Venetus
fecit Brixiae 1738 This places its
origin in the northern Italian town of Brescia, the
birthplace of the violin as we now know it. This was
the classical golden age of violin making. In nearby
Cremona, Antonio Stradivari had just passed away and
Guarnari "Del Gesu" was still at the height of his
powers. This violin, however, shares little of the
superb craftsmanship and artistic perfection of some
of its more famous contemporaries. In outline, it
displays not the subtle complexity of curves of the
Cremonese instruments, but rather resembles more the
swollen form of an old wooden shoe. The thin top is a
single piece of pine of coarse wide grain on the
treble side , spreading even wider on the bass side to
no more than three lines per inch. The back is of
plain slab maple, figured only by a large knot in the
lower bout which has cracked and split out to the
bottom edge. Over the years this defect, under the
pressure of the soundpost, has settled into a very
pronounced "hunch" in the back and a corresponding
sinking of the top on one side giving the bridge a
decided list to the treble side. The varnish is a
rough brown, revealing a surface severely scored by
scraper marks. The neck is not original and features a
regularly flamed maple not in keeping with the
haphazard style of the rest of the instrument. And
yet, despite all the "faults" in design, materials,
and workmanship, it does play, after some 250 years,
with a quite pleasant and open sound. This homely creature
was not made with long painstaking labor for one of
the crowned heads of Europe, but gives the impression
rather of a maker working roughly and quickly with
whatever affordable materials were at hand, not
concerned so much with masterpieces as with paying the
bills; a maker supplying the townspeople and country
folk with simple and affordable instruments, hands
guided by long experience of what works, what is
necessary and what can be done without. Or perhaps
this is the work of a struggling beginner. Since this
is the first year from which we have evidence of this
maker's career, we may have here an early and crude
attempt at the noble art which at that time was
achieving its greatest accomplishments. For over 250 years
this fiddle has been gathering secrets, passing
through generations of owners. It may never have seen
the inside of a great concert hall, the goal of many
of its more refined cousins. Instead, I imagine scenes
of the market-place, the country dance, and the
fireside after a day of hard work. it has been through
wars and revolutions, famine and feast, the rise and
fall of nations. Despite its crude appearance, humble
beginnings and obvious scars and deformities, its
gentle voice alone has caused it to be protected and
cared for, its song bearing witness now for two and a
half centuries. by
Otis
Tomas
by
Otis Tomas
last upddate
8/6/98