Part 6
Endeavour to obtain strings of uniform thickness throughout, a requisite which can only be insured by careful gauging. In selecting the E string, choose those that are most transparent; the seconds and thirds, as they are made with several threads, are seldom very clear. The firsts never have more than a few threads in them, and hence, absence of transparency in their case denotes inferior material. Before putting on the first string, in particular, in order to test its purity it will be well to follow Le Roy's advice, which is to hold between the fingers of each hand a portion of the string sufficient to stretch from the bridge to the nut, and to set it in vibration. If two lines only be apparent, the string is free from falseness; but if a third line be produced, the contrary conclusion must be assumed. In the case of seconds and thirds we cannot always rely on this test, as the number of threads used in their manufacture frequently prevents the line from being perfectly clear. The last precaution of moment is to secure perfect fifths, which can only be done by taking care that the four strings are in true proportion and uniform with each other. To string a violin correctly is a very difficult undertaking, and requires considerable patience. The first consideration should be the constitution of the Violin: the strings that please one instrument torture another. Neither Cremonese Violins nor old instruments in general require to be heavily strung: the mellowness of the wood and their delicate construction require the stringing to be such as will assist in bringing out that richness of tone which belongs to first-rate instruments. If the bridge and sound-board be heavily weighted with thick strings, vibration will surely be checked. In the case of modern instruments, heavy in wood, and needing constant use to wear down their freshness, strings of a larger size may be used with advantage, and particularly when such instruments are in use for orchestral purposes.
[Illustration: _Plate III_. VIOLONCELLO BY ANTONIO STRADIVARI. PRESENTED TO SIGNOR PIATTI BY GENERAL OLIVER. (Herr Robert Mendelssohn.)]
Vast improvements have been effected in the stringing of Violins within the last thirty years. Strings of immense size were used alike on Violins, Violoncellos, Tenors, and Double Basses. Robert Lindley, the king of English Violoncellists, used a string for his first very nearly equal in size to the second of the present time, and the same robust proportion was observed in his other strings. The Violoncello upon which he played was by Forster, and would bear much heavier stringing than an Italian instrument; and, again, he was a most forcible player, and his power of fingering quite exceptional. Dragonetti, the famous Double-Bass player, and coadjutor of Lindley, possessed similar powers, and used similar strings as regards size. Their system of stringing was adopted indiscriminately. Instruments whether weakly or strongly built received uniform treatment, the result being in many cases an entire collapse, and the most disappointing effects in tone. It was vainly supposed that the ponderous strings of Dragonetti and Lindley were the talisman by use of which their tone would follow as a matter of course, whereas in point of fact it was scarcely possible to make the instruments utter a sound when deprived of the singular muscular power possessed by those famous players. After Lindley's death his system passed away gradually, and attention was directed to the better adaptation of strings to the instrument, and also to the production of perfect fifths.
We have now only to speak of covered strings, in which it is more difficult to obtain perfection than in the case of those of gut. There are several kinds of covered strings. There are those of silver wire, which are very durable, and have a soft quality of sound very suitable to old instruments, and are therefore much used by artistes; there are those of copper plated with silver, and also of copper without plating, which have a powerful sound; and, lastly, there are those which are made with mixed wire, an arrangement which prevents in a measure the tendency to rise in pitch, a disadvantage common to covered strings and caused by expansion of the metals; these strings also possess a tone which is a combination of that produced by silver and copper strings. Here again, however, great discrimination is needed, viz., before putting on the fourth string. The instrument must be understood. There are Violins which will take none but fourths of copper, there are others that would be simply crippled by their adoption. It cannot be too much impressed upon the mind of the player that the Violin requires deep and patient study with regard to every point connected with its regulation. So varied are these instruments in construction and constitution, that before their powers can be successfully developed they must be humoured, and treated as the child of a skilful educator, who watches to gain an insight into the character of his charge, and then adopts the best means for its advancement according to the circumstances ascertained.
The strain and pressure of the strings upon a Violin being an interesting subject of inquiry, I give the annexed particulars (_see_ Table below) from experiments made in conjunction with a friend interested in the subject, and possessed of the necessary knowledge to arrive at accurate results.
* * * * *
The Violin being held in a frame in a nearly upright position, so that the string hung just clear of the nut to avoid friction, the note was obtained by pressing the string to the nut.
When the Violin was laid in a horizontal position, and the string passed over a small pulley, an additional weight of two or three pounds was required to overcome the friction on the nut and that of the pulley. Therefore it is probable that the difference in the results obtained by other experiments may have arisen from the different methods employed. But with a dead weight hung on the end of each string there could be no error.
TENSION OF VIOLIN STRINGS. _Ascertained by Hanging a Dead Weight on the End of the String_.
+-------+--------+------------+------------+------------+------------+ | | |Tension in | | | | | | |lbs. Weight,| | | | | | |hung on the | | Downward | Downward | | | |end of the | | Pressure | Pressure | | | |String to | Downward | on the | on the | |Number | |bring it to | Pressure | Treble Foot| Bass Foot | |of the | |Concert | on the | of the | of the | |String.| SIZE. |Pitch. | Bridge. | Bridge. | Bridge. | +-------+--------+------------+------------+------------+------------+ | | | lb. | lb. oz. | lb. oz. | lb. oz. | | 1st | Thick | 23 | 10 3-1/4 | 10 3-1/4 | ---- | | " | Medium | 22 | 9 12 | 9 12 | ---- | | " | Small | 18 | 8 0 | 8 0 | ---- | | | | | | | | | 2nd | Thick | 15-1/2 | 6 14 | 4 9-1/2 | 2 4-1/2 | | " | Medium | 15-1/4 | 6 11-1/4 | 4 7-1/4 | 2 4 | | " | Small | 13-1/2 | 6 0 | 4 0 | 2 0 | | | | | | | | | 3rd | Thick | 13-1/4 | 5 14 | 1 15-1/4 | 3 14-3/4 | | " | Medium | 12-3/4 | 5 10-1/2 | 1 13-3/4 | 3 12-3/4 | | " | Small | 11 | 4 14 | 1 10 | 3 4 | | | | | | | | | 4th | Thick | 11 | 4 14 | ---- | 4 14 | | " | Medium | 10-1/2 | 4 10-1/2 | ---- | 4 10-1/2 | | " | Small | Say 10 | 4 7 | ---- | 4 7 | | | | | | | | The total of | | | | | | four thick | | | | | | strings is | 62-3/4 | 27 13-1/4 | 16 12 | 11 1-1/4 | | | | | | | | The total of | | | | | | four small | | | | | | strings is | 52-1/2 | 23 5 | 13 10 | 9 11 | +----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
B A C is the average angle formed by a string passing over the bridge of a Violin, and the tension acts equally in the direction A B, A C.
[Illustration of angles of the strings.]
Take A C=A B.
From the point B draw B D parallel to A C. And from the point C draw C D parallel to A B, cutting B D at D.
Join A D.
Then, if a force acting on the point A, in the direction of A B, be represented in magnitude by the line A B, an equal force acting in the direction A C will be represented by the line A C, and the diagonal A D will represent the direction and magnitude of the force acting on the point A, to keep it at rest.
N.B.--The bridge of a Violin does not divide the angle B A C quite equally, but so nearly that A D may be taken as the position of the bridge.
Also, the plane passing through the string of a Violin, on both sides of the bridge, is not quite perpendicular to the belly. To introduce this variation into the calculation would render that less simple, and it will be sufficient to state that about the 150th part must be deducted from the downward pressures given in the above table from the first and fourth strings, and about the 300th part for the second and third strings. The total to be deducted for the four strings will not exceed three ounces.
On the line A B or A C set off a scale of equal parts, beginning at A, and on A D a similar scale beginning at A.
Mark off on the scale A B as many divisions as there are lbs. in the tension of a string, for example 18, and from that point draw a line parallel to B D, cutting A D at the point 8 in that scale. Then, if the tension of a string be 18 lb., the downward pressure on the bridge will be 8 lb.; and therefore for the above angle the downward pressure of any string on the bridge will be 8/18=4/9 of the tension of that string.
The whole of the downward pressure of the first string falls upon the Treble Foot of the Bridge.
The downward pressure of the second string is about 2/3 the Treble Foot of the Bridge, and 1/3 on the Bass Foot.
The downward pressure of the third string is about 1/3 on the Treble Foot, and 2/3 on the Bass Foot.
The whole of the downward pressure of the fourth string falls upon the Bass Foot of the Bridge.
SECTION IV The Italian School
The fifteenth century may be considered as the period when the art of making instruments of the Viol class took root in Italy, a period rich in men labouring in the cause of Art. The long list of honoured names connected with Art in Italy during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries is a mighty roll-call indeed! The memory dwells upon the number of richly-stored minds that have, within the limits of these three centuries, bequeathed their art treasures to all time; and if here we cannot suppress a comparison of the art world of the present Italy with that of the periods named, still less can we fail to be astonished as we discover the abyss into which Italy must be judged to have sunk in point of merit, when measured by the high standard which in former days she set herself. But perhaps the greatest marvel of all is the rapidity of the decadence when it once set in, as it did immediately after the culminating point of artistic fame had been reached.
To reflect for a moment upon the many famous men in Italy engaged in artistic vocations contemporary with the great Viol and Violin makers cannot fail to be interesting to the lovers of our instrument, for it has the effect of surrounding their favourite with an interest extending beyond its own path. It also serves to make prominent the curious fact that the art of Italian Violin-making emerged from its chrysalis state when the painters of Italy displayed their greatest strength of genius, and perfected itself when the Fine Arts of Italy were cast in comparative darkness. It is both interesting and remarkable that the art of Italian Violin-making--which in its infancy shared with all the arts the advantage attending the revival of art and learning--should have been the last to mature and die.
Whilst the artist, scientist, and musician, Leonardo da Vinci, was painting, inventing, and singing his sonnets to the accompaniment of his Lute; whilst Raphael was executing the commands of Leo X., and Giorgio was superintending the manufacture of his inimitable majolica ware, the Viol-makers of Bologna were designing their instruments and assimilating them to the registers of the human voice, in order that the parts of Church and chamber madrigals might be played instead of sung, or that the voices might be sustained by the instruments.[1]
[Footnote 1: The importance of this epoch in its bearings upon instrumental music generally, and stringed instrument music in particular, can hardly be over-estimated. It may be said that in the Middle Ages no written music for instruments existed. The melodies and accompaniments produced from instruments were either extemporaneous or parrot-like imitations of vocal music. Madrigals and a few dances constituted the food upon which instruments were nursed until towards the close of the sixteenth century, when Gabrielli, or a contemporary musician, prepared a special and distinct aliment, the outcome of which is found in the symphonies of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.]
If we turn to the days of Gasparo da Salo, Maggini, and Andrea Amati, we find that while they were sending forth their Fiddles, Titian was painting his immortal works, and Benvenuto Cellini, the greatest goldsmith of his own or any age, was setting the jewels of popes and princes, and enamelling the bindings of their books. Whilst the master-minds of Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu were occupied with those instruments which have caused their names to be known throughout the civilised world (and _un_civilised too, for many thousands of Violins are yearly made into which their cherished names are thrust, after which they are despatched for the negro's use), Canaletto was painting his Venetian squares and canals, Venetians whose names are unrecorded were blowing glass of wondrous form and beauty. At the same time, in the musical world, Corelli was writing his jigs and sarabands, Geminiani penning one of the first instruction books for the Violin, and Tartini dreaming his "Sonata del Diavolo"; and while Guadagnini and the stars of lesser magnitude were exercising their calling, Viotti, the originator of a school of Violin-playing, was writing his concertos, and Boccherini laying the foundation of classical chamber-music of a light and pleasing character. It would be easy to continue this vein of thought, were it not likely to become irksome to the reader; enough has been said to refresh the memory as to the flourishing state of Italian art during these times. What a mine of wealth was then opened up for succeeding generations! and how curious is the fact that not only the Violin, but its music, has been the creature of the most luxurious age of art; for in that golden age musicians contemporary with the great Violin-makers were writing music destined to be better understood and appreciated when the Violins then made should have reached their maturity.
That Italy's greatest Violin-makers lived in times favourable to the production of works possessing a high degree of merit, cannot be doubted. They were surrounded by composers of rare powers, and also by numerous orchestras. These orchestras, composed mainly of stringed instruments, were scattered all over Italy, Germany, and France, in churches, convents, and palaces, and must have created a great demand for bow instruments of a high class.
The bare mention of a few of the names of composers then existing will be sufficient to bring to the mind of the reader well versed in musical matters the compositions to which they owe their fame. In the sixteenth century, Orlando di Lasso, Isaac, and Palestrina were engaged in writing Church music, in which stringed instruments were heard; in the seventeenth, lived Stradella, Lotti, Bononcini, Lully, and Corelli. In the eighteenth century, the period when the art of Violin-making was at its zenith, the list is indeed a glorious one. At this point is the constellation of Veracini, Geminiani, Vivaldi, Locatelli, Boccherini, Tartini, Viotti, Nardini, among the Italians; while in France it is the epoch of Leclair and Gavinies, composers of Violin music of the highest excellence. Surrounded by these men of rare genius, who lived but to disseminate a taste for the king of instruments, the makers of Violins must certainly have enjoyed considerable patronage, and doubtless those of tried ability readily obtained highly remunerative prices for their instruments, and were encouraged in their march towards perfection both in design and workmanship. Besides the many writers for the Violin, and executants, there were numbers of ardent patrons of the Cremonese and Brescian makers. Among these may be mentioned the Duke of Ferrara, Charles IX., Cardinal Ottoboni (with whom Corelli was in high favour), Cardinal Orsini (afterwards Pope Benedict XIII.), Victor Amadeus Duke of Savoy, the Duke of Modena, the Marquis Ariberti, Charles III. (afterwards Charles VI., Emperor of Germany), and the Elector of Bavaria, all of whom gave encouragement to the art by ordering complete sets of stringed instruments for their chapels and for other purposes. By the aid of such valuable patronage the makers were enabled to centre their attention on their work, and received reward commensurate with the amount of skill displayed. This had the effect of raising them above the status of the ordinary workman, and permitted them as a body to pass their lives amid comparative plenty. There are, without doubt, instances of great results obtained under trying circumstances, but the genius required to combine a successful battle with adversity with high proficiency in art is indeed a rare phenomenon. Carlyle says of such minds: "In a word, they willed one thing, to which all other things were subordinate, and made subservient, and therefore they accomplished it. The wedge will rend rocks, but its edge must be sharp and single; if it be double, the wedge is bruised in pieces, and will rend nothing." It may, therefore, be affirmed that the greatest luminaries of the art world have shone most brightly under circumstances in keeping with their peaceful labours, it not being essential to success that men highly gifted for a particular art should have this strength of will unless there were immediate call for its exercise.
Judging from the large number of bow-instrument makers in Italy, more particularly during the seventeenth century, we should conclude that the Italians must have been considered as far in advance of the makers of other nations, and that they monopolised, in consequence, the chief part of the manufacture. The city of Cremona became the seat of the trade, and the centre whence, as the manufacture developed itself, other less famous places maintained their industry. In this way there arose several distinct schools of a character marked and thoroughly Italian, but not attaining the high standard reached by the parent city. Notwithstanding the inferiority of the makers of Naples, Florence, and other homes of the art as compared with the Cremonese, they seem to have received a fair amount of patronage, the number of instruments manufactured in these places of lesser fame being considerable.
To enable the reader to understand more readily the various types of Italian Violins, they may be classed as the outcome of five different schools. The first is that of Brescia, dating from about 1520 to 1620, which includes Gasparo da Salo, Maggini, and a few others of less note. The next, and most important school, was that of Cremona, dating from 1550 to 1760, or even later, and including the following makers: Andrea Amati, Girolamo Amati, Antonio Amati, Niccolo Amati, Girolamo Amati, son of Niccolo; Andrea Guarneri, Pietro Guarneri, Giuseppe Guarneri, the son of Andrea; Giuseppe Guarneri ("del Gesu"), the nephew of Andrea; Antonio Stradivari, and Carlo Bergonzi. Several well-known makers have been omitted in the foregoing list simply because they were followers of those mentioned, and therefore cannot be credited with originality of design. The makers of Milan and Naples may be braced together as one school, under the name of _Neapolitan_, dating from 1680 to 1800. This school contains makers of good repute, viz., the members of the Grancino family, Carlo Testore, Paolo Testore, the Gagliano family, and Ferdinando Landolfi. The makers of Florence, Bologna, and Rome may likewise be classed together in a school that dates from 1680 to 1760, and includes the following names: Gabrielli, Anselmo, Tecchler, and Tononi. The Venetian school, dating from 1690 to 1764, has two very prominent members in Domenico Montagnana and Santo Seraphino; but the former maker may, not inappropriately, be numbered with those of Cremona, for he passed his early years in that city, and imbibed all the characteristics belonging to its chief makers.
Upon glancing at this imposing list of makers, it is easy to understand that it must have been a lucrative trade which in those days gave support to so many; and, further, that Italy, as compared with Germany, France, or England at that period, must have possessed, at least, more makers by two-thirds than either of those three countries. And this goes far to prove, moreover, that the Italian makers received extensive foreign patronage, their number being far in excess of that required to supply their own country's wants in the manufacture of Violins. Roger North, in his "Memoirs of Musick," evidences the demand for Italian Violins in the days of James II. He remarks: "Most of the young nobility and gentry that have travelled into Italy affected to learn of Corelli, and brought home with them such favour for the Italian music, as hath given it possession of our Parnassus. And the best utensil of Apollo, _the Violin_, is so universally courted and sought after, to be had of the best sort, that some say England hath dispeopled Italy of Violins." We also read of William Corbett, a member of the King's band, having formed about the year 1710 a "gallery of Cremonys and Stainers" during his residence in Rome.
Brescia was the cradle of Italian Violin-making, for the few makers of bowed instruments (among whom were Gaspard Duiffoprugcar, who established himself at Bologna; Dardelli, of Mantua; Linarolli and Maller, of Venice) cannot be counted among Violin-makers. The only maker, therefore, of the Violin of the earliest date, it remains to be said, was Gasparo da Salo, to whom belongs the credit of raising the manufacture of bowed instruments from a rude state to an art. There may be something in common between the early works of Gasparo da Salo and Gaspard Duiffoprugcar, but the link that connects these two makers is very slight, and in the absence of further information respecting the latter as an actual maker of Violins, the credit of authorship must certainly belong to Gasparo da Salo.