There is great probability that some very clever workmen whose names are lost to us, were with Stradivari for a time, long or short, and were able to imbibe the valuable precepts enjoined similarly on the other disciples. It is not at present known whether the sons of Stradivari had pupils or assistants, the rarity of their work seems to point to the contrary; their father having been so successful from the commercial point of view, apart from the higher aspect of his career, there may have been—we might say—the usual disposition amongst sons of successful fathers to take life more easily and repose among the laurels won for them, requiring only a little caretaking. There is some possibility of Thomas Balestrieri, of Mantua, having worked for a time under Stradivari, but not as a pupil; there is much in his work suggestive of this theory. His tone quality does not belong to the Amati school, in which tradition has it he was trained. He may have gone as help to Stradivari—for loose as was his general tendency, he could work finely when the fit was on him. Whether he went or not, there remains tone quality evidence of the strong influence of Stradivari, besides the throwing aside of the Amati traditions concerning proportions, curves and archings.
Of the other places to which personal pupils of the master went, we may take a passing glance at Genoa, a city not replete with makers of refinement, or numerous, but nevertheless with some sterling qualities. Among them and the most "Straddy" is Bernardus Calcanius; his earliest dates, if we can rely upon them, and they may prove at any moment to have been earlier than hitherto known, almost preclude the possibility of his having worked under Stradivari except as a youth. The influence of the master is, however, decidedly paramount in his work and no other tendency being noticeable, if not an immediate pupil, he took all possible pains to acquire the excellencies that were to his knowledge peculiar to Stradivari alone.
Among the Venetian makers there does not seem to be one that can—from his style and workmanship—be picked out as showing all necessary evidence of his having qualified under the great Cremonese as a personal pupil. Nevertheless there is much indication, and such as cannot be passed over, of the influence of Stradivari among the aristocracy of the business there. This was not, as in the instances of the other schools of violin making outside Cremona, in the first ten years of the century, but after the different individuals of the group of eminent Venetians must have been well known and of established reputation. In this there is some apparent indication of one if not more of the party having taken a trip to Cremona and brought back a few hints of no inconsiderable value, perhaps received personally from the master. On the other hand, if this was not the case, his works must have been brought into Venice and their merits artistically as well as acoustically well thought over. The outcome was a change, the Amati genius hitherto presiding uninterfered with, seemingly immutable, had to give way to that which was pronounced an improvement or a step higher in the progress of the liutaro's art. As in Cremona, the Amati characteristics were too deeply rooted in the affections of the Venetians to be eradicated, and we consequently find in the designs of a few of the prominent makers the strong influence of Stradivari in conflict with that of Nicolas Amati, and the two swaying in balance with the settled convictions of the followers of Jacobus Stainer.
Having now taken a glance round at the chief centres of violin making that had during Stradivari's lifetime been strongly influenced by him, directly by means of his pupils or indirectly by the arrival there of his works, we may note that his qualities artistically or acoustically considered, while giving him a commanding position, did not reach so far as to annihilate, during competition, those of the Amatis, especially where the latter had been of long standing and followed earnestly in detail, they kept side by side as in Cremona. The influence of Stradivari beyond the borders of Italy had yet to receive its due acknowledgment from the crowds of imitators which have now become known or have pushed themselves in front of the public gaze.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Reputed Golden Period of Stradivari Late in Life—His Later Modifications of Design—Signs of Old Age Appearing—The Help He Received.
WE can now return back to Cremona, where we left the master in what might almost be termed the heydey of success, as he seems to have had full obeisance as the reigning chief among liutaros. The amount of work put forward—estimating carefully by what remains to us after the lapse of some hundred and eighty years or more—must have been possibly larger than is suspected and now might appear incredible if it were catalogued in detail, were it not for the extreme probability that minor or mere mechanical parts of the many instruments other than violins, violas, or violoncellos were effectively carried out under the supervision of Antonio Stradivari, his sons and assistants, of these probably what under the circumstances might even be termed a numerous staff.
The period 1700 to 1725 has been referred to by some writers as "the golden period" of Stradivari, not inaptly if we are to understand it in a pecuniary sense, as his income at the time was no doubt of a very satisfactory nature, but if taken from the standpoint of artistic elegance and finish in detail the master himself seems to have had some slight misgivings, as there are well-known indications in his latter days of having used some of his early patterns, as if a desire had arisen in his mind to return to his old love.