Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-17
Some Things You Want to Know
Making of viOlins.

Violin making. recognized as having
reached its highest perfection over a hun
dred years ago. has not only failed to in e.
prove, but has descended from an art to
an industry. from being the work OF a
master haud to that of a machine. Hun
dreds Of thousands OF instruments are now
turned out by machinery, many Of which
are later sold as "One Of the few remain
ing Strads.' with the aid Of a carefully
copied label, and the powers Of eloQuence
and persuasion, the gullible collector or the
amateur is continually taken in by these
frauds. Although II Is claimed by many
that there are no good violin makers in
America, there have been a few who. both
In Europe and this country have been rec
ognized as being among the most scientific
makers who ever lived. One of these was
George Gemunder OF Astoria, New York,
who died a few years ago, and whose son
now ranke almost as high as his FATHER.
Violin making never has reached the point
Of being an industry in the United States.
What instruments are made here are for
what might be termed select" buyers, and
In the majority Of cases these bring good
prices. There are practically no factories
which are devoted solely to the making Of
violins. and few that turn out any large
number. However, the country Is full OF
amateurs, expert repairers and others who
make violins. There are several amateurs
in Portland, Ore, who have produced spec
linens that have been favorably commented
upon by judges.
1t is said that the principal reason for
the lack Of violin factories in this country
is the poor scale of wages paid here, also
the cheapness of the German instruments
A 1Nh104rl 81. H.. It.
cent they can nevertheless he imported into
this country and sold for less than It would
be possible to make them here. But the
United States has improved in string max
ing until today II stands as a powerful rival
to Europe in this matter. Chicago, the
great place of slaughter, is where the best
strings are made.
1t was about the year 17SO when the Sc
cret OF the famous Italian varnIsh was
supposed to have been lost and along with
II the varnish itself. This varnish, which
1t is believed gave the violins what is
known as the italian tone,' recognized
as the finest, has been the object Of con-
slant search by violinists and has been
the means of keeping numberless chemists
awake nights In an attempt to rediscover
It. Time after time a hue and cry has
Y tolotu ny GuilltOie Wiz CldlIIlGu TO
have found the cherished article, but al
ways with the same result-failure.
The most recent instance Of this, so far
as is known, Is the varnish discovered by
a wealthy violin collector in Baltimore.
This varnish has been experimental with,
and Instruments which were once harsh
have been turned into sweet-toned ones.
The theory of its finder is the it is the
$500 .a--t.I g. "
gondolas Of Venice. After the law was
passed decreeing that all gondolas should
be painted black the demand for the magic
varnish fell off and its secret persisted
A tradition in Venice says that In reply tc
solicitations on the subject a Venitian var
nish dealer said: MY supply is ex.
hausted. 1 know not what it is nor where
it came from"
Whatever the cause may have been, al
those violins made by the Italian makers
have, since the beginning of the eighteenth
century, gradually risen in value until to.
day they are almost priceless. One made
by Joseph Guarnerius was sold in New
York a few years ago for therrecord price
OF 81, 900. while a Stradivarius brought
1900. 1t is claimed that there have beer
violins made by Stradivarius which have
sold IN Europe Tor as mig as S22,OOO anC
that $2500O has been refused for grear
specimens of this masters work. Violin.
made by these two masters which wer,
bought for $500 thirty years ago nov
bring from $1,000 to $4,000 each.
1t is estimated that Stradivarius mad
over 1000 instruments during his lifetime
which he used to sell for $40 apiece. A
that rate his instruments aggregated {
sum of $4,000, an amount which would no
buy more than three of them today. The
violins have been given the highest plac,
among their kind and have been used b,
man. of the worlds greatest performers
The habit Of violin collecting Is steadll!
growing. 1t is claimed that the majorit,
of the best specimens of Italy's art in thi
line are now in the possession of English
French and American collectors, and tina
In Italy itself there are practically none