The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-07-07

WV Italy Napoleon killed the art OF
~ violin making. he did il By
building q wagon road
Before that date all Of the grand
instruments OF the world were made.
Since then not one worthy TO be com
pared with those Of old StradivarIus.
Amati. Bergonzi or Stainer Ask any
man wise In the lore OF the king OF
instruments and he viii assure you.
with a sigh. that violin making is a
lost art-though riddles" are still
made by the thousand-aiI but cne
man. He viii tell you ost-yes
once, but rediscoyered Napoleon
took the violin from the world-yes.
give Il back to the world A thou
sand artisans have sought the secret.
but for precisely hundred years the
Sphinx has not spoken. For thirty
FIVE years / have studied dreamed,
tried experiments. Now l have over
thrown Napoleon. I have discovered
the lost art Of making the Stradiva-
rius violin"
The man who boasts Of this most
interesting discovery is a San Fran
ciscan. In a tiny basement shop in
a backyard OF Ellis street he has been
quietly working out his problem. II
he has succeeded the musical world
will have reason TO make obeisance
10 grizzled. clear eyed Orazio Rata
II he has failed the small army OF vio-
in cranks in San Francisco who have
heard of this new product win need
TO take refuge behind the somewhat
equivocal statement that the old fell
lows fiddle is not as good as it
sounds
Inquiry among various violin makers
reveals the fact that they regard pre-
diction as to the tone qualities before
the instrument is completed as impos-
sible. And yet this man is said to
have accurately predicted the exact
quality Of every violin he has made
as he shaped it. This one win be
adapted to strong orchestral work:
that one for solos: that viii be sweet
and mellow, another a clear soprano"
and so on.
The other day the leader OF. a prom
inent minstrel troupe dropped in to
have his violin repaired. He was ask
ed to try one of the new instruments
New fiddles sound fat and woody
he objected. Il don't care to waste
any time on them"
Being finally induced to play an air
on one of them. he held it OF at arms
length after the first bar or two.
Say. this is no new fiddle" he in
sisted That's a hundred years old
IL it's a day"
Not until after he had tested two or
. !. -
he give In. That beats me" he adj
mitted. These are brand new violins
with old. old tones. How did you do
it,"
Il viii tell you my secret-or the
greater part OF it." Rata said. as he
ceased gouging chips from the belly
OF new creation. Il am no miser-
do not seek to control this discovery.
Il has taken thirty-five years Of re
search. much close study and many
trips TO Italy. but the information
which have at last acquired belongs
to the musical world II is enough t.
be able to give this discovery TO the
new century. I feel that I have the
key TO the methods of Stradivarius
and the other old masters he ex-
planned. Indeed. know it. Every
fresh application OF the principles
have discovered brings the predicted
result.
Carlo Patti. vocal teacher and en-
inent violinist. first got me interested
In importing and studying old Italian
yiolins.
These imported violins were infe-
rior looking, worn and i'll finished. yet
such men as Theodore Thomas and my
friends Arditi and Remenyi. purchased
them at high prices. This set me tc
thinking and studying. | could not
find any modern violins, no matter
how highly finished. that sold for any
such prices. I found that makers had
! lost the art of constructing really first
class instruments. resolved TO re-
discover the art
For thirty-five years | studied and
travelled and experimental. | made
three trips across the ocean to Italy
There. IN the workshops OF CremonI
aud among the wcodworkers OF tn,
Alps I learned all that was to b,
learned. which was not much. except
ing how to make the soullesS thing
Still searched for the soul. I knew
il existed. and felt sure. as hav'
since demonstrated. that age alone I
not responsible, and that Il does no
depend on exquisite workmanship. no
yet upon the shape or pattern.
Il decided then that Il must b
chiefly in the wood. Then il was tina
began y systematic study Of wood
In general. and OF the sycamore. curl,
maple and Alpine pine in particular
as used BY the old masters.
Il found that all the grand old vfo
lins Of 1ee and SOC years ago had beel
made from wood cut in the Alps
Prior 10 the invasion of Napoleoi
there had been no wagon roads Con
sequently the green logs rs,
been sl4ot down the mountain sides Il
long chHtes into mountain streams AM
thence fioated downward 70 the rive
Pc. noted. as a significant circuH
stance that all the good vioifns hai
been made IN Crsnona and town
situated on the hanks OF the Pc river
The tact that instruments made &
cities away from the river were al
ways inferior in tone struck me as Be
ling = most peculiar circumstance
What had the water to do with Ia
resonance Of the wood
Z remembered how the only grea
violin maker outside Of Italy had bee