A Violinist, A Strad and A Mouldy Violin

The tone of a violin whose wood had been treated with a density-altering fungus was voted better than a Stradivari's in a recent conference in Germany.

Discovery News and Science Daily reported that Swiss Scientist, Francis Schwarze, and violin maker, Michael Rhonheimer, teamed up to produce the instrument.

The treated wood is said to mimic the kind of material that Stradivari had available to him which was affected by an abnormally cool 70 year period (between 1645 and 1715). The cooler weather made the trees grow more evenly, creating finer-grained, more tonally-resonant wood.

British violinist, Matthew Trusler, played two fungally-treated violins against his own Stradivarius of 1711 and two other violins (also made by Michael Rhonheimer) that were not fungally-treated at the Osnabrück conference of Forest Husbandry.
The delegates numbered 180 and there were apparently also some experts present to assess the violins.
Half of the delegates voted the tone of the fungally-treated violin to be the best, whilst the golden period Stradivari ranked second, gaining just 39 votes.

But can the tone of these violins really compare to the tone of the finest violins in the world?

There have been previous attempts at altering the wood used for making violins in an attempt to reproduce the Cremonese sound.
In the 1920s, for instance, the Viennese firm, Tim-Geigen, apparently vibrated the plates of their instruments to reproduce the microscopic 'chain-mail' appearance of old Italian, 'played in' violins. And several 19th century German and French violin makers also experimented with baking and chemically treating the wood of their violins - though many of these experiments certainly have not stood the test of time, tonally and constructually speaking.

And how much is the wood is responsible for the tone of a violin and how much is down to the carving and set-up, etc?
The two violins with the untreated wood in the latest contest seemed to be the least popular with the delegates at the conference, but the player was apparently not so certain. Quoting from his blog about the event, Trusler writes:
"when I played them I had no idea which of the modern violins were treated with the special fungus and which weren't. My favourite one apparently wasn't I'm afraid.....
And honestly, a Strad is a Strad. At least, that's what I think. "

However, it would be an exciting development if these violins could compete at all with those made by the old masters. And perhaps the new research into the wood Stradivari used, supported by important historical research of the contemporary climate may indeed turn out to be a turning point in our understanding and recreation of fine old cremonese-type violins.
Perhaps time will help us determine the lasting significance of this particular scientist/violin maker collaboration and we should definitely look forward to further testing of these violins by experts and players.

Only for the brave?

The recent concert performance by Christian Tetzlaff's of Bach's complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin BWV1001-1006 in Chicago's Orchestra Hall received critical acclaim.
The works, which usually take up a double CD, took 3 and a half hours to perform (including the interval and breaks between movements).
Tetzlaff has amazing stamina, apparently sounding as fresh at the end of the concert as he did at the beginning.

Thomas Zehetmair and Alexander Markov, have also shown similar stamina when performing Paganini's 24 Caprices in one concert. And there was Maxim Vengerov who, back in October 2002, performed a successful and popular unaccompanied violin recital in London's Barbican centre, consisting of works ranging from Bach (an arrangement of the tocatta and fugue for solo violin) to Shchedrin.

But how easy is it for an audience to listen to a complete cycle of Bach or Paganini in 'one sitting?'

Your comments below...

Oldest surviving violin in Europe?

The remains of a violin raised from the depths of the sea is apparently the oldest of its kind in Europe, according to the Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth, UK.

The instrument was on board Henry VIII'S warship, the Mary Rose, when it sank in 1545.

The violin was on display for the first time since the ship's recovery in 1982 in a private fund-raising exhibition for reporters, together with some of
the other finds from the ship.

The violin's oblong-shape construction, with indented corners, resembles an early 'vielle' or 'fiddle' which were also extremely popular in England during the 13th and 14th centuries. They were usually fitted with five strings and had a highly-curved bridge.

Only the top of the instrument and neck were recovered from the shipwreck, but it seems to have had the usual quasi guitar-shaped head with the pegs on the top. The remains of the bow was also recovered, and also seems to resemble a chunky, medieval-type bow.

chief executive of the Mary Rose Trust, Admiral John Lippet, explained on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' programme that very few wooden items from this period of history survive elsewhere - the shipwreck (and all its contents) was covered with mud very quickly, preserving many artifacts perfectly, thus creating a "day in the life of Tudor England." The ship sank with 500 crew on board in the Solent - just 2KM away from the southern coast of England.

The Trust hopes to raise £35m for the reconstruction of the missing half of the ship and for a purpose-built museum which will house the 18,000 or so items from the ship that cannot presently be displayed due to lack of space.


Timeline: Gasparo da Salò, one of the earliest makers of the modern-looking violin (b.May 20, 1540 - d.April 14, 1609)
Though viols were developed in the late 1400s, they were probably the 'Bang and Olufsen' of the day. Many people were obviously still using less 'high-tech' equipment!

Robert Burns, a Bed and a Violin Maker.....

So what do all three have in common? Well, probably nothing - until you add the words 'Bonhams Auction' to the list....
Apparently in 1874 a violin maker was inspired enough to find Robert Burns' old childhood bed, chop it up and make a violin out of it..... or so the unusual inscription on the back of an old violin would have us believe:

'SEPT.-1874 BY D.MURRAY MADE OF WOOD FROM THE COTTAGE AND BED IN WHICH ROBERT BURNS WAS BORN'

Also labelled internally: 'DANIEL MURRAY EDINBURGH 1874'

The violin itself has a 'squarish', hopf-like form, with a flat, ebony-tipped button. Underneath the inscription is a rather pretty engraving of a horse-drawn plough and a man.

Fact or Legend?

The problem is there is probably no way to prove that the wood used was once slept in by old Rabbie himself. And with no provenance alluded to in the catalogue, it will be interesting to see how much interest the violin will whip up on the day.

Who was Daniel Murray?
There are several Murrays mentioned by Meredith Morris in British Violin Makers and William Henley in his Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers including:

David Murray of Gorebridge (born 1850), 'an amateur of considerable ability, who has made several beautiful violins' (Morris) and who made 'fifty violins of Stradivarian and Guarnarian modelling.' (Henley)
James Murray of Dumfries (also born 1850), who was also a railway engine driver. (Henley)
and John Brown Murray (born 1849) of Clarebrand, 'An amateur who has made several good violins.' (Morris)

But there is no mention of a Daniel Murray. This, then, would seem to be at the heart of the mystery. For if we knew exactly who the maker was, it may be possible to investigate and authenticate the violin, the inscription and the legend....

The Violin will be up for auction on 7th December at Bonhams', George Street, Edinburgh, in their sale of 'Furniture, Works of Art, Clocks, Rugs and Carpets.'
Lot No. 769. Estimate £500-700 GBP.

You can view the violin online here

by Fiona Vilnite musicforstrings.com

London Violin Auction sales results - The Big Violin Makers.

With a combined sales total of over 3 million pounds (GBP), it would seem that London was the place to sell a violin this November.
Bonhams and Sothebys held their central London autumn musical instrument sales on the 6th and 7th.

Whilst it seems that Sothebys is often the place to find a 'star lot' when it comes to musical gems, Bonhams seemed to generate more revenue from its sales this time. But there were some great violins on offer at both houses and perhaps the rather unusual circumstance of there being two violins by the great cremonese violin maker, Nicolo Amati* - one in each auction house.

Sothebys' c.1675 example with a 354mm back and handsomely-carved scroll, also came with a handsome estimate of 50-80,000 GBP. Bonahms' specimen dated from 1651 with slightly smaller proportions (350mm back length) and had a slightly smaller estimate of 30-40,000 GBP. Both of the instruments had one piece backs, Bonhams' example having really attractive slab cut wood. According to Phillip Scott, Bonhams' Musical Instrument Department expert, their 1651 instrument may never have been offered at auction before, having been in the same European family since 1871**. The 350 year old instrument, which perhaps unsurprisingly looked well-played, seemed to have some minor scroll and table restorations and was sold with a recent colour-illustrated certificate of authenticity from the London dealer and repairer, Florian Leonhard. Sothebys' example looked to be in fine condition and ended up reaching over three times the lower end of its estimate at 153,000 GBP, the highest priced lot in Sothebys' sale. Bonhams' Amati sold for almost three times less than the example across the road at Sothebys, attaining just 55,200 GBP.

Another maker who was represented by an instrument in each house was Ferdinand Gagliano. The Gagliano family were making instruments in Naples from about the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th. Ferdinando worked up until about the end of the 18th century. The violin at Bonhams dated from 1772 with a certificate from J & A Beare (the London experts and violin dealers) and had been the property of a professional musician since the 1960s. The tiny viola at Sothebys by the same maker, measured just 369mm in back length (14 1/2 inches) and it also had a certificate from the Beare establishment. William Henley remarks, in his Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers, that these small violas were sometimes cut down and converted into large violins, but it was nice to see that this example was still very much a viola. The violin at Bonhams, with an estimate of 65,000-75,000 GBP, failed to sell, whilst Sothebys' viola fetched 30,000 GBP.

The highest priced violin sold over the two days was at Bonhams - an instrument by Josef Filius Andreae Guarneri, Cremona. This impressive c.1710 instrument came with a Tree Ring Analysis Report (by John C.Topham) linking the wood on this instrument to several other Cremonese and Venetian instruments including some made by Guarneri del Gesu, Antonio Stradivari, J.B. Guadagnini, D. Montagnana and Santo Serafin. This scientific analysis no doubt helped the instrument reach its 229,600 GBP sale price.

There were several mid-priced violins sold at Sothebys, including a violin by Jean Baptiste-Vuillaume of 1843 for 45,600 GBP, a Jacob Stainer at 48,000 GBP, two violins by Giuseppe Pedrazzini of 1920 and 1921 (which fetched 24,000 GBP and 36,000 GBP respectively) and an Antonio Zanotti violin, c.1725, which reached a surprising 42,000 GBP - despite its pre-auction estimate of 7-10,000 GBP. Not bad for a maker whose work, according to William Henley, was worth £400 in 1960. But it seems that the odd surprise happened at Bonhams too, when a violin simply catalogued as 'A Violin of the Italian School' reached 42,000 GBP. Perhaps its J.B. Guadagnini label was original...?

It is nice to see that are still some great Cremonese instruments new to the auction scene that emerge from time to time. Perhaps there are still some undiscovered masterpieces waiting to be found in the distant corners of the world by modern-day Tarisios.....


* Further information on the Amati family and violin making style, attributes, etc, can be found in George Hart's The Violin: Its Famous Makers and their Imitators

** Info. from Phillip Scott's article on Bonhams' Musical Instrument Department podcast.

All auction prices quoted include tax and buyer's premium.

Fiona Vilnite, musicforstrings.com

The Invisible Violinist.

Martin Pierre Joseph Marsick may not be on the tip of your tongue when you try to name an important violinist of past times, but this little-remembered Belgian violinist and composer forms an important link the history of violin playing.
A contemporary of the composers Jules Massanet and Camille Saint-Saens, Marsick was to teach a new generation of violinists including Jacques Thibaud, George Enescu (a teacher of Yehudi Menuhin) and Carl Flesch – whose influence on the modern school of violin playing is immense. Marsick himself was taught by the famous collaborator of Brahms – Joseph Joachim. So why has history forgotten Marsick? Was it because of the other great Belgian violinist, Eugène Ysaÿe?
With just a decade between them. Ysaÿe and Marsick were almost exact contemporaries. Both studied at the Liège Conservatory and they both began their studies with Rodolphe Massart, a disciple of Kreutzer. Each became a violinist-composer, important exponents of the 'Franco-Belgian' School of violin playing and led successful string quartets (The Quatour Marsick and the Ysaye Quartet).

Marsick's Legacy as a Teacher.

Marsick's success as a teacher is illustrated by some of the fantastic violinists he coached as a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire. One of them, Jacques Thibaut, described his systematic teaching method, using the studies of Gavinies, Rode, Fiorillo, Dont – a new study was to be prepared for every lesson, and with three lessons a week, it would seem that the teacher was keen to challenge the pupil's stamina and development. Thibaud explains:

“With him [Marsick] I believe that three essentials - absolute purity of pitch, equality of tone and sonority of tone, in connection with the bow - are the base on which everything else rests.”
(From: Violin Mastery – Talks with Master Violinists and Teachers by Frederick H Martens, New York, 1919.)

Playing Style.

Marsick's own playing was praised particularly by Vieuxtemps who witnessed Marsick's debut performance at the Concerts Populaires in Paris of Vieuxtemps' own 4th Violin Concerto. European tours were to follow and in 1885 he toured Russia. Then, in 1895-6, he toured the United States. His delivery was apparently large in style, with a sophisticated bowing technique.

Original arrangements and compositions.

According to E. Van der Straeten in 'The History of the Violin', Marsick composed 'three violin concertos and a number of effective pieces.' However, the violin concertos are not listed in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians online, and they have certainly not become part of a violinists' mainstream repertoire. He is perhaps most well known today for his transcription of Massenet's Meditation from Thais for violin and piano, and it seems that he was probably the most qualified man to do this - as a contemporary of Massenet and ex-opera orchestra player.

His Violin

Marsick apparently owned several fine violins and his 1705 Antonio Stradivarius was played later by David Oistrakh.

Marsick seems to be one of violin history's forgotten characters, whose almost invisible legacy pervades our modern times.

Dates:
Martin Pierre (Joseph) Marsick 1847-1924
Eugène (Auguste) Ysaÿe 1858-1931
Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet 1842-1912
[Charles] Camille Saint-Saens 1835-1921
Henry Vieuxtemps 1820-1881
Jaques Thibaud 1880-1953
Georges Enescu 1881-1955
Carl Flesch 1873-1944
Yehudi Menuhin 1916-1999

Some interesting remarks from around the web:

Past owners of Marsick's 1705 Stradivarius include: Baumgartner, Delgay, E. Français, Perilhou, Vatelot, Vormbaum and Wilmotte. (From: jose-sanchez-penzo.net/strad.html)

From the German Wikipedia site: 'On the grounds of a personal scandal, he went to the USA in 1900 and ended his teaching at the Paris Conservatoire.' (“Auf Grund eines privaten Skandals ging er 1900 in die USA und beendete seine Lehrtätigkeit am Conservatoire.” )

Fiona Vilnite musicforstrings.com

STRADIVARI by François-Joseph Fétis

François-Joseph Fétis' treatise, Antoine Stradivari, luthier célèbre, was first published in Paris in 1856. This fascinating document traces the history and develpment of bowed-instruments and discusses the old Italian master luthiers. It also includes an analysis of the bows of
François Tourte and a chapter on the Guarneri family.

Highly regarded by contemporary scholars and researchers because of Fetis' original research, the work has now gathered a 'second life' for modern researchers who are able to witness the author's first-hand accounts of his historically important colleages and associates - such as the violin maker and dealer Jean Baptiste Vuillaume and the scientist and acoustics experimenter Félix Savart. His other writings, including the Notice biographique sur Nicolo Paganini (published 1851, and translated into English in 1852), bear testament to the fact that he was contemporary to some of the most revered figures in musical history.

Notice of Anthony Stradivari, the Celebrated Violin Maker (translated in 1864 by John Bishop) is now available at musicforstrings.com.