The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-13
HUMAN WAYS OF VIOLHS
rRE OLD MAKER TELLS or
THEIR CAPRJCIOCS NESS.

Net Even the wssk Of the Greatest Dr.
sixners Il Always Gsedwood Must
Come From Europe. for AmeSican Soil
L. Too Rieh- Prices Steadily Rising.
| In a side street near " ashingtnn square
IL q building which gets more than one
backward glance from the passerby.
Once a dwelling house. its windows are
hung now with viollns and cellos. while
across its homely front Ia a name familiar
to the wielders OF the rosined bow.
The maker and member OF violins who
| dw ellis here Il a German who loves his
craft and who knows its secrets. To
him violin IL not a mere piece OF mcchan-
ism. II 10 a picture. a poem. person.
atty.
-Ah, yes" he SAYS. there are us good
fddles made to-day "a there ever were.
but most Of them need the seasoning.
the tsmnering. which comes only with
years. tine OF the great French violin
makers tried to take that work away from
nature. He tried to eeason his violins
by baking the wood in ovens and In that
way he made his fiddies until he learned
that nature would not be- defrauded.
-Raking the wood drew out the rosin
too quickly and left il dry. brittle. IL
was a hard lessor, fAr the maker and IL
took him ten years to learn IL. but II had
to b. learned. They have made another
experiment in Paris recently which Is
comforting to the modern fiddle makers.
In "A darkened room a man played sue
cessively on eighteen violins OF different
ages and different makes. from old Gre
mona instruments TO those fresh from
the makers hands.
And musicians and critics. listening
but not knowing the order in which the
violins were played. marked scale OF
points for or against each one And when
these points were added up there were
more In favor OF the modern Instruments
than the old master works had received.
Wonderful. was IL not? Yes. but il was not
rightly arranged. that contest. Why.
didn I they ask the player. not the listener.
to say hich violins he found most respon-
sive. most sympathetic? That would be
the true test.
You give q master carver a sharp
knife and a piece OF wood and he carves
you panel Beautiful! And you give him
dull knife and another piece Of wood
and he carves you duplicate OF that
panel And you look at the two and you
gay. They are equally beautiful. can
not tell which is which: But the carver
He IL IL who knows which cost him the
Effort the struggle.
.Or il il like two children. one good,
! ono bad. And you say to them. Come on.
now. We will go for walk. And the good
one goes like a charm. But the bad one
howls and kicks and hangs back and is
a little devil. but you. being a wonder
worker with children. smooth him down
and finally lead him ont like a lamb. And
the people who see them walking up the
street do not know thar one il good aud
the other "A little devil. But you? IL IL
you that knows.
And 20 il was the player who knew
which Of those eighteen violins responded
most perfectly to his touch and which
ones resisted; which ones opened sheir
hearts To him like flowers 10 sunlight
and which had To IVA forced to open by
his skill II IL had been he and not the
listeners who had marked for and against
each violin the result might hav. been
the reverse OF what IL was.
That il not saying that II isn't possible
| to have violin made to-day which will
rival tn. very hest OF the old ones There
IL n violin here in New York PLAYED by
one Of our foremost violinists which was
made only a few years ago by one of INV
J own workmsn. The player knows II IL
new and 40 oI course do We But every
body el.c thinks IL il lin. old inst rument
that has seasoned for many. many wears
| In effect it IL The wood in that violin
1
was in 4 church in northern Germany.
| a church which for some reason was torn
down a while ago This workman got
hold Of a piece Of the wood and he kept
10 carefully. for one does not every day
! pick up such treasures Then finally
ne mad. IL into this fiddle. and tell YOU
the people who hear IL and who roll their
! eyes in ecstasy over u. thinking II ~ an
| old fiddle are not wrong after all IL
has the one thing which gives an old in
sfr,lrnent It's quality age
-Of course wood as old "a that piece
is a rare find. but all the wood used in
the best OF modern instruments has
seasoned for years. European pine or
spruce is the wood for the top and curly
mapie from Europ. too. Is the back
| and the sides No. no! American wood il
not good: not even IL il had been cut a
hundred years, American soil Ia too rich;
| il produces a too luxuriant growth. a
wood which ~ lacking in fineness Of tex
fure which Sill not temper as the Eu-
| ropean wood does. When American for
est<s have been cut and have grown again
several times and the over richness OF
! the soil has been taken out then Ameri-
can wood will do for the perfect fiddle:
not before
See. here IL the way the wood comes
10 us " and he picked up two wedge shaped
| pieces. tho length of a violin BODY They
were about two. inches thick at one edge
and tapared TO An inch thick AZ the other
| They were half the width Of violin.
When used they ara sawed into two pieces
which when shaped are matched 70.
g.ther one pair forming IN. top. the other
the back They ara thicker at one side
than the other "a to permit III. curve
q the violin sIrfaCt being cut from the
piece. One was dull dirty piece Of pine
but. totally different in grain from our
native pine or spruce The other was
curly maple
Listen said the maker a he struck
the thick block Of pin" y gave forth a
clear sweet note That piece q wood
has been seasoning for years. h. went on
IL il were green IL would not have any
| more sound than A hot water bag II Won
| struck IL In the papers lately there have