Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1886-07-24
FAMOUS VIoLINs.
Cremona, and the Instruments which
Have Made IL Celebrated.

Inc not sun ana Splenulu river, sup
plying the fine wood market, and the
commercial prosperity enjoyed by Gre
mona, seems to have attracted and fixed
there the manufacture of the best vio-
Inns in the world. On the facade TO the
right of the church of st. Dominic stood
the house of the Amati. There worked
Andrew, the founder of tho school, max
ing in 1850 close copies of the Brescians,
Casper and Maggini. Here was born
the great Nicholas Amati (1596-16S4).
On the same workbench, as n student
in the school of the immortal Nicholas,
sat Andrew Guarnerius and the incom-
parable Stradiverius, finishing their
masters violins and copying for years
his various models with supreme skill
and docility.
Almost next door, probably on the
death of Nicholas Amati. Stradivarius
set up his shop. opposite the west front
of the big church; there for fifty years
more he worked with uninterrupted as
siduity; and next door to him the fani-
" of the Guarnerii had their workrooms,
and in that little square were all the
finest violins made in the short space of
about $50 years. The body of Stradi-
varius lies in the Church of the Rosary,
not a stones throw from his own house;
and so these great men died, and were
buried, working in friendly rivalry. and
leaving their echoes to roll from pole to
pole.
The Incompatible Antonius Stradi-
varius, or Stradivari, lived between
1644-1737. His latest known violin
bears date 1876, and mentions his age,
90. He worked without haste and with
out rest. His life was interrupted only
by the siege of Cremona in 1902. But
his art knew no politics, and the courts
Of Spain and France were quite as eager
to get his violins rs the governor of
Cremona or the duke of Modena.
Up to about 1868 he simply was an
apprentice of Nicolas. We find scrolls
and sound holes cut by the pupil on the
masters violins. He even made and
labeled for Nicolas.
1868 he leaves his masters shop and
sets up for himself But for thirtysyears
this consummate student, while making
every conceivable experiment with
flutes, guitars. and violins, practically
copied closely the best models of Nico-
las Amati.
The varnish, when not, rs is usual,
rubbed off. inclines TO light orange with
clear golden tinIs. The tone is SO sweet
and sensitive that it seems to leap forth
before the bow has touched the strings,
and goes on like bell long after the
bow has left them. To a fine Joseph
Guarnerius you have sometimes to lay
siege, and then you are rewarded, but
the Nicolas Amati is won almost before
1t is wooed.
Although Stradivarius worked down
to the last year of his life, still, after
1880, feeling hand and sight beginning
to fail. he seldom signed his work. We
catch one, and only one, glimpse of him
as he lived and moved and had his be-
ing at Cremona in 1880. Piazza Domen-
leo. Old P0lledro, late chapel-master
at Turin, describes "Ansonius. the lutte
makeT," as an intimate friend of his
master. He was high and thin. and
looked like one worn with much thought
and incessant industry. In summer he
wore q white cotton night-cap. and in
winter one of some wooden material.
He was never seen without his apron Of
white leather. and every day was to him
exactly Ike every other day. His mind
was always riveted upon his own pur-
suit. and be seemed neither to know or
to desire the least change Of occupation.
His violins sold for four golden iivres
apiece, and were considered the best in
Italy; and as he had never spent any
thing except the neecssaries d life and
his own trade. he saved good deal oE
money, and the simple-minded Cremo~
nese used % make Jokes about hts thrift
iness. and fhe prDrerb passed. 'sAs rich
ns stradirarius
4 traveller Who lately visited hia