Violin Instruments
Violin Instrument Fast Facts
Violinists will often refer to the purfling on their instruments. This is a bordering of the profile of the belly or back or both, with inlay. Its purpose is to give more elasticity to the body of the instrument. The mute, on the other hand, which has been known since Lully’s time, does just the opposite. The mute is a small metal comb that is clamped on to the top of the bridge. The weight impedes a number of vibrations from reaching the body of the violin and thus an attenuated sound is produced.
A Brief History of the Violin Instrument
Catguts, Scrapers, Men of rosin, Squeakers’ or ‘scurvy thrashing scraping Mongrels.’ That is how the itinerant fiddlers of the 17th century were described, and this serves as a shocking reminder that those sober-suited violinists massed importantly in the front line for the symphony orchestra have neither a particularly old nor an entirely respectable history.
The history of the bowed string instruments is another
of those tangles of stray possibilities which do not unravel into a logical
story. From the 11th century onwards musicologists are confronted by a
variety of bowed chordophones in sculptures and pictures and a confusion
of names in literature and music. Evidence however suggests that the origin
ob bowed instruments lies not in those that were plucked but in those
that were struck. It is, after all, a logical step from striking a string
with a stick to scraping it.
The first known use of the word ‘vyollon’ has been traced back to 1520,
but the modern spelling was not used until 1537. This name derives from
fides – string. In northern languages this led to vielle, fithele,
fithel and fiddle; in the south, to fidula, vidula, vihuela, viol and
through vyollon to violin. In the middle of the 17th century, when the
design of the violin had been evolved by the makers of Cremona, a distinction
was made between ‘melodious rogues’ who played the fiddle for feasts,
dancing and other forms of lawful and unlawful entertainment, and violinists
who played serious or composed music.
By the time of Monteverdi (1567-1643) the Amati family of Cremona was
established and was to dominate violin making for the next hundred years.
Nicola Amati died in 1684 and he was succeeded by his disciple Antonio
Stradivari. By the time Stradivari died the perfected violin had emerged
as an important solo instrument as well as an instrument of the orchestra.
Viols and viol music now faded away, although signs of their dominion
lingered on a while. In the Brandenburg Concerti, written between 1717
and 1723, J.S. Bach scored fro viola da braccia (violin supported by the
arm) and viola da gamba (larger and supported by the leg or ankle). The
original compass of the consort of viols was founded on the compasses
of the different human voices – soprano, alto, tenor, and bass – and that
division of bowed string instruments became and has remained the foundation
of the symphony orchestra.
In the seething cauldron of social and political events of the late 18th century, music and musical instruments were themselves under close scrutiny. The orchestra itself was growing in size, and playing to larger audiences, and the art of orchestration was developing. The violin, like the viol in its time, was now considered too small-voiced. From about 1770 therefore the violins of the Cremonese produce greater volume and brilliance. The sound post was made stouter, the bass bar enlarged and the neck lengthened and thrown back a few degree. The bridge was also made more arched to take the higher tension of the strings, this having risen from 63 lb to 90 lb. Simultaneously the bow was re-designed.
View entire Violin Instruments Collection
Copyright © 2007
Musical Instrument Shopping Store
All Rights Reserved
