The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1918-08-01

| That Keeps Them From Surprising
the Work of the Ancient Masters.
There must be thousands who won
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 violins
owned by Rudolph Wurlitzer and play
ed on Ruggiero. Stradivarius, q
Guarnerius, an Amati. and so on, some
of our readers may have asked why
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 100 years.
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. It
you have good wood well put together
you must have 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- Life and
Works. say: H. :...... -
Though the wood and also construc-
ton and dimensions be perfect, the re-
suit will be astonishingly bad 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, varnish; second, con-
struction and dimensions: third. mate
rial
So here we have an ackn owledged
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
blt 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. It Is
uncomfortable to us that 200 years
fence no one will be able to supply the
shellac varnish that can be found in
t.ny painters supply shop today. And
:.-et this is what has happened to the
rarnish used by the Cremona makers.
ii has simply been forgotten: that is
all. 1t was no secret a few hundred
Years ago. We find chairs. tables, cab
inets and bedsteads of the period COW
cred with the golden, lustrous varn1sh
Of Amati and Stradivari.
The old violin makers used it because
it was cheap and easy to procure. 1t
began to go out Of general use In the
sixteenth century because it was found
TO be too soft for the wear and tear OF
furniture. It was still used by the vio-
In 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 which
was used by the whole Italian nation
for two centuries is now an unknown
mixture of mysteries.
Whence came the gums and oils Of
tie old italian varnish? We have rea-
son for believing that they We're 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 Ital-
ian Alps for his cheaper instruments.
For his wealthy patrons he used a
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. |
It 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
piece of maple too curly to be strong
enough they sold 1t to the violin max
nrs. The beautiful backs of the best
Stradivarius viQlins, therefore. are
made from wood that the oar makers
rejected. I
Now. If the gums and oils Of the old
varnish came from the orient it would
become more and more difficult to pro.
,lre them In proportion as the vene-
IAN trade diminished History confirms
this theory The Turks waged war
= Sainst the opulent and powerful re-
public Of Venice from 1915 to 1859. For
ne first thirteen years OF the eighteenth
century Venice had certain amount Of
peace. But in 171S Venice. by the peace
Vt Passarowitz, abdicated her rank In
Europe, became nonentity in politics
and saw her trade begin to dwindle.
Venice, the former mighty queen of the
lost her great oriental trade.
Is it any wonder that the oriental
gums should disappear from her i'm
ports when the cabinetmakers no long
r used them? The little that the violin
nrkers needed was too small to keep
he trade alive. Then in 1850 patent
vas given by the king Of France to ST.
non Martin for a period of twenty-five
ears for the newly discovered process
II making the much more durable and
glossy copal varnish. That was the
Irish of the old Italian varnish, wrong
III Il