Stradivarius Violin Sound
Looking for Stradivarius violin? Why? Certainly, there are a few reasons for doing so, and the most important is magnificent sound.
There are lots of different opinions about it. Some say that the art of creating fine
sounding violins was lost soon after Antonius Stradivarius (Antonio Stradivari) died, while others are convinced that it is still possible to make fine sounding instruments.
As we both (Birute and Czes) are violin makers, highly concerned about ideal violin sound, we are trying to re-create sound copies of giant Cremonese masterpieces.
Problems
It is very well known, that Stradivarius experimented almost all his life. It is obvious, that he positively looked for an ideal violin sound. Even if a violin maker changes nothing (violin shape, archings, varnishes, pegs etc), he or she never has a possibility to use identical wood. By the way, even timber from the same trunk most probably has different acoustical characteristics. There are lots of reasons for that – orientation, distance from a ground, aging time …
Again, Stradivarius created violins nowadays are thoroughly modified. So, essential question arises:
What is Stradivarius violin sound ?
Custom Stradivarius violin ! ? !
So, as we and lots of our colleagues understand, the tricky thing is to repeat the Stradivarius violin sound. But probably that isn’t possible, as the secret was lost hundreds years ago? But wait a minute.
“… as Jascha Heifetz proved in many experiments, nobody, not even the critics, could tell whether he was playing his Guarnerius or a modern copy; then, if he announced which violin he was playing, the critics would hear what they expected to hear. So, when he would announce he was playing a copy and go ahead and play the Guarnerius, the critics would complain it didn’t sound good. Or he would announce the Guarnerius and play the copy and the critics would rhapsodize over the tone. But the point is, Heifetz could tell. Sure, a Stradivarius or a Guarnerius sounds good, but mainly it is much easier to play, especially if you’re Heifetz…”
This quote, cited by Onno van Rijen from Holland make it clear what the Stradivarius violin sound phenomenon really means.
Jascha Heifetz isn’t alone. Christian Tetzlaff, who owns a 1.5 million Stradivarius violin, explains in a 10 February 2005 ‘Telegraph’ article “Debunking the Stradivarius myth”:
“… It’s not my sole purpose to destroy the violin market. Actually, what I would like would be for those people who, instead of buying a house, buy a mediocre Italian fiddle, to search around and make contact with a violin-maker. You’d be surprised what the results can be. And then you can have a house and a violin.”
Again
“It must be admitted that the Stradivarius does not suit all tastes. Paganini himself preferred to play an instrument by Stradivari’s rival, Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu. There are those who contend that, tested blind-fold, a modern violin may sound as good.”
(from a book “Five Violins, One Cello and a Genius” by Toby Faber).
Yet another explanation:
“A common question: In a blind test, could a non musician or “uneducated” listener tell the difference between a Stradivarius and some other violin? The answer is that it depends. If the other violin, whether old or modern, were an excellent one by a fine maker, the differences might not be readily apparent. But in a direct, side-by-side comparison of a great Stradivarius with a commercially produced instrument — or even with a handcrafted violin that was merely very good — the differences would be absolutely clear, even to the most inexperienced listener.
(excerpt from the article “The Sweet Sound of a Stradivarius“).
Food for thought:
But what it means:
” . . . in a direct, side-by-side comparison of a great Stradivarius with a commercially produced instrument — or even with a handcrafted violin that was merely very good — the differences would be absolutely clear . . . ”
How can a listener react when told: ‘That’s STRADIVARIUS’ [always best] and ‘that’s not Stradivarius’ [always worse].
Is it possible to expect a good result from a bad experiment ? ? ?
No doubt, it is always quite simply to distinguish fine handcrafted and factory made violin sound, but that is impossible in most cases, when voice of fine well sounding violins has been compared.
Some additional thoughts – in my article Violin Maker’s Future