The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1902-03-28
RARE OLD VIOLiNS.
CINCINNATI COLLECTOR SCOURS EUROPE
FOR ODD MUSIC INSTRUMENTS.


How suggestive is an old violin
One holds it with reverent hands be-
cause, involuntarily there is refec-
tion of how much life there is in that
piece Of wood. The visions of dark,
eerie eyes watching your movements
com:s to the sensitive The face of
Paganinni, scarce human, will haunt
you through the brown of the wood,
and, altogether, nervous person
can work highly ecstatic state of
emotion over an old violin. The craze
for collecting these treasures seizes on
a man with a subtle force of microbe,
and it has struck Il Cincinnatian hard.
This is Mr.. Rudolph Wurlitzer, who
has just returned from a European
trip made for the especial purpose Of
tracing the elusive old violin to its
lair. He did it, too. More than 400,
of varying age, has he secured, and, in
order to have fitting home, he will
remodel the second floor of the firm 8
building and turn it into a museum.
Wraiths of long haired musicians,
with wistful eyes, might gather there
in the twilight and hold carnivals
among the instruments they handled
long ago. What weird, uncanny
concert they could make, these long
sleeping musicians. Among the many
instruments that will be on exhibition
in about six weeks, there is one that
Mr.. Wurlitzer is especially proud Of.
1t is a beautiful old Italian violin,
once the property Of the Duke of Ed
inburg, brother to King Edward. This
duke was one of the greatest violin
connoisseurs in all Europe, and pos
sessed one of the finest collections in
the country. The one secured by Mr..
Wurlitzer was long supposed to be a
genuine Stradivarius, but violin ex-
pcrts have since declared that it was
made by Camille Camilli, in Mantua,
about 1889, and this opinion was veri-
fed the other day when it was being
repaired, in that the written label Of
the maker was discovered.
1t is patterned after the best works
of Stradivarius, has rich, orange
brown hue, and tone of remarkable
mellow-ness: When the duke lived
he spent most of his time in his castle
at Colburg, where he had royal or
chestra. The leader of this body was
a great favorite with the duke, and in
his will he left the violin to him. The
duchess carried out the will Of her
husband by presenting the violin to
the leader Upon the back and also
upon the scroll are to be seen the du-
cal crown and the letter "E' proving
its former ownership. Mr.. Particle, a
great violin collector and the United
States consul, possesses the rest of the
dukes collection, save one OF two vio-
lins.
There is one member of the violin
family that is little heard in these days,
and few of the instruments are to be
had This is the Viola d'Amour. The
sweet, plaintive notes of the instru-
ment gave rise to the name. The in
strument is similar in shape to the
modern viola. 1t has five, six, or, sew
en- strings of gut, ard as many added
metal strings. stretched underneath
the others and just above the sound
ing g-board. The two sets of strings
are tuned in unison, and while only
the gut strings are played with the
bow the vibrations are extended to
the lower metal strings, thus produc-
ing that exquisite tone that cannot be
obtained from the four stringed violin
or viola. The principle of the Aeollan
harp is the same as that of the viola
d'amour, with this difference, that the
harp strings vibrate from contact with
the wind, and in the viola d'amour it
is the sympathetic vibration of the
under strings. Few modern musicians
play Oh this instrument, but two we'll
known ones are devoted to it. One is
Franz Kneiscl, of the Boston Sympho-
nv Orchestra, and the other is the
Cincinnatian, Pier Adolfo Tirendelli.
Mr.. Wurlitzer has two of these Viola
D'Armour. One was made by the
great Italian violin maker, Joseph
Guarncrus, and the other is famous
association, for it was used hy the re-
nowned Dresden musician, Gunkle,
who often played it for the King Of
Saxony.
Another fascinating little instru-
ment, of which there are two in the
collection, is the pochette, or kit. which
is almost impossible to secure now.
Dickens makes mention of one in his
"Bleak House," in the pathetic story
of the little dancing master. The ear
ly form Was long and narrow, not
more than an inch and quarter wide
at the center, and had four strings
tuned to G, D, A and E. About three
hundred years ago the pochette was
kept by gentlemen in a little case
which they put in their pocket and
carried with them to a singing party
1t was used to insure correct intona-
tion in singing madrigals, which goes
to prove that the amateur troubadors