for the Violin were as superior to those
which had been previously heard as his execution surpassed that of all
his predecessors and rivals. When this beautiful music became known,
the rage for the concertos of Jarnowick became extinct, and the French
school adopted more enlarged views. Viotti made few pupils; but there
was one who alone was worth an entire school: Rode, who possessed all
the brilliant qualifications of his master. There are few alive at the
present day who have heard this artist in his prime, when he played at
the concerts in the Rue Feydeau and at the Opera; but those artists who
did will never forget the model of perfection which entranced them. It
is an interesting remark, which I deem it a duty to make, that from
Corelli to Rode there is no hiatus in the school--for Corelli was the
master of Somis, Somis of Pugnani, Pugnani of Viotti, and Viotti of
Rode.
When the talent of Rode was at its zenith, two other violinists
rendered the French school illustrious. First, Rodolphe Kreutzer, the
son of one of the Court musicians, who was born at Versailles in 1766,
and was a pupil of Anthony Stamitz, a German violinist, who founded
a school. Kreutzer at first adopted the narrow style of his master;
but, under the guidance of Gaviniès, and after hearing Viotti, his
method became broader, more brilliant, and bold beyond conception. His
tone was full rather than mellow; and his manner of expression less
remarkable than his mastery of difficulties. His great quality was
originality, being no follower of any system, and obeying only the
impulsion of his own energetic sensibility. Kreutzer founded a school,
and made many pupils, who have taken advantage of his qualities, and
who generally, are remarked for their brilliancy of execution.