The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-14


 the thirteenth century may be seen in the
 Cathedral of Cologne.
 In Wales it was known in the nintiG | tenth and eleventh centuries as the crwIIs, with the bow bridge and finger board. | With two strings 1t is called rubeba, cor responding to the second and third strings
 of the violin. The third string was added | in the thirteenth century. tunea q g.. l When called the 'yiol" it has five. six
 and seven strings, and !s tuned in
 fcurths, thirc- - -------. It was built
 in four sizes, treble or 'dscant," tenor l or viola da braccio," bass or viola da
 gafiiba," -tipubfe bass or ''violone.''
 The vida da gamba" is still used in
 eonvents in training the voice. The sixth
 illustration serves to show the coalition
 of the crwth and rebec. It Is held in
 the lap of the performer, reaching from
 the right knee to the left shoulder, the
 left hand is passed through the large
 hole to finger the strings. The bow is l very odd in shape.
 l The invention of the waist shown | in slight degree in the seventh illustra- ton was great step in the develop
 ment of the viol In thsi shape it was
 called in northern Europe "fidel," in l France ''yieIe' and in Italy "viole.
 The guitar-fiddle, given next in the
 eighth outline, shows further development in deeper waist line, which gives great CT facility in the use of the bow, which l is also improved in that it has more threads and presents a fiattened surface 1 to the strings.
 I The sixteenth century saw the coming 1 of the violin The story of those great cremona makers, Nicolus Amatus, An- dreas GuarnerhIs, Joseph Guarnerius, | Carlo Bergonzi and Antonius Stradi- varius, reads like fairy tale. Their | loving devotion to their inherited, voca- ton completed the development of '-the only perfect musical instrument the | world has ever known"
 | MT. Oliver Chalfoux, from whom much l of the information herein was obtained, l has for years delighted the Birming ham l lovers of music with the sweet strains which his artistic touch has brought from I his priceless Nicolo Amati, made in 16s0 | The violin has 70 different parts, all of l wood, except the strings and the loop | The question is often asked whether | the belly or sounding board and back of | the fiddle are not bent to the required 1 shape. On the contrary, they are cut out of the wood with infinite labor and l care. The only parts. bent are the ribs. In construction the violin, tenor violon- | cello and double bass may be said to be i identical, the only difference being in the size. The tenor is one-seventh larger than the violin the violoncello is twice | as large, while the double bass is about double the size of the violoncello.
 The wood employed is of three sorts. I The back handle ribs and bridge are of maple. The finger board nuts, screws 1 tailpiece and button are of ebony The purling is partly of ebony and partly of maple. The belly, Bar blocks, Things and sound post are made of pine.
 l All metal is a profane substance in violin making; no fragment of it should be employed, constructively or orna- mentally. The parts must be put together with the finest glue and with invisible joints.
 The tone, other things being equal de- bends largely on the quality of the mape and pine used. The wood must not be new It should have been cut five or six years at least, and be well seasoned. It Is, however, not advisable to use wood that is so old as to have lost much of it's elasticity.
 Both pine and maple should be as white as possible with a grain moderately wide, 1 even and as rule perfectly straight, Local shakes and knots render the wood useless. Curves in the grain derange the vibration, and are usually avoided. How ever. violins with slightly curving grain.
 have been known to produce an excep-
 tional power of tone The violin is the most popular and | useful of all portable instruments, and 1 indeed of all instruments except the piano forte, and 1t has considerable importance as being the principal instrument of the l orchestra, the main body of which is com posed of vioins in their four sizes, trebles, tenors and passes.
 | It is nearer the human voice in quality, compass and facility of execution than any other instrument Most people are aware that 'an old fiddle is better than new one" This is not absolutely true, 1 though The best fddles now in use are nf haf 200 and 300 years old.
 violin if well made can by timely and judicious rehabilitation be made to last practically forever The violin thus enjoys a sort of mysterious immortality, the effect of which is often enhanced by the groundless idea that no good fiddles have been made since the golden age of the cremona makers, which terminated nearly 150 years ago, and that the secrets Of violin making are lost
 In connection with this a good deal of enthusiasm has been lavshed by connos- seurs on the beauty of design and varnish of the old cremona violins A fiddle, after all, even Stradivari, is not work of pure art like piece of painting or sculpture. It is as much a machine as a watch. Its excellences are purely mechanical, and though most good fiddles are also well designed, not few have been pronounced decidedly ugly. Leopold Mozart. in his violin school, pertinently remarks that ITO choose a violin for it's outward sym nletry and varnish, is like choosing a sing ing bird for it's feathers