The orchestra and its instrumentsSingleton, Esther
History
The orchestra and its instruments
Singleton, Esther
Instrumentation and orchestration -- History; Musical instruments; Orchestra
There were five of the Guarneri who were distinguished violin-makers. The
first was Andreas, who worked with Stradivari in the workshop of Nicolò
Amati. He afterwards developed an original style. The important member
was Joseph del Gesù, so called from the “I. H. S.” he added to his name
on the labels of his violins. Just why he did this nobody seems to know.
As he was the son of Gian Battista, he may have humorously wanted to
say he was greater than his father. Joseph, or Giuseppe, Guarneri was
born in 1687 and died in 1745. His latest productions, from 1740 till
his death, are his best. Whether he was a pupil of Stradivari, or not,
matters little. His real master was old Gasparo di Salò; for he revived
the bold, rugged outline and the powerful tone of the early Brescian
maker, as you will see if you compare the violins facing pages 22 and 38.
Joseph del Gesù was searching after _tone_; and he got it. He seems to
have led a wild life; and there is a story that once he got into trouble
and was locked up in prison and that the jailer’s daughter brought him
wood and tools so that he could make violins. These violins are called
“Prison Josephs”; and, judging from the number of them in the world,
Joseph del Gesù must have stayed a long time in prison and have been very
industrious while there.
Paganini had a Joseph del Gesù and preferred it to his Stradivari. He
always played upon it; and when he died, he left it to the Town Hall in
Genoa, where it is still to be seen. It is represented facing page 38.
One more and we shall have finished with the Cremonese makers. This is
Carlo Bergonzi, Stradivari’s favorite pupil. Carlo lived next door to
Stradivari; and when the latter died, he moved into Stradivari’s house
and lived with the latter’s son. First Bergonzi copied the Stradivari
model and then he tried for power; so he endeavored to combine the model
of Stradivari and that of Joseph Guarneri. The model that he produced is
bold, broad and massive and gives a strong, rich, full tone. Bergonzi
worked twenty-five years; but only about sixty authentic instruments of
his are known. Bergonzi was born in 1712 and died in 1750.
We must not imagine that these makers of whom we have been talking were
the _only_ ones at work in Lombardy during these two hundred years. If we
take the pains to look at any books on violin-making we will be amazed at
the long, long list of Italian makers of lutes and violins. There were
about as many of them as there are makers of pianos in the United States
to-day.
There were also many German instrument-makers at work, particularly in
the Tyrol, where the pines were so plentiful; but the only one of any
great reputation is Jacob Stainer, who was born in the little town of
Absam near Innsbrück in 1621. He may have gone to Cremona, which was not
far away from his home, and have worked there, or he may have just had
some models. At any rate, his violins are more like those of Cremona than
are those of any other German maker.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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