Huntsville gazette., 1889-03-30
A FAMOUS VIOLIN.
n Was Made by Gemunder and Was Onc<
owned by Wilhelmj.

owned by Wilhelmj.
Quite a stir was created recently
among violin connoisseurs by the dis
covery of an old Gemunder violin. the
whereabouts of which had been un-
known or lost sight of for many years.
The instrument was discovered among
the effects of professional musician
of this city who died several years ago.
and whose widow has since carefully
guarded heviolin as her most precious
possession. Need of money. however,
at last forced her to part with it, and
it is now the property of Mr.. Charles
II. Lehman, Jr., of this city.
This violin is undoubtedly one OF
the finest creations of that great mas
ter, George Gemunder, and dates from
the year 1859, when he was at the
height of his powers. 1t follows, in
structure, the style Of Stradivarius
So close, indeed, is its resemblance to
the genuine Stradivarius that when.
in the course of his travels through
the United States, Ole Bull saw this
same violin at Columbus, O., he un-
hesitatingly pronounced it to be the
genuine Stradivarius
The violin has quite an interesting
history. Beams from the old Dutch
Church on Lower Broadway furnished
the wood of which it was fashioned.
In passing it might be remarked that
this church was the first to be erected
by the Dutch on Manhattan Island; the
wood of the violin is, therefore, nearly
two hundred years old.
Immediately on its completion in
1859 it was exhibited in Baltimore.
and many may yet remember the
great sensation it created there in
musical circles. Shortly after this
the violin was presented by Mr..
Gemunder to Mr. Eckhardt a we'll
known musician and conductor of Co
lumbus. Ohio 1t was while in the
possession of Mr.. Eckhardt that Ole
Bull saw it. He liked it so well that
he used it at several of his concerts.
The violin remained in the possess
sion of Eckhardt until 1873. Then
Wilhelmj, fascinated by it's wonderful
beauty OF tone, prevailed up on the
Columbus impresario to exchange the
same for one of his (Wilhelmj's) in
struments. During the year that fol-
lowed Wilhelmj frequently used the
violin at his concerts, both in New
York and elsewhere in the United
States. Later, Wilhemj sold the vio-
lin to another amateur at big price.
At this point all traces of the violin
were lost until recently when by acci-
dent, it fell into Mr.. Lellmann's hands.
Since its purchase Mr.. Lehman has
taken the violin to Mr.. Gemunder,
who is still living, though at an
advanced age, at Astoria. Tears of
JOY filled the old masters eyes when
he saw his masterwork again, for he
Immediately recognized it. He at
once offered Mr.. Lehman 5000. or two
of his later violins. for the eldest child
of his art, but both offers were refused.
Mr.. Gemunder said the violin was
the finest he had ever made, with the
exception of his well-known "Kaiser
violine." which attracted much marked
attention at the Vienna Exposition in
1873. AS has been said, the violin
initiates the finest models of Stradi-
varius. The simple classical outlines
blend harmoniously with the graceful
yet manly curves of the back and belly.
The scroll, which is executed with
great boldness and the highest finish,
testifies to the artistic eye and trained
hand of the maker. The varnish is of
deep orange color, and in brilliancy,
transparency and its velvet-like tex
ture rivals the masterpieces of Stradi-
varius. The tone is full, sweet and
noble, with an evenness of quality
from the highest to the lowest regis
ter which is as rare as it is satisfying
to the earn. Y. Sun.