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George Eliot on violin-making obsession and the genius of Stradivarius

George Eliot on violin-making obsession and the genius of Stradivarius

To mark the UK's National Poetry Day, 8th October, here's George Eliot's great poem about violin making and the obsession with which Stradivarius worked, and indeed the obsession with which any great maker views their 'monotonous task'. She also includes and interesting allegation about Guarneri 'del Gesù' and his 'over-drinking': Stradivarius Your soul was lifted by the wings today Hearing the master of the violin: You praised him, praised the great Sebastian too Who made th

Violin Utopia in Oberlin

Violin Utopia in Oberlin

As some of the world's finest violin makers gather in the small university town of Oberlin, Ohio, to share their knowledge at the annual Violin Society of America workshops, here is an article I wrote about my June 2012 visit, originally published in the November 2012 issue of The Strad If I were called on to construct a society, I think I might model it on the Violin Society of America’s (VSA) summer workshops in Oberlin. It would be a community where the drive was towards b

Let’s show modern instruments some #love

Let’s show modern instruments some #love

The Elbow Music social media campaign puts modern instruments in the spotlight My recent article about Frank Peter Zimmermann’s dilemma in having to give back the Stradivarius he had been playing and whether he should try a modern instrument proved quite a hit here trafficwise; and last week, a picture of my friend’s viola on Facebook was very popular. It seems that there is an ever-growing interest among players in the possibilities of modern instruments, as new making gets

Brave new violin world

Brave new violin world

A new collection of specially commissioned unantiqued instruments offers hope of a new Zeitgeist around modern violins. Will top soloists catch on? This article was first published in the May issue of Classical Music magazine, and is posted with permission. How should we feel for Frank Peter Zimmermann, who has had to give up the 1711 'Lady Inchiquin' Stradivarius violin he has played since 2002? He had it on loan from a German bank which is being wound up by financial servic

Is your violin wild, juicy, lingering or tart?

Is your violin wild, juicy, lingering or tart?

Coffee experts and barristas have a whole language for describing their craft. Can it help violin makers? I visited the London Coffee Festival today – my first time at a trade show that had nothing to do with violins. I discovered that barristas are every bit as geeky and obsessed as luthiers. There were plenty of demonstrations of the different techniques and new gizmos and lots of people walking around with samples in their hands looking somewhat wild-eyed. I had no idea th

Do instruments have an objective value?

Do instruments have an objective value?

Donna Tartt's brilliant novel The Goldfinch contains insights into the antiques business that might apply to the violin business too I’ve just finished Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, a brilliantly written epic with a compellingly fallible anti-hero, Theo Decker. I won’t say much about the plot, but it concerns the eponymous 1654 painting by Fabritius, which indirectly leads our protagonist into becoming an antiques dealer. There are a couple of passages in the book that seem to

When Guarneri met Stradivari

When Guarneri met Stradivari

I'm currently reading this charming book about Guarneri 'del Gesù', written in 1974 by Leonard Wibberley. I found it on a bookshelf and didn't realise it's actually supposed to be for children (imagine a children's book about lutherie – it had to be the 70s!). So it's very readable, in a quaint sort of way, although it presents rather a dark view of the great maker. He's drawn as a violent drunk whose instruments sound good but who could never be bothered to finish them nicel

The art of ageing

The art of ageing

Whether you're a maker or a player, or just worried about getting old, you should see the Matisse cut-outs exhibition The Matisse cut-outs exhibition at London’s Tate Modern finishes this weekend, and if you haven’t already seen it, I urge you to go forthwith. You will have to pay £16 (when did art get so expensive?) and you’ll be rammed into the exhibition rooms like sheep (when did art get so popular?) but it’ll be worth it. I went this week and was overwhelmed. The inventi

The science of violin making

The science of violin making

There are many different tribes of violin makers, in my experience. Conservatives, Futurists, Archivists, Geometrists, Philosophers, Luddites, Artists, Storytellers, Archaeologists, Forensic Scientists, Cosmetologists, Chemists, Radiographers, Botanists – among others. Most makers have some specific passion that drives them and defines their style, although they may also work closely with other tribes. The best luthiers are often the mavens who flit between them all, collecti

The real secret of Stradivarius?

The real secret of Stradivarius?

I had a lovely morning yesterday talking to cellist Natalie Clein for two forthcoming articles – about her new Saint-Saëns disc, for Sinfini Music and about the beautiful 'Simpson' Guadagnini she plays, for Cozio. So the subjects ranged all over the place, but towards the end we got to talking about modern instruments. Natalie is extremely positive about the benefits of playing them, saying, 'What I love about modern instruments is that they’re like fountain pens. They allow

James Ehnes on violin obsession and existential crisis

James Ehnes on violin obsession and existential crisis

My latest interview for Cozio, with violinist James Ehnes, has just gone live, so please go and visit. He had so much to say about his experience playing some of the finest violins ever made that I couldn’t fit all of it into the interview there, so I saved some of the more philosophical questions for here. I’ve previously made the point that I don’t think everyone deserves to play a Strad and that in my experience there are many people playing them who definitely don't. How

An innovative solution to peg turning

I just came across this delightful footage on the British Pathé YouTube channel. It shows a class of 'budding Kreislers' from 1940 learning on a special instrument designed by John Brown, with mandolin like tuning pegs to make it easier for them to tune: rather like the systems that have recently come on to the market. The bows too are designed to make it easier for children to learn the correct position. 'They are becoming masters at what is known as technique,' says the ann

Charles Beare – violin expertise ‘not the real thing’

Charles Beare – violin expertise ‘not the real thing’

At first I thought this New Yorker article about the Carpenter family by Rebecca Mead was going to be a puff piece, but it turns out to be a pretty thorough exposition of the high-end stringed instrument market, quoting many of the big names in that world. The article alludes to some of the underlying issues in the business, without necessarily focusing on them. You get a sense of the fierce ambition and sales skills required to try to sell instruments at this level – usualll

Stradivarius violin blind tests – do they matter?

Stradivarius violin blind tests – do they matter?

A really interesting article about wine in the New Yorker suggests striking parallels between how we choose wine and our attitudes to instruments, demonstrating the subjectivity and inconsistency with which we demonstrate preferences. The author, Maria Konnikova, recounts taking part in Daniel Salzman's experiment. Salzman offers participants two different wines. One he says is more expensive than the other, and he explains its artisanal production techniques. The author admi

Arnold Steinhardt: ‘Don’t put your parents in hock to buy a violin’

Arnold Steinhardt: ‘Don’t put your parents in hock to buy a violin’

A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Arnold Steinhardt, leader of the Guarneri Quartet for 40 years, for the Cozio website. Steinhardt is articulate and warm, and he doesn't need an interviewer asking questions to draw him out – indeed, his Key of Strawberry, is one of my favourite blogs and his endearing wisdom should be read by all students and lovers of music. The Cozio article is about the instruments he's owned over the years and Steinhardt is forthcoming about how he fel

A Storioni violin that still thinks it’s a viola

A Storioni violin that still thinks it’s a viola

Here are some photos I took when I went to interview Arnold Steinhardt for Cozio.com. They're pretty terrible pictures taken with my phone, but you can see the viola scroll he describes swapping with Jacques Francais, and the 'rough-hewn beauty' of the back. Find out more in the interview here. #storioni #steinhardt #violin #viola #lutherie #blog #view

Leading pedagogue blasts luthiers

I discovered this tirade in a seminal string pedagogical work: 'It is most regrettable that our present-day instrument-makers take so little trouble with the finish of their work. (Most instrument-makers, it is true, work nowadays merely for their bread, and in one respect cannot be blamed. People demand good work and pay little for it.) And what is more, each works away according to his own notions and his fancy, without justification for either one or the other... They all