Chapter I: Introduction

For many years those who advocate the principle that Tone is the only thing that matters in a violin have been few in number, but earnest in purpose, and it would appear their efforts have not been barren of result when we find it admitted, where one would least expect it, that the day of the toneless old fiddle has passed for ever.

But this is not enough. Players of the violin, and especially those who seek refinement of tone in the instrument, still remain under the thrall of systems, methods, influences and errors which must also pass away before the road to tone is freely open.

An understanding of the relationship between tone and the instrument, and between the instrument and the various toneless interests by which it is surrounded, is vitally important to the player or the buyer of a violin--unless the instrument is being acquired as a curiosity, in which case tone need not, of course, concern the purchaser to any marked extent. But to the player these relationships matter very much indeed, and the understanding of them is rendered difficult owing to the invisible nature of tone, there being no material evidence to indicate its presence in one violin or its absence from another, a fact of which full advantage is taken in certain quarters. In the classifying of violins according to present methods, tone finds no place, having neither status nor any standard by which it may be judged; well may the player be uncertain whether he is acquiring a musical instrument or merely an antique. The very reason why the violin possesses a tone has not yet been satisfactorily explained, present opinion on the subject being near to chaos, some holding that it is due to the wood, others that it lies in some secret of construction, a few that it results from varnish, and many that it is created by age--but none, so far as I am aware, thinking it is due to an Ideal; material and construction being merely the means through which it finds expression. There is enough here to explain the uncertainty which surrounds the subject of tone and its connection with the violin, a connection which I shall attempt to explain in these pages by dealing with the instrument and its makers, whether ancient or modern, and with its history, manufacture, sale and use, solely from the point of view of Tone.

With tone at the mercy of caprice, and the violin in no better case, it is not unlikely that the general uncertainty extends to its makers--especially to the old instruments and their builders--notwithstanding the number of books which catalogue their names and indicate the nature of their work. Some few of these books are fairly exhaustive, authoritative and reliable, but the point of view from which the violin is approached is that of the connoisseur and collector rather than that of the player, whilst the rest are mainly unreliable and partial copies of the first.

In order to provide a sufficient account of those makers who, for one reason or another, are worthy of attention or likely to be the subject of inquiry from players, the second section of the volume, containing reliable and valuable information--much of which is now published for the first time--has been placed in the hands of Mr. Towry Piper, whose aid I have been fortunate enough to secure, and who needs no introduction to fiddle lovers. To those new to matters connected with the violin, it is sufficient to say that Mr. Piper is widely known as a writer and expert, one of the editors of Hart’s classical work on the violin, a recognised judge of fiddles and tone, and a capable player of the instrument.

H. M.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

ANOMALOUS POSITION OF THE VIOLIN

PAGES

Its dual status--More of a curiosity than a musical instrument--How the curio interest originated--Its pernicious influence--Tarisio and the formation of the Fiddle Cult--Exploitation of violins of small tone value--Consequences to the player 1-6

CHAPTER II

A TONELESS METHOD OF VALUATION

How the old violin is judged--Valued without reference to tone--Bought and sold by the same method--Examples--Why the method should be abolished or modified--A guarantee for tone-value needed--Small tone-value of many old violins--The violin’s proper position as a “work of art”--A toneless pariah 7-13

CHAPTER III

TYPES OF STANDARD VIOLIN TONE

Amatisé, Bergonzian, Brescian, “Cremonese,” Guarnerian, “Italian,” Stradivarian--Other ancient makers and standard tone 14-18

CHAPTER IV

THE OLD MASTERS AS VIOLIN MAKERS

Violins frequently made by workmen and “pupils”--Finished and tone-developed by the master--Two entirely distinct arts--Tone the result of ideal--Effect of model on tone--Methods of tone development still in use--Only possible means of creating a tone to an ideal--Reasons--Why the great masters attracted pupils--Tone _versus_ cabinet making--Why pupils succeeded and failed--Most striking tone-feature of the old masters--Construction no guarantee for tone 19-26

CHAPTER V

THE DECLINE OF TONE

Position of violin makers after 1750--Difficulty of sustaining supreme ideals--Overshadowing influence of the great violins--The demand for low-priced fiddles--A few tone-builders always living--The art abandoned by all save the few--Attempts at a revival of the “lost” art--Mechanical efforts of Savart--Scientific experimenters--Scientific side of tone unknown to the old masters--Results following “attuning” process of Savart--Copyists, old wood theorists, and varnishers 27-34

CHAPTER VI

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A NEW VIOLIN AND TONE

No mystery about construction--Tonal results of mere construction--The tone of a new fiddle likened to raw material--Its refinement and the result--What a satisfactory relationship between violin and tone depends upon--Tonal position of the modern violin--Influences that have worked to its detriment--Its survival--Its test of merit--Idolaters of the fiddle and tone seekers 35-42

CHAPTER VII

OLD TONE AND NEW--A CONTEST

The Paris competition of 1912 reported by the _Daily Mail_ correspondent--The more extended report of Mr. D. I. Cardozo and its particular interest--Six old violins compete with six new violins--How the competition was arranged--The violins and their makers--The result of the contest--The winner’s advice to violin makers--Obvious criticisms on the contest--The result decisive--Great strides in tone since the contest--The importance of these comparisons to the violinist--Comparison between the ancient and modern violin maker 43-50

CHAPTER VIII

A DOUBLE-BARRELLED THEORY

A consideration of some of the pitfalls besetting the tone-seeker--The accommodating qualities of age--The permanency of tone--Why the age theory is advanced--Sowing the seeds of suspicion--The result 51-52

CHAPTER IX

THE EXPERT DEALER

Two kinds of dealers--The “expert” dealer’s first consideration--His stock-in-trade--Why he does not exploit new violins--His one serious trouble--His view of tone--What he considers violins are _not_ purchased for--Why he prospers--The type of dealer that is opposed to him--The _genuine_ dealer and expert--The reliability of famous houses--Hazards confronting the buyer and how they may be avoided 53-57

CHAPTER X

IMITATION OLD MASTERS

Ancient copyists--Genuineness of their work--Forgery thrust upon them--The substitution of labels--All the great makers copied--Difficulties of detection--Genuine labels of the masters in the copies--Tone of the copies--Another class of copyist--Those who imitated age--Their object in so doing--Process of ageing destructive of tone--Honesty of these “fakes”--Another class: the factory imitation--Deceive only the ignorant--Another class: those intended to deceive--Their victims--Their danger to the player--A quotation from a letter and its lesson 58-61

CHAPTER XI

LITERATURE OF THE VIOLIN

The authoritative histories of the old makers--Their chief value--Their status as guides to tone--The impressions they convey--The limitations of the authors--Their attitude towards the modern builder--The modern builder’s “revenge”--The one idea which the player absorbs from these histories--The good faith of the authors--Their honesty of purpose--Their renown as connoisseurs and judges--The wide-spread influence of their work and its effect--Books on violin making--What they do and do not teach--A classical work--Instructions on how to play the violin--Their service--Their neglect of tone--The periodical literature of the fiddle--Its interest and value--Wherein it fails--A warning--The “Lives” of famous old makers--Their value 62-67

CHAPTER XII

WANTED: A TONE GUARANTEE

The business of the dealer--What he guarantees--His attitude towards tone--The dealer’s guarantee of no tone value to the player--The fiddle warranted but not its tone--Why the dealer should give a tone guarantee--How it could be done--Mere statements regarding tone not enough--An independent judge needed--The present situation reviewed--The perfect violin model--The modern maker’s relation thereto--How the critics view his work--The player without a guide to tone--His procedure under the circumstances--No standard of tone recognised by experts--The resulting difficulties--Capable judges of tone--The unsatisfactory judge 68-76

CHAPTER XIII

HOW TO TEST A VIOLIN’S TONE

An infallible method--The violin weighed in an impartial and accurate balance 77-79

CHAPTER XIV

EFFECT OF AGE ON TONE

Most theories held as mere beliefs--Mellowness of tone and age--Reasons why age is not responsible for mellowness--How mellow tone is created--The real effect of age on the instrument and its tone--Its effect purely mechanical--An appeal to violin lovers 80-85

CHAPTER XV

VARNISH AND TONE

A controversial subject--Effect of varnish on tone--Why it is misunderstood--Why experiments fail--The governing factor--The effect of a fine oil varnish--How the effect of the best varnish may be nullified 86-89

CHAPTER XVI

TONE AND THE VIOLIN PLAYER

Relationship between player and violin--The inexpert, beginner, amateur, artist, and tone--The player’s relation to tone: an illustration--The gulf between player and fiddle--Artist and player--Why players fail or succeed in tone 90-94

CHAPTER XVII

THE IDEAL TONE

The ideal tone--How a famous violinist secured his ideal--Difficulties of tone selection--What the average player seeks--Statement by a pupil of Joachim 95-97

CHAPTER XVIII

HOW TO ACQUIRE AN IDEAL TONE

The appeal of technic and the appeal of tone--Importance of tone--The development of tone-sense--Subjects for tone-study--What the student should avoid--The tone of technic--Tone of technic and ideals combined--Progress of the student explained--Advice to the beginner 98-102

CHAPTER XIX

TWO STYLES OF TONE PRODUCTION

The artist of the bow and the artist of the brush: a comparison--The delicate style of playing--Its dangers--The robust style--How the player is handicapped--The difficulties of judgment--Importance of the robust style 103-105

CHAPTER XX

MODERN VIOLIN MAKERS

Attractions of violin making--Makers who have discovered the “secret” of Stradivari--Violin makers and tone--Modern view of art and artists--Fiddle-makers and advertising--Worth of testimonials 106-110