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.

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!