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‘The wood used in the manufacture of this instrument is of three sorts. The back, the neck, the sides, and the circles are made of sycamore; the belly, the bass bar, the sound post, and the six blocks of Tyrolese deal; the finger-board and tail-piece of ebony.’
It appears that the peculiar curvature, or swell of the back and belly of good violins, is produced by scooping out of the solid wood, and not by pressing the material on heated moulds of the desired shape, a practice which the translator, in a note, informs us is common now in Germany, among the cheap makers.
M. Otto rather inclines to the opinion that violins might be now made equal to the old Cremonese, and thinks that musicians and dilettanti are blameable for not encouraging good makers, and for putting too much confidence in repairers. He seems to be persuaded that the rich, mellow tone of instruments depends much on the ameliorating effects of time; and his translator strengthens what is said in the original, by the following remarks:—
‘It may not be unreasonable to attribute the superiority of old instruments to time, which, by its slow but sure and powerful agency, mellows and softens down the asperities of many musical instruments, and in particular organs and violins. That the mechanical construction of the old instruments is in any degree superior to the present day can scarcely, upon mature reflection, be admitted, as in the present age, when every art or science is analysed and sought into with the most unsparing avidity, it is certain that many enthusiastic and scientific admirers of the violin have destroyed some of the very best instruments of the old makers, for the sole purpose of forming a correct opinion of the minutest proportions of their interior construction.... I feel rather reluctant in expressing my opinion, that were it possible to produce an old instrument, possessing precisely the same quality of tone as when first finished, no very great superiority, if any, would be discerned over the modern-made instruments, constructed with the care which would be bestowed upon a violin intended to be a pattern of the excellence of modern workmanship and science. I am, however, compelled to state that, as far as I can collect from many professional individuals, there is one reason why many of the modern-made instruments are so inferior to the old ones. It is this: many makers of late date in England, Italy, Germany, who had succeeded in producing excellent instruments, and in consequence established their reputation, as they imagined, in a short time after their fame had gone forward to the world, relaxed in their application, and became negligent, under the impression that their name having been once established, their instruments, no matter how indifferent they might be, would be well received. It is but justice to the Italian and the German makers, to state that they entertain a very favourable opinion of the violins manufactured in England. It may also not be uninteresting to learn that the generally received opinion, collected from various sources upon which reliance can be placed, is, that there exists at the present day, in England, a greater number of the genuine instruments of the old makers than, proportionally, in any other country.’
The following facts, stated by the translator, are very worthy of notice, and, we will venture to say, are new, not only to musicians in general, but even to many violin-players in particular:—
‘It is an authenticated fact, that the shallower or flatter the model of a violin is, the fuller is the tone. Many amateurs conceive the very reverse. On comparison, however, between a genuine Straduarius and an Amati, this will be immediately perceived. A Guarnerius or a Straduarius is of the flat model and powerful in tone. An Amati, on the other hand, has a very beautiful high model, very fine wood and highly-finished workmanship, and in the genuine instruments the purfling is inlaid very close to the edge, much more so than in any other genuine Italian instruments. The Amatis possess a brilliant silvery tone, but from the cause above-mentioned they are not so sonorous as the flatter-modelled instruments, particularly the Guarnerius or Straduarius.’
‘It is a prevalent opinion, as well with professors as amateurs, that the old Italian instruments have attained their zenith, and some even aver that they have been deteriorating.... Is it not probable that the improvements, introduced within late years, added to the patterns afforded by the old instruments themselves, which have been studied with the most intense anxiety by the most skilful artists of Europe, and of England in particular, have tended to detract from the value of the old instruments?... The Amatis, from their sweetness of tone, are preferred for accompaniments to the voice. In performances strictly instrumental, a Guarnerius or a Straduarius is more valued in consequence of possessing a greater body of tone.’