New-York tribune., 1905-08-27
MUSICAL COMMENT.
Continued from first page.

affirm that the copies equal the originals. And
on which this secret. If 1t is one. hangs viz.
wood. age. workmanship art, and the var
nish.
Each point is taken up in turn and dismissed
without yielding explanation OF the mystery.
The essential parts OF the instrument must be
composed Of two woods-pine for the belly and
maple for the back. 1t is told of Stainer. the
TyroIese rival of the Italian masters. that he
himself went into the mountain forests of his
native land to pick out the trees which he
wished to use-"usually such as had already
begun TO die at the top"-and that, further be-
fore Telling tree he would strike the trunk
with a hammer and listen to the sound which
1t gave forth. 1 have seen a violin maker of to-
day do the thing with blocks of wood
sawed from the tImbers of barn in Maine
which had seen its hundred years. But what the
voice of the tree whispered TO Stainer we do not
know, and the wood gatherer in Maine could
only call attention to the clear and pure res
onance OF his old blocks. Our author does not
mention the circumstance, but II is fact that
when years ago some sunken piles which had
belonged TO a bridge thrown across the Rhine by
C9sars soldiers We're discovered the violin
builders eagerly sought portions of the logs. in.
the hope that their antiquity would enable them
TO match the old violns of Cremona- But they
never did. Savart. by ingenious tests and
sound pine stands to maple as u to s. and pos
sibly this harmonious relationship had some
thing to do with the old excellence. But it is no
mystery now. and pine and maple are used by
the peasants. who make violins that are fair to
look upon, and substantial as we'll. but which
sell for So dozen. whereas market price Of
$4,000 is moderate for good "Strad" 1t is said
that the Cremonese makers got their maple
wood from Turkey and Galicia, selecting 1t from
the timber sent to Venice for galley rudders:
but Turkey would be accounted next door by a
luther to-day and the Swiss and Tyrolean
forests which supplied pine, to Stradivari.
Guarneri. Maggini Anati and their less illus
trious fellows are growing the same pine to-
day Was theirs the secret of selection?
Is It age alone? Assuredly not. Modern men
have used wood as old that used by ths
Cremonese masters. and even older. and their
products have been found wanting. There
copies of the masterpieces as old as the master
pieces themselves. made by excellent handi-
craftsmen and they are deficient In excellence
Experts do not know that age is essential, or
''Fetis relates one case OF StradivarI
violin having practically never been touched
since it left the masters hand. and when played
upon showed every quality which we admire in
other instruments. This has been the experience
of more than professional player" In this
connection our author ventures upon what Is
at least a pretty speculation. namely. that
though violin may may not improve with
use by a good player, 1t deteriorates under
clumsy. harsh and unsympathetic treatment
Therefore. should say. sweets TO the sweet
let good instruments fall and remain in the
hands of good players: which recalls gracious
and gratifying story. Some years ago Profess
sor Grun. of the Vienna Conservatory. made up
his mind that. his virtuoso days being over. he
would sell his VIOLIN fine Stradivarius of the
year 1714- A collector in Boston promptly
cabled an offer. but Grtn refused it quite as
promptly and sold the instrument to his pupil.
Franz Kneisel. for sum less by S. 900 than the
collectors offer plus a promise the part of
Kneisel that when the day OF his retirement
came he, too. would to it that the violin fell
into the hands of professional artist instead of
being imprisoned in museum. Many violnist
can see only wickedness IN the perpetual housing
of Paganini's superb Guarnerius in glass case
in Genoa Such voice should not be mute The
secret of the wood is not solved: nor the secret
of age; nor the secret of use; nor the secret of
varnish. though the art of the analytical chem
list has been employed in the effort So
luton. 1t seems to have been not only the a
terial. but the lost manner of its application.
that produced the unmatchable results THE
hrmness. suppleness and durability Of the var
nish of the best Italian instruments indeed
marvellous. Take the back of such an old
Cremonese fiddle. where this the precious cover
ing is apparently worn away by use and hold
it against the light. There it sparkles and gilt
ters like half hidden diamonds. varnish is
there-nay. fire gold and all: they seem to have
soaked into every fibre of the wood loving H.
craving it. being with IT," The secret of the
composition of that varnish is lost Two Ger
man writer's on violin construction. Starcke and
Niederheitmanu, have agreed that IT contained
the resin of a species of pine which has died
out since the old makers lived. The theory is
at least comforting to the baffied ambition of the
moderns who have tried in vain TO equal IT,
There remains only the element of individual
skill. intuition. knowledge. Inspiration patience.
workmanship; and that is the greatest mystery
OF them all
Professor Stoevns has much to tell us of the
great players of the past-Coreu. Tartini Somis
Pugnani. Viotti, Lolli. Spohr. David and their
successors. and devotes an entire chapter 70
Paganini. who came into the musical heavens
like comet and so vanished. To the art of Pasa-
mini and its influence he pays due attention and
dscourses wisely ON the evil'legacy which 1t left
to the worlG-devo;ion TO ,mechan nism for the
sake OF mechanism. And he shows in his book
a picture of the imprisoned Guarneri violin
which the demoniac fiddler bequeathed To his
+ ative town of Genoa. and also one OF the house
in which he was born. II is situated in narrow
li:te street not far from the harbor. and is an
unprepossessing looking hGuse. painted pale
pink with green Venetian shutters. Every
loterer i'm the neighborhcod win direct YOU TO
it, but there is mistakinE la Casa di Pa
gann" with its shrine To the Madonna hand