After Duiffopruggar the following makers were those who chiefly laboured to perfect the violin:—Gaspard da Salo (middle of the 17ᵗʰ century), Giovanni Paolo Maggini (1590-1640), Andreas Amati (1520-1580), his sons Antonius and Hieronymus Amati, the son of the latter, Nicolas Amati (1596-1684), the pupils of the same: Jacob Stainer (1621-1683) and Antonius Stradivarius (1644-1737). Of the Amati violins, those of Nicolas Amati are the best; the most perfect specimens of violin making, at present unsurpassed, were made by Stradivarius. In his instruments everything is perfected, — tone, model, varnish, etc.
a. Rabab—Arabian bowed instrument
(of Persian origin).
b. Raba—Indian violin.
After Stradivarius the finest violins are those of his pupil Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu (1683-1745), and there are many of them which rank with those of Stradivarius. To the Guarnerius family of violin makers belong Andreas Guarnerius, pupil of Amati (middle of the 17ᵗʰ century), his son Joseph Guarnerius (1680-1730), Peter Guarnerius and the son of the elder (Andreas) Guarnerius (1725-1740). The names Stradivarius and Joseph Guarnerius mark the highest achievement of violin making, and to the present day none have succeeded in surpassing them. Of other Italian violin makers who have furnished us with good instruments may be mentioned Alessandro Gagliano (1695-1725), Carlo Bergonzi (1712-1750), Laurentius Guadagnini (close of the 17ᵗʰ and beginning of the 18ᵗʰ century), Joh. Bapt. Guadagnini (1755-1785), Dominicus Montagnana (1715-1750), Vincent Ruggeri, Giov. Bapt. Ruggeri, and Peter Jacob Ruggeri (beginning of the 18ᵗʰ century). In France, good violins were made by Lupot (18ᵗʰ century), Gand, Bernardel (19ᵗʰ century) and Vuillaume (1798-1875). In Germany, besides Stainer and his pupil Albani of Botzen, Klotz, (father and son) 17ᵗʰ and 18ᵗʰ century in Mittenwalde; Witthalm (18ᵗʰ century, Nuremburg); Bausch (father and son, Leipsic, 1805-1871 and 1829-1871), Jacob Diehl (Hamburg). In England, B. Banks, Salisbury (1727-1795); R. Duke, London (1754-1780); Jacob Fendt and C. Harris (early part of the present century), and Matthew Hardie (Edinburgh), have left many good violins.
Prominent makers of the present day.
Good violins are made in the present day by Hammig in Leipsic; Reichers, Berlin; Schunemann, Schwerin; Pfab, Hamburg; Lenk, Frankfort; Reuner, Berlin; Roth, Markneukirchen, etc.
[In England excellent instruments have been and are being made by Hill, Hart, Chanot, E. Withers, and Boullangier, London; W. H. Mayson, Manchester; F. Devoney, Blackpool; J. Monk, Merton, Surrey; and others. In France, by Miquel, Foucher, Lotte; and in America, Gemunder. These have all produced serviceable instruments. Ability to judge properly the merits of a violin,—whether new or old,—comes only with experience; beginners should therefore before purchasing consult a player or teacher possessing the necessary knowledge. Violins by the same maker, to all appearance exactly alike, yet frequently differ greatly in tone quality, and an instrument of bad tone is a stumbling block in the path of progress, disheartening the learner. Tr.]
Attempts at improving the violin.
Many attempts have been made at improving the violin by altering its form and proportions, and by using other kinds of wood:—metal, glass, and porcelain violins have also been constructed. Experiments have been made with the bass bar, bridge, soundpost, etc., in endeavours to make a further advance in violin making; but all these attempts have yielded no results of importance. The most remarkable attempted alteration of latter days proceeds from the piano maker Hagspiel in Dresden, and consists in bending or arching the upper table of the violin instead of working it out, the sound-holes appearing as round openings in the ribs instead of in the upper surface. The tone of these violins is of surprising power and volume, but they demand a peculiar, and somewhat firm bowing; a heavier bow is also needed. The maker proceeds on the assumption that there exists, in modern orchestras a tonal gap between the string and the brass instrument. The tone of the stringed instruments is often quite overpowered by the predominating force of the wind instruments. This is especially noticeable in opera orchestras, where their space will seldom permit of more than 10 or 12 first violins, and the same number of second violins; for instance in the instrumentation of Wagner’s Nibelungen Ring. In its production the wind instruments need so much space in the orchestra, that instead of a corresponding increase in the number of the strings, they must often be lessened, naturally occasioning a want of balance. A selection of the instruments made by Herr Hagspiel,—violins, violas, violoncelli and double basses, would probably tend to lessen this disproportion, as one of them yields at least as much tone as two of the ordinary instruments. By sufficient familiarity with the method of using them, the tone might be made to blend uniformly with that of the other instruments in passages of a light and soft character. In any case the inventor has thrown out a suggestion, and made a beginning towards preparing the way for a correct balance of tone in the orchestra, and his idea therefore deserves consideration. The author is not aware if practical experiment in the orchestra has been made with these instruments, but it should certainly give some advantageous result.