The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1883-05-03
YioIins.

FlrGuOSO, mas been spending his between
seasons here at his home When the
San correspondent dropped in he was
contemplating his instrument with a
dissatisfied air. The amber varnish on
the violoncello shone with its wonted
mellow luster, its long neck was firmly
erect, its carved head thrown back in
true Stradivarius pose, and the strings,
as they were fretted by the virtuoso s
fingers, emitted sonorous notes.
What is the matter?" was asked.
81 can't tell exactly" was the reply.
1T is tired and needs rest. II l Law it
aside for week or so, it will regain its
perfection of tone, without anything
else beng done to it. It's hard thing
to explain, and it is a fact familiar to
every artist. If you use an instrument
too much it loses its tone not enough;
perhaps, for the average auditor to per-
ceive, but the artist knows it,
May be the trouble is then with the
artist hdnself-losing the precision of
his touch from over-practice." said the
caller.
"That is the explanation which most
naturally occurs to one. but it is not
good. The trouble is with the instru-
ment. Every artist meets with it. and
has to keep more than one in use.
Wilhelmj has TO lay his Stradivarius vio4
lin aside occasionally. and use his
Gemunder until the Stradivarius is rest
ed. Every man who uses razor
knows that it gets tired from too much
use, and regains its temper from being
laid aside Tor a while, and it is the same
with al
puzzle anyhow. A crack in the belly
of violin or cello you might think
woult be fatal to tone from its intercept
ton of sound vibrations, but sometimes
cracks seem to cause an improve
ment. Instruments that are we'll treat
ed improve by age. 1t may be that
the rich tones of fine Stradivarius or
Guarnerius are due largely to their age,
and the exquisite mellow quality which
we find in them is the acquisition
of years. Guillaume, who was, in
his time. a celebrated Paris maker,
Is now in disrepute because the fine
tone he impaired to his instruments
was not lasting. He had some process
for medicating the wood of his instru-
ments that gave them strength and
Eo9SASoo W bAIC8 IuSIGIu vi
improving them, impaired their quality.
Then, again, the tune of instruments
seems to result from happy chance ad-
Justments OF their parts which cannot
be repeated with any certainty. The
masterpieces of the Cremona school
now in existence may be strokes of good
fortune that the old makers themselves
could not always certainly effect You
see that the bridge of my cello here is
not q particularly fine-looking bit of
wood. Some time ago when I hap
pened to drop into an instrument
makers shop, he said: Il have got a
splendid piece of maple one hundred
and fifty years old, just the thing to
make you a new BRIDGE Well, he
made the bridge and It looked right,
and seemed totit right, but when l trietl
it the strings didn't sound right. |
worked with it some time, but finally
had to give it up. Then the bow has =
great deal to do with the tune. Its
wood must be strong, and at the same
time slender and light; it must be firm
without being ri0id, and must have pei.
feet evenness OF texture, so as to give
the same quality Of percussion from
whatever point it may be applied to the
strings. There are celebrated makers
of bows as well as of instruments. The
Lupot bow is famous. The maker is a
Frenchman who flourished in the first
quarter of this century. He got hold of
fine lot of Pernambuco wood, and all
his bows were made of selected pieces.
A good Lupot bow is worth one hundred
dollars. An ordinary bow, which would
look as if it were Just as good, can be
bought for five dollars.
sit is hard thing to get hold of o fine
old instrument, " the virtuosa went on,
the cello strings now sounding in mel
ancholy chords under his straying
fingers. Il believe | told you that VIII
helmi plays a Stradiyarius. Remenyi
has quite a collection, but generally
plays an Amati. Ole Bull had largo
violin by one of the earliest makers Of
the Cremona school, Gaspard de Salo.
Some fine instruments are in the hands
of amateurs. r Assistant Secretary-of-
State Hunter has violoneello of Stradi-
varius tone, if not of that make. Ex-
Mayor Havemeyer. of New York, al
though not himself cello player, | be-
ieve, paid about $4,000 for q Guar
nerluS. 1t is the rich amateur who runs
up the price of such instruments until
they are out of reach of the poor artist.
There is manufacturer of garden tools
in Hartford who has a splendid collec-
ton of violins, and yet, so far as his own
playing is concerned, an ordinary fiddle
would do him just as well as q Stradi-
varius. In his collection is the famous
King Joseph Guarnrius violin. 1t is
wonderful instrument. I.can't describe
to you the power, softness, and sweet
ness of its tones. They are exquisite.
/ suppose he could get "a, 600 or $5, 900
for that violin at any time. It is
almost impossible to appreciate the
value of such an Instrument He has q
collection Of fifteen bows that would
bring from $1,000 to $4,000. No in
struments could be better cared for
than those of his collection; but,
strange as it may seem, there are per-
sons with mania for ollecting instru-
ments who don't know how to take care
of them when they get them. l knew
a Baltimore collector who had violins
all over his house. often in places where
they were liable to be broken at any
time. | was upstairs in his house
once, and was going to sit down on a