Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in good condition. Some tanning wear and marking due to age. Year 1961. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> WILLIAM HENLEY in compiling the History of Antonio Stradi-vari spent many years of his life examining various instruments throughout the world including many Strads measuring playing and testing for tonal performance. His comments on certain instru-ments for obvious reasons we do not reproduce in the text; suffice it to say however that in many cases he condemns some of them tonally for the following reasons: Those violins were too thin in plates due to amateur or professional repairers of the past who had unfortunately over-thinned the plates or effected unskilled repairs by introducing new wood and patches in many cases unnecessarily so: fatal cracks in the vibration area the repairs of which have ruined the tone (happily many of these instruments have been skilfully restored and adjusted) excessive playing and careless handling of the instrument and finally the experimenting of the Master in his early period. It is well to remember therefore that whilst Strads are valuable as instruments they cannot all possess the marvellous tone and per-formance one expects from such masterpieces. We must of course face the fact that today the peak performance of Stradivari’s instru-ments in many cases are slowly but surely passing away. Henley makes the point ‘How long can one expect a violin to last?” His considered opinion with normal and careful usage the effective life of a violin was about 250 years. The Editor has many times discussed with famous musicians the merits and demerits of their instruments and in most cases players have stated that they have to use their Strads carefully and from time to time when they become ‘tired” give them a rest and this of course applies to all Master instruments of this period. It cannot be denied however that there is a great psychological effect on a player when using a Strad which seems to produce the very best from within. I cannot do better to illustrate the point than to quote an anecdote from my own experience One day many years ago a well-known musician walked into my atelier and boastfully announced ‘I wish to buy the best violin you hase in stock. Knowing full weil the financial standing of my client I produced about half-a-dozen violins around the ?100 figure. He scraped away at them in the music room testing and re-testing cach one for several hours finally I cutered the room and enquired. (SP)