| Show THE OF tae VIOLIN t A london critic creti thus 9 glances lances 1 a at it this this i subject a cropo to a new work bearing hearing the above title I 1 of all musical instruments the violin is the only one that has not undergone continued and progressive improvement even the more ancient instruments such aa as the he harp the flute and the organ have been subject to constant alterations and down to the present time the early types of these instruments st having haying havin havid about the same relations to their present successors as the aboriginal hut but to th the e modern villa the violin however itao hag remained in almost the same state for nearly three centuries and arid appears little likely to be subject to the chances which have atle affected eted au all other instruments its symmetrical form and perfect adaptation to its purpose pose seeming to defy all innovations whether of capricious taste or inventive skill certainly the art of violin making has rather than advanced since the days of the great makers the Ama amati apil apul the Guar nenus family fauk ily lly who produced those masterpieces maser pieces which remain still the despair of modern instrument makers that age has bag some influence in perfecting the tone cf violins and an J other instruments of that family there can be no doubt but that much more ia is due to the superior skill of the great makers of old is also unquestionable else why the vast superiority of the instruments made by these exceptional artists over the works of oti contemporary makers care in the selection of the feilest fili eist elst wood accurate on and well rounded symmetry in the shape and a I 1 perfect balance in the thickness thic knes of the corresponding portions of the instrument all these with other points of extreme nicety which escaped less skillful mechanisms mechanists have contributed to make up that thai perfection of tone and beauty of appearance which render the best italian instruments of the seventeenth and early part of the eighteenth centuries unapproachable proa chable chabie by modern imitators finita linita tors torb the clos est copies of there models and the attempt to anticipate the eddeas effe ts of age by bakin baking the wood and constant coni tant action 0 of the bow on the strings by mechanical agency have not succeeded in equa equalling llin the cremona Cr enona violin Ini in nany many respects the violin is the most important of all instruments although not BO so independent as the organ or the pianoforte nor so capable in itself of rendering a transcript of any adv music of combination on the other hand hind it is the only instrument that like ilke 1 ike ke tie tig tib fie human voice possesses piss esses the power of intonation moreover the direct agency of the fingers on the strings without the intervention of mechanical appliances appi ances added to the sustained sound produced by the action odthe of the bow give to the violin a susceptibility to the feeling arld and passion of the player that no other instrument possesses then again the he violin and its relatives the viola the violoncello and the contrabasso contra basso basio form the groundwork of the thle orchestra the centre of the musical picture to which the wind instruments contribute little more than the lights li ats and shades and accessories cess ories the colloquial terms fiddle fi and eidd fedd fidd fiddler lery leri seem teem to have been in very early use being met with in the old poets even eyen before chaucer and aa as the I 1 fidd fiddle lei was waa formerly the chief instrument of itinerant performer performers bat sat at merry mak ings and fild lers 2 were frequently included among the humble bumble retainers of the great and wealthy the term was very frequently used as a reproach implying low habits ani an i servitude thus in the taming of the shrew Il hortensio ortensio Js in mule ide to complain of b bing ing called rascal fiddler and jack with twenty such vile terms ay even to the present day fiddle and bidd fidalei fidd lei lel are almost ancon piously associated with something trifling and ard mall email and convey an impression rather rattier of treet street minstrelsy than of that Te and importance which properly property attach to the ibe violin and its modern cultivation to apply the term fiddler therefore as is still sometimes done to a skillful and intelligent performer en on the violin is a solecism in inn taste and man lers ners the origin of the violin like all remote or origins aads gins i d difficult to trace with any certainty its earliest ail I 1 e t type is doubt doubtless I 1 ess to be found in in im Bail ments of the lyre or lute species epe cles cies the s rings springs of which were pinched by the fingers or struck by the plectrum the date of the I 1 I 1 introduction of the bow which gives gi ves its speciality to the violin is variously stated in the tenth and i eleventh centuries and proba p roba 1 bly even ja earlier rifer a rude kind of bow was used w with the oll oli rote or creth crowth these in a t a being among the p precursors of th thal thai violin the book before us gives various thrones ories orles and aties on this suba ct and aid the authors are disposed to attribute the introduce intro duc flon fion of the bow bawo jo this his bis von vou the ancient approach to the modern violin and bw bow ls Is to be found in a figure painted on the root ro t of bf the petersborough Peters boroug borough cathedral conold er ed to be of the date of about 1191 judging by bt the r representation of this aich which ia is agven g ven in the book bolh instrument and bow bear a very close resemblance to the present form the viol which is played on by bv a crowned figure has curved bides four strings anai anal add and two edund eo und udd holes boles BO so that there are all the essentials in a soine boine ihal more clumsy shap of the violin bolin of the present day it appears to have been ater alter the thi thirteenth century that wi the violia began to approach its perfection which however it probably did not fully rully attain much before the sixteenth ce nury during duning durin which period the great cremona makers arose aros r e arid relished all the structure tura ca of the tha so precious 1 have hate the best pres preb preserved arved specimens of abis this thib school beb leb I 1 become that three hundred guineas and bifid upwards up yards have been wn to be given tor fir i a rne fine cremona the original intrinsic value of or 1 materials serials being scarcely as many pence but as with many other works of art for these old makers were artists rather than me chani chanice cs the cheapest materials may be into the costliest cost liest productions A fine italian violin with I 1 a s beautiful outline graceful til proportions and brilliant varnish has a fascination for amat amateurs eura enra scarcely surpassed by any other art passion ras lab blon slon to his this class and to all who take an interest in the subject the volu ne before us t affer much valuable anfor mation the historical and antiquarian per tion has been carefully and laboriously compiled while white with some occasional irrelevancies the practical portion odthe of the subject is well treated there are many illustrations representing depre enting ancient instruments and full de tails of the principal makers of bariou periods and countries and the volume is calculated i to be a useful addition to the musical library |
