Dresden enterprise and Sharon tribune. (Dresden, Tenn.) 1907-1997, 1917-10-26
A VARNISH PUZZLE
The Lost Secret of the Old Time
Makers Of ViOlinS.
IT MAY NEVER BE DISCLOSED.
This Amazing Mystery, That Defies tina
Modern Experts, ls the One Thing
That Keeps Them From Surprising
the Work Of the Ancient Masters.

Modern Experts, ls the one ming
That Keeps Them From Surprising
the Work Of the Ancient Masters.
There must be thousands who wol-
| der why modern manufacturers cannot
reproduce the valuable old violins we
read so much about, says the Musical
| Courier When Ysaye recently inspect
| ed the wonderful collection of yiolins
owned by Rudolph Wurlitzer and play
! ed on a Ruggiero, Stradivarius, q
/ Guarnerius, an Amati. and SO on, some
of our readers may have asked wig
! American makers do not copy those
old masters. We reply that every de
tail of the great Italian makers has
been studied for more than 10Oyears.
We have discovered every secret Of
the old masters except the recipe for
their varnish. That is the mystery
'Surely,' claim some Of our readers
this is secondary consideration II
you have good wood well put together
you must have a good violin. no mat
ter what the varnish isl We shall
| see. Hills OF London, the well known
violin experts and makers, in the book
Antonio Stradivari-IIis Life ana
Works" say:
Though the wood and also cOnstruc
ton and dimensions be perfect, the re-
e,,,1+ hn npt, hn1 If the,
instrument be badly vanished. Hence
we are disposed to classify the rela
tive importance Of material, dimen-
sions and constructions and varnish as
follows: First, yarniSh; second, con-
struction and dimensions; third, mate
rial"
So here we have an acknowledged
authority stating that the most impor-
tant factor in the tone of good violin
is the varnish And does the quality
of the lost varnish mean that the old
makers were men of genius? Not a
bit of it. Apparently they were Just
good workmen whose product could be
equaled today in any civilized country
, if the varnish could be discovered.
That this secret should be lost is one
Of the amazing facts Of history. 1t is
incOnceivable TO us that POO years
hence no one will be able to supply the
shellac varniSh that can be found in
any painters supply shop today. And
vet this is what has happened to the
varnish used by the Cremona makers.
it has simply been forgotten that Is
all. 1t was no secret few hundred
years ago. We find chairs, tables, cab
inets and bedsteads Of the period Gov
cred with the golden, lustrous varn1sh
of Amati and Stadivari.
The old violin makers used 1t because
it was cheap and easy to procure IL
began to go out Of general use III the
sixteenth century because 1T was FOUND
to be too soft for the wear and tear or
furniture. 1t was still used by the VIC
lin makers, however, none of whom
seems to have left the recipe, Perhaps
they did not know it. The average
cabinetmaker today need not know
how to make the varniSh he buys by
the gallon. Thus the varnish when
was used by the whole Italian nation
for two centuries is now an unknown
mixture of mysteries,
Whence came the gums and oils OF
the old italian varnish? We have rea-
son for believing that they were not
Indigenous to the Italian soil, we
know that much of the maple used by
the violin makers Of the day came
from Turkey. Stradavari often USED
the straight grained maple Of the ltal-
ian Alps for his cheaper instruments.
For his wealthy patrons he used n
beautiful curly maple that came from
Turkey Why from Turkey? The rea-
son is obvious. Venice and Genoa held
command Of the eastern trade OF Italy.
1t was cheaper to import maple TO
Venice by sea than to carry 1t over
land from northern Italy. But when
the Venetian oar makers came across
niece Of maple too curly to be strong
enough thpy sold It to the violin max
ers. The beautiful backs Of the best
Stradivarius vioIinS, therefore, are
made from wood that the oar makers
rejected.