Robert William Frederick Harrison

“ The evolution of the modern bow has taken place almost entirely since the violin attained its final form, and has followed, more completely perhaps than the instrument itself, the development of violin music and the requirements of the player. It reached its highest perfection at the hands of the celebrated François Tourte of Paris, about 1780, whose bows have served as a model for all succeeding makers, even more exclusively than the violins of Stradivari controlled the pattern of later instruments ”

“ Instruments exhibiting similar excellence in this respect were too widespread in their range, both of period and locality, to justify the assumption that the general composition of the finest varnish of the early makers was not a matter of common knowledge in an industry so flourishing as that of violin-making in the 17th and early 18th centuries. The excellence of an instrument in respect of its varnish depended on the quality of the constituent materials, on the proportions in which they were combined, and, perhaps mainly, on the method of its application. ”

“ One half of the instrument was therefore tuned like a viol, the other half as in a violin, the middle string forming the division. The tenor viol thus improved was called in France the quinte, and the treble corresponding to it the quinton. From the numerous specimens which survive it must have been a popular instrument, as it is undoubtedly a substantially excellent one. The relief in the bass, and the additional pressure caused by the higher tuning in the treble, gave it greater brilliancy, without destroying the pure, ready and sympathetic tone which characterizes the viol. ”

“ Having regard to all these considerations it is not unreasonable to conclude that the varnish of the old instruments contributed probably the most important single element of thair superiority in tone to their more modern copies. It must, however, be borne in mind that the instrument makers of the 16th and 17th centuries carried on a great and flourishing and a highly developed craft; and that their best creations owe their distinction largely to causes similar to those which produced the great art works of the same period. The violin makers had a lifelong training in their craft. ”

“ So far as the elementary principles which govern its action are concerned, the violin follows familiar laws (see Sound) . The different notes of the scale are produced by vibrating strings differing in weight and tension, and varying in length under the hand of the player. The vibrations of the .strings are conveyed through the bridge to the body of the instrument, which fulfils the common function of a resonator in reinforcing the notes initiated by the strings. So far first principles carry us at once. ”

“ The following are the exact principal dimensions of a very fine specimen of Stradivari's work, which has been preserved in perfect condition since the latter end of the 17th century:—
The back is in one piece, supplemented a little in width at the lower part, after a common practice of the great makers, and is cut from very handsome wood; the ribs are of the same wood, while the belly is formed of two pieces of soft pine of rather fine and beautifully even grain. The sound-holes, cut with perfect precision, exhibit much grace and freedom of design. ”

“ In this respect there can be no doubt that the southern climate placed the makers whose work lies in higher latitudes at a disadvantage. In a letter to Galileo in 1638 concerning a violin he had ordered from Cremona, the writer states that "it cannot be brought to perfection without the strong heat of the sun"; and all recorded experience indicates the great importance of slow drying of the varnish under suitable conditions. Stradivari himself wrote to account for delay in the delivery of an instrument because of the time required for the drying of the varnish. ”

“ Another well-known characteristic of the violin is that a new instrument, or one that has been long in disuse, is found to be "sleepy," that is, it fails to speak readily in response to the bow, a defect which gradually disappears with use. Experiments made to test the effect of prolonged transverse vibrations upon strips of suitable wood have shown that such treatment increases the flexibility of the wood, which returns to its normal degree of rigidity after a period of rest. ”

“ Tenor violin and violoncello.Both are, relatively to their pitch, made in smaller proportions than the violin, because, if they were constructed to dimensions having the same relation to pitch and tension of strings as the violin, they would not only have an overpowering tone but would be unmanageable from their size. These relatively diminished dimensions, both in the size of the instrument and in the thickness of the wood and strings, give to the tenor and violoncello a graver and more sympathetic tone. ”

“ To eyes familiar with the geometrical curves of the later Cremona school, most of the violins of these makers have a rude and uncouth appearance. The height of the model varies; the pattern is attenuated; the f-holes share the general rudeness of design, and are set high in the pattern. Andreas Amati of Cremona, the eldest maker of that name, effected some improvements on this primitive model; but the violin owes most to his sons, Antonio and Geronimo, who were partners. They introduced the substantial improvements which developed the Brescian violin into the modern instrument. ”

“ It is worthy of remark that after the lapse of so many years, since it attained perfect musical efficiency, no unessential adjunct has entered into the construction of this instrument. No play of fancy has grafted anything beyond quite minor ornamentation on a work of art distinguished by its simplicity of pure outline and proportion. ”

“ Speaking generally, the tone of the high-built instrument is less powerful and sweeter, and it speaks more readily, but responds less completely to gradations of tone under the action of the bow than the flatter type, which yields a tone of greater carrying power and flexibility, susceptible to more subtle variation by the player, and with a peculiar penetrating quality lacking in the highly arched model. ”

“ When, however, we compare the comparatively few really fine specimens of the Italian school which have survived in good condition, with the best examples of modern construction in which the proportions of the older masterpieces have been faithfully followed, and in which the most careful workmanship of skilled hands has been embodied, it cannot be denied that the former possess a superiority in the quality of their tone which the musical ear immediately recognizes. ”

“ The acoustics of the violin are extremely complex, and notwithstanding many investigations by men of science, and the enunciation of some plausible hypotheses with regard to details of its operation as a musical instrument, remain as a whole obscure.Acoustics. ”

“ The characteristic features which, in combination, distinguish the violin (including in that family name its larger brethren the viola and the violoncello) from other stringed instruments are: the restriction of the strings to four, and their tuning in fifths; the peculiar form of the body, or resonating chamber, especially the fully moulded back as well as front, or belly; the shallow sides or "ribs" bent into characteristic curves; the acute angles of the corners where the curves of the ends and middle "bouts" or waist ribs meet ”

“ The vibrating plates of the violin are neither symmetrical nor uniform in dimensions. They are not free plates, but are fixed round the whole edge of a very irregular outline; and these conditions, taken together with their unsymmetrically arched form, held under pressure by the tension of the strings, establish a state of complex stresses under vibration which have so far escaped analysis. ”

“ In the high-cut arch the fibres of the wood on the upper surface are necessarily cut shorter, with the result that the plate as a whole does not vibrate so perfectly as in the flatter model, and this has a weakening effect on the tone. ”

“ The whole of the permanent structure is cemented together with glue alone, and it is a striking testimony to the mechanical conditions satisfied by the design, that the instrument built of such slender material withstands without deformation the considerable stresses applied to it. ”

“ The effects, upon the vibrational qualities of the wood, of thickness of coat, texture and gradual absorption into the pores of the wood under favourable conditions of drying, are great and far-reaching, as is proved in the survival through two centuries of the great qualities of the specimens most fittingly treated in this respect. ”

“ The lightness of the material of which the strings are made conduces to the production of very high upper partial tones which give brilliancy of sound, while the low elasticity of the gut causes these high constituents to be quickly damped, thus softening the ultimate quality of the note. ”

“ It serves the purpose of sustaining the greater share of the pressure of the strings, not so much to save the belly from yielding under that pressure, as to enable it to vibrate more freely in its several parts than it could do, if unsupported, under the stresses which would be set up in its substance by that pressure. ”

“ Undoubtedly they exercised great care in the selection of sound and handsome wood; but there is evidence that some of the finest wood they used was imported from across the Adriatic in the ordinary course of trade ”