Stradivarius

Antonio Stradivari, by Edgar Bundy, 1893: a romanticized image of a craftsman-hero

One of the violins in the Stradivarius collection of the Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain

A Stradivarius is a stringed instrument built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari.

Background

Antonio Stradivari was born in Italy in 1644, and said to be a disciple of Nicolo Amati, of the Amati family of luthiers of Cremona. Antonio set up business for himself in 1680, though his early violins are generally considered inferior to those made between 1698 and 1720, referred to as his "golden age". While many of his techniques are still not fully understood by modern science, it is known for certain that the wood used included spruce for the harmonic top, willow for the internal parts and maple for the back, strip and neck, and that the wood was treated with several types of minerals, including potassium borate (borax), sodium and potassium silicate, and vernice bianca, a varnish composed of Arabic gum, honey and egg white.

A Stradivarius made in the 1680s or during Stradivari\'s Brescian period from 1690-1700, could be worth several hundred thousand dollars or more at today\'s prices in auction. If made during Stradivari\'s "golden period" from 1700 to 1720, depending on condition, the instrument can be worth several million dollars. They rarely come up for sale and the highest price paid for a Stradivarius at public auction was The Hammer, made in 1707, which sold for US$3,544,000 on May 16 2006. Private sales of Stradivari instruments have exceeded this price."Stradivarius tops auction record", BBC News, 17 May 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-07. Associated Press. "Successful $3,544,000 bid of "Hammer"", MSNBC, 16 May 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-18. 

Many people will find violins labeled or branded as "Stradivarius", and believe them to be genuine. It is believed that there are fewer than 700 genuine extant instruments, very few of which are unaccounted for.

The fame of Stradivari\'s violins is not a modern phenomenon: the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is supposed to have owned a Stradivarius with a description of how he purchased the instrument for fifty-five English shillings in the story, The Adventure of the Cardboard Box. Another famous story is about Duport Stradivarius which is said to have the spur marks from the boots of Emperor Napoléon I of France when he tried his hand at playing it. They also played a role in the James Bond film The Living Daylights and have appeared in numerous other works of fiction, often as prized or stolen items.

One aspect of Stradivari\'s approach is illustrated in the BBC TV series Lovejoy, in the episode "Second Fiddle". It is noted that one would expect the \'f\'-holes in the front of a violin to be symmetrical yet, in Stradivaria, they are often slightly offset. This is put down to him being less of a perfectionist than tradition would credit but, if true, may express a preference for an aural aesthetic over a visual.

The reputation of the Stradivarius is such that its name is frequently invoked as a standard of excellence in other unrelated fields (such as ships and cars); for example, the Bath Iron Works\' unofficial motto is "A Bath boat is the Stradivarius of destroyers!" In 1924, The Vincent Bach Corporation began releasing a line of trumpets which would later become known as Stradivarius Trumpets, in an attempt to capitalise on the Stradivari name.

Theories and reproduction attempts

A Stradivarius in a Berlin museum

These instruments are famous for the quality of their sound. There have been many failed attempts to explain and reproduce the sound quality. One idea was that Stradivari used wood from an old cathedral to build his instruments, but tree-ring dating has shown this to be false.

Another theory is the idea that wood grown during the Little Ice Age (Maunder Minimum ~1645-1750) was used to construct Stradivari\'s instruments. This theory bases itself upon the high density of this wood; some consider it \'ideal\' for making stringed instruments. Trees that grew during this freezing period contained tree rings which were closer together and denser than would be produced in more temperate conditions.Associated Press. "Cool weather may be Stradivarius\' secret", CNN, 8 December 2003. Retrieved on 2007-06-24. 

Further evidence for the "ice age theory," comes from a simple examination of the dense growth rings in the wood used in Stradivari\'s instruments.John Pickrell. "Did "Little Ice Age" Create Stradivarius Violins\' Famous Tone?", National Geographic News, 7 Jan 2004. Retrieved on 2007-06-24. 

Yet another possible explanation is that the wood originated and was harvested from the forests of northern Croatia.W. H. Hill, Arthur F. Hill. "Antonio Stradivari: His Life and Work", Dover Publications, 1963. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.  This maple wood is known for its extreme density due the slow growth from harsh Croatian winters. Croatian wood was a commodity traded by Venetian merchants of this era and is still used for crafting musical instruments by local luthiers to this day.

Some believe that a special wood glue was used in Stradivari\'s instruments, partly accounting for the high quality of the sound.

While the sound of Stradivari\'s instruments still has not been fully explained by modern research tools, devices such as the scanning laser vibrometer are aiding researchers in testing the theory that the careful shaping of belly and back plate, in order to "tune" their resonant frequencies, may be an important factor.Andrew W. Brown (2004). Documentation of Double Bass Plate Modes Using the Scanning Laser Vibrometer. University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.

Texas A&M University biochemist Joseph Nagyvary succeeded in making a violin somewhere near the quality of a Stradivari by leaving the wood to soak in brine.Robert Uhlig. "Stradivari \'Owes it All to Worms\'", The Telegraph, 31 March 2001. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.  Because of the lack of land in Venice, during that period imported wood was often stored in the seawater of the Venetian Lagoon, where a type of decomposition had a slight effect on the wood. Nagyvary managed to acquire wood shavings from a Stradivarius violin, and under a microscope he found the natural filter plates in the pores between the tracheids were gone. He also treated the wood with a preparation of borax in the manner of Stradivari, who used it to prevent infestation.

By late 2003, Nagyvary refined his techniques and produced a violin that was tested in a duel with the Leonardo da Vinci Stradivarius of 1725.Kathleen Phillips. "Violin Duel a Draw for Antique Stradivarius, New Instrument", AGNews, Texas A&M University, 22 Sept 2003. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. Archived from the original on 2003-10-03.  Both violins were played in each of four selections of music by violinist Dalibor Karvay behind a screen to an audience of 600 attended by 160 trained musicians and 303 regular concert goers. This was the first public comparison of a Stradivari with a contemporary instrument before a large audience where the audience would cast ballots on the performance quality of each violin. The consensus was that Nagyvary\'s instrument surpassed the Stradivarius in each category by a small margin.

Stradivari instruments

Violins

Violas

There are thirteen known extant Stradivari violas.Extant Stradivari works. The Smithsonian Magazine (December 2002). Archived from the original on 2006-03-07. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.

Cellos

Antonio Stradivari built between 70 and 80 cellos in his lifetime, of which 63 are extant.

Guitars

There are two complete extant guitars by Stradivari, and a few fragments of others, including the neck of a third guitar which is owned by the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris."Get ready for videos of the classics", The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.  These guitars have ten (doubled) strings, which was typical of the era.

Harps

Only one of Stradivarius\' harps has survived to the modern age, leading a number of sources claim that it was the only one he made in his life—documentation on the instrument claiming that it was originally one of threeStradivarius made one harp. The arpetta (little harp) in question resides at the San Pietro a Maiella music conservatory in Naples, Italy.

Mandolins

There are two known extant Stradivari mandolins. The Cutler-Challen Choral Mandolino of 1680, is currently in the collection of the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota.National Music Museum (19 September 2006). The Cutler-Challen Choral Mandolino by Stradivari, 1680. University of South Dakota. Retrieved on 2008-01-30. The other, dated ca. 1706, is owned by private collector Charles Beare of London.Tyler, James; Sparks, Paul (1989). The Early Mandolin. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198163029. Retrieved on 2008-02-15. 

References

Further reading

• Hill, William Henry; Hill, Arthur F.; Hill, Alfred Ebsworth (1902). Antonio Stradivari, His Life and Work (1644-1737). London: W.E. Hill & Sons. OCLC 8179349. 
• Faber, Toby (2004). Stradivari’s Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection. New York: Random House. ISBN 0375508481. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Stradivarius

• A FourDoc (short on-line documentary) about a group of violin makers making a violin in the original spec of the maurin Stradivarius in just five days
• What makes a Stradivarius so Great?
• Secrets of the Stradivarius, Scientific American, 10 June 2002 Using science
• Cozio.com Online database of instruments by Antonio Stradivari.
• Cheniston K. Roland, Discography (incomplete) of Stradivarius recordings
• Mark Levine, "Medici of the Meadowlands", The New York Times 3 August 2003 Herbert R. Axelrod\'s Stravarius collection.
• Why do Stradivarius\'s violins sound sublime?
• Chladni patterns for visualizing violin plate resonance patterns
• Stradivari Violin Forms A detailed study of Stradivari\'s molds and drawings kept in the Cremona Museum..
• How Stradivari and Guarneri got their music discusses the chemical techniques used to figure out what makes these instruments\' unique sound. From the February 1, 2007 issue of Analytical Chemistry
• Gough, Colin (April 2000). Science and the Stradivarius. Physics Web. Institute of Physics Publishing. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
• Grovier, Kelly. "Biography of Antonio Stradivari", The Observer, 22 August 2004. Retrieved on 2008-01-30. 
• Hanscom, Michael (9 December 2003). Stradivarius’ Secret. Eclecticism. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.

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