Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-03-10
RHRICH'S PETS.
THE LATE vIOLINISTS TWO ANCIENT
AND VALUABLE vIoLINs.
One stradivarius, the Other an Amati
The Work of the Worlds
Greatest Masters.

The will Of Ernst Enrich was admitted
to probate by Superior Judge Van Fleet on
Saturday, and letters of administration
were issued 10 Public Administrator G. W.
Harlow. The Court also appointed NJ. L.
Hammer, H. ]. Goethe and w. 81. Deylin
as appraisers of the deceased vielinist's es-
tate. As the latter consists partly Of not
chiefly of his musical instruments, some
facts concerning their character and his
tory may be of service in determining the
value thereof. Among the deceased's eff
fects are two violins that certainly possess
considerable value, and one of them, a
genuine Stradivarius, may turn out to be
worth small fortune.
The other violin referred to is an Amati.
1t is small like all the instruments that
came from the hand of that celebrated
maker The Amati family fiourished in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. and three
generations each furnished the most cele-
brated maker of violins of their time, ex-
cept Stradivarius. The family lived in
Cremona, a town in Northern Italy.
Andrea born between 1900 and 1920, made
yiolins that were remarkable for their ex-
quisite softness of tone and beauty of
workmanship. Very few of them are in ex-
istence to-day. Antonio Amati, his son,
succeeded his father in business, and also
became famous for the quality of his vio-
Inns. His youngest brother, Geronimo,
also a pupil of his father, continued the
business, but no violins bearing his mark
subsequent to 1888 are known to exist.
Nicolo, the son of Geronimo, born in
1896, was the most celebrated of the fam
lily, and the greater number of the Amati
violins now in existence are from his
hands. He made some changes in the
models of his ancestors resulting in CIV
ing his instruments greater power and
brilliancy. In perfection of finish, purity
and mellowness of tone, Nicolo Amati's
violins were regarded as marvels. The
tones are slender, but in an especial de-
gree sweet round and silvery.
The circumstances under which Enrich
became the possessor of the little Amati
violin-which he held dearer than his
life = are quite interesting. Between
| twenty-five and thirty years ago the then
young musician was one day lettering
about the grounds of the old Mission Do.
| lores Church. in the suburbs of San Fran
cisco. He had concluded the inspection of
| the interior of the quaint old adobe edi6ce
erected by the Jesuit Fathers more than a
century ago, and passed out into the little
| graveyard in the rear, where he spent some
| time in deciphering the fast-fading in
scriptions on the crumbling tombstones
that marked the graves of the old Fathers
who once occupied the then almost aban-
doned cloisters.
He had loitered in the historic grounds,
and the shades of evening were fast falling
over the churchyard and adjacent hills.
| The old bell in the tower had long since
rung out in dull, mellow tones, the An
gelus," and its echoes had died away in the
undulating sand dunes that stretch out
| to the ocean, where the last rays of the sun
were glimmering on the pebble-lined
| beach. He was about to retrace his steps
| toward the city, when the sweet tones of a
violin, coming from one of the wings of
| the old church, broke upon his ears. He
had been a violinist for years, and had
heard many sweet-toned instruments, but
never one like that. The player, too, he
| discovered, was master in the art of using
the bow. The entranced youth listened
awhile, and then crept softly toward the
building. Through a partly-opened win
dow he was enabled to catch glimpse of
| the violinist-an aged Spanish priest.
Enrich might have climbed in at the win
| be seem to be in his delicate manipulations
of the instrument that he clasped with the
affection that fond father would display
| in embracing his tender infant.
Enrich was beside himself with excite
ment. The desire to become the possessor
of such an instrument at once took pos
session of his whole being. He returned
to the city, but the metropolis had no at
traction for him the following day, for his
thoughts were of the old Mission Church,
the white-haired monk and the soul Len.
trancing strains that had thrilled him on
the preceding evening. Finally the thought
occurred to him that he might be able to
purchase that identical violin. He wanted
to call on the priest and make him an
offer, but he had only $500, and he feared
that the offer of that sum would not be a
very tempting one to the possessor of such
an instrument.
He hastened back to Sacramento and
consulted his friend Herman Wachhorst,
the well-known jeweler, who yet resides
here, and to whom the RECORD UNION is
indebted for these historical facts. He laid
the matter before Mr.. Wachhorst and asked
If he could lend him few hundred dollars
to add to his little store, so that he
might make a reasonable offer for the
violin. Mr.. Wachhorst said he would do
SO, but knowing that Enrich was not much
of fnancier, and poor hand at driving
bargain, offered to go to San Francisco
with him, and did so. Together they called
upon the old priest, and Wachhorst ex-
planned to him their mission. When the
venerable monk first heard the proposition
made to purchase his cherished violin,
which had been companion to him in his
! lonely hours for so many long years, he
| would not listen to it. Mr.. Wachhorst
made first low offer, and when the priest
shook his head the offer was increased.
Then came a struggle in the old mans
breast. He knew he had not long to live,
and must soon part with his loved instru-
ment, and finally when $500 was mentioned
| by the visitors as all they could give, tears
| filled his eyes as he accepted the offer.
And thus Enrich became the possessor of
the sweet-toned little instrument with
which he continued to delight the ears and
senses of the music-loving people of Sacra-
mento for nearly quarter of a century.
The other of Ehrich's most valuable vio-
| Inns is a large-sized Stradivarius. This
| famous maker of violins was born in 1914,
and acquired even greater fame than the
| Amatis. His instruments are larger and
more powerful in tone than those of the
latter maker, and yet are capable of as
much delicacy. Enrich took trip to Eu-
| rope early in the sixties, and while there
succeeded nobody knows howl in finding
genuine Stradivarius violin, which he
purchased. He never told his friends how
much he paid for it, possibly because he
was ashamed to admit his weakness for a
prize that ordinary people would not ap-
| preciate. While in Hamburg he met Ole
| Bull, the world-famed manipulation of the
violin, and the latter promptly offered
Enrich 81 900 for it. The little Sacra-
mentan only laughed at him. Bull raised
| his next bid to 81 500, but here Enrich told
him TO stop-that he would not part with
| it for any sum
Under the caption, "The market for
Stradivarius Violins-It is Away Up and
Constantly Rising" the 81. James Nondon)
Gazette of recent date says:
| "The mention of q Stradivarius fiddle
has always an irresistible fascination for
musicians, professional aud amateur. Pro-
fessional collectors have secured Europe
| for them, and probably the whereabouts of
every Stradiyarius extant is known to the
dealers. A considerable proportion of them
are to be found in England. Antonio
Stradivarius who was born in 1914 and
| died in 1887 worked quietly on for over
sixty years of his life. Taking il as a mod
crate estimate that he turned out one violin
a week-in those days men worked more
leisurely than they do in this age of stress
and hurry-we should have total of over
| 1900 of these instruments from his hands.