Old violins

Zusammenfassung

"Old violins" by H. R. Haweis is a historical and technical treatise written in the late 19th century. It explores the violin’s expressive mystique, its construction and acoustics, and the instrument’s evolution through the great Italian schools, interweaving portraits of performers, makers, and collectors. Readers interested in tone, craftsmanship, and the lineage from Brescia to Cremona—Gasparo and Maggini to Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari—will find a richly informed, enthusiastic guide. The opening of the work is a rhapsodic prelude asserting that the violin uniquely unites accent, sustained sound, and subtly modified tone, channeling the player’s “soul” through touch, with vivid anecdotes of Paganini’s and Wieniawski’s spellbinding effects and a rationale for collectors’ devotion to preserved masterpieces. It then turns to origins, dismissing fruitless antiquarian debates to focus on how the violin, viola, and cello emerged from church viols into independent ensemble and solo roles, followed by a clear tour of the instrument’s “constitution” (woods, arching, bass-bar, soundpost, bridge, fingerboard, and purfling) and the intimate bow–string partnership. History begins at Brescia with Gasparo da Salò and, above all, Maggini, whose large models, double purfling, trefoil ornaments, glowing varnish, and mellow, plaintive tone helped define modern types. The narrative then centers on Cremona: the Amati family, culminating in Nicolo’s sweet, refined but not over-powerful model; the Guarneri line progressing to Giuseppe “del Gesù,” celebrated for bold workmanship and commanding tone and stripped of the “prison fiddle” myth; and the introduction of Stradivari—his early Amati-influenced phase, prestigious commissions, experimental “long Strads,” and the threshold of his golden period and famed instruments such as the Dolphin. (This is an automatically generated summary.)