The orchestra and its instruments . repu-tation is Jacob Stainer, who was born in the littletown of Absam near Innsbruck in 1621. He mayhave gone to Cremona, which was not far away fromhis home, and have worked there, or he may havejust had some models. At any rate, his violins aremore like those of Cremona than are those of anyother German maker. Stainers violins bear a rough resemblance to theAmati violins; but they are very much higher, andthe /-holes are shorter and are very thick and made twelve violins for the Electors of hiscountry; and these Elector Stainers, as they are
The orchestra and its instruments . repu-tation is Jacob Stainer, who was born in the littletown of Absam near Innsbruck in 1621. He mayhave gone to Cremona, which was not far away fromhis home, and have worked there, or he may havejust had some models. At any rate, his violins aremore like those of Cremona than are those of anyother German maker. Stainers violins bear a rough resemblance to theAmati violins; but they are very much higher, andthe /-holes are shorter and are very thick and made twelve violins for the Electors of hiscountry; and these Elector Stainers, as they arecalled, are his most famous productions. He died in 1683. It is said that this old maker used to walk throughthe wooded slopes of the Tyrolean mountains witha hammer in his hand and that he would knock thetrunks of the trees and listen to the vibrations. Whenhe found a tree that suited him, he had it cut downto use in making his instruments. The question of wood was of the greatest impor-tance. The wood must be cut only in December. Q< H C/5 PSPJ ww KH THE VIOLIN 35 and January and only that part must be used whichhas been exposed to the sun. You may cut up planksbefore you find a piece suitable for a really fineback, or belly. Witness the grain of a Stradivari orAmati violin; mark the almost pictorially beautifulhealth and evenness of its wavy lines, free from allknots, irregularity of growth, studded with sym-metrical and billowy veins where the rich sap onceflowed. And when the wood is cut it must be tem-pered and dried, not with artificial warmth but withthe slow and penetrating influence of a dry, warmCremona climate. For no customer, no marketcould the process be hurried. And the applicationof the varnish required corresponding care. It wasto be perfectly wedded to the rare wood — a com-panionship destined to last for ages — to outlast somany generations of men and women, was not to beenterprised or undertaken lightly. In the springwhen the air got clear and bright
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmusicalinstruments
