Every career holds passionate men who love their craft. Those that I'm speaking of become so consumed by their work that they forever change how the world views their craft. As luthiers, the Stradivari family was a prime example of this to such a degree that their techniques were analyzed to attempt reproduction. The word Stradivarius has even become a term for excellence.
Most of this wasn't the family's work as a whole, but Antonio Stradivari's. He was born in 1644 in Italy. Some of his skills were passed on through his progeny, but not to the same degree.
It is not known exactly what processes were used or what made these instruments so great. Many theories exist about this and a few experiments have been done. A few theories focus on what the violins were made of. There was a "little iceage" in Europe around this time that made trees grow with higher density wood. The higher density in violins was said to give it a superior quality. The other common theory, also relating to a higher density, was that the wood came from maple trees in northern Croatia.
As far as the processes that are rumored to make these violins so great are concerned, it was found that certain chemicals used to treat the wood resulted in a higher quality sound. These chemicals were suspected to be oxidizing agents. Whether these wood treatments were for the purposes of sound or to stave off worms that liked to eat through the wood is a question still up for grabs. The exact chemicals used are not yet known. This is not due to the lack of science, but due to the lack of samples to analyze.
Antonio Stradivari produced approximately 1,200 violins during the course of his life. Only about 600 remain today. Each violin is worth a huge amount, up to $5 million a piece, but estimates vary. In October 2010 one was sold for a record $3.6 million. This was the Molitor, created in 1697 and supposedly owned by Napoleon Bonaparte. Between the years 1700 and 1720 were known as Stradivari's "golden period" and may sell for more in good condition.
Is the sound quality really that good? Their quality and worth has become more controversial over time. Blind tests have been done in which listeners were requested to guess which violin was the Stradivarius, by sound, out of a lineup. In one test there were four violins, the Stradivarius included, all from various makers and time periods. None could correctly guess more than two correctly. Two even believed that the violin of the group that was made in the 1900's was the Stradivarius.
Another test was done in 2009 where a Stradivarius violin was pitted against four of Ronheimer's more modern violins. The majority of the listeners mistook one of Ronheimer's violins as the Stradivarius.
So does this mean that the quality of the widely-loved Stradivarius violins is a fluke or that Antonio Stradivari didn't create excellent violins? I wouldn't go that far, but the quality may have been exaggerated. The rumors of quality may have been started due to his location or connections. It is also possible that many of the violins have lost some sound quality due to years of wear and tear. Until more studies are done, it is up to the best guess of the listener.
Most of this wasn't the family's work as a whole, but Antonio Stradivari's. He was born in 1644 in Italy. Some of his skills were passed on through his progeny, but not to the same degree.
It is not known exactly what processes were used or what made these instruments so great. Many theories exist about this and a few experiments have been done. A few theories focus on what the violins were made of. There was a "little iceage" in Europe around this time that made trees grow with higher density wood. The higher density in violins was said to give it a superior quality. The other common theory, also relating to a higher density, was that the wood came from maple trees in northern Croatia.
As far as the processes that are rumored to make these violins so great are concerned, it was found that certain chemicals used to treat the wood resulted in a higher quality sound. These chemicals were suspected to be oxidizing agents. Whether these wood treatments were for the purposes of sound or to stave off worms that liked to eat through the wood is a question still up for grabs. The exact chemicals used are not yet known. This is not due to the lack of science, but due to the lack of samples to analyze.
Antonio Stradivari produced approximately 1,200 violins during the course of his life. Only about 600 remain today. Each violin is worth a huge amount, up to $5 million a piece, but estimates vary. In October 2010 one was sold for a record $3.6 million. This was the Molitor, created in 1697 and supposedly owned by Napoleon Bonaparte. Between the years 1700 and 1720 were known as Stradivari's "golden period" and may sell for more in good condition.
Is the sound quality really that good? Their quality and worth has become more controversial over time. Blind tests have been done in which listeners were requested to guess which violin was the Stradivarius, by sound, out of a lineup. In one test there were four violins, the Stradivarius included, all from various makers and time periods. None could correctly guess more than two correctly. Two even believed that the violin of the group that was made in the 1900's was the Stradivarius.
Another test was done in 2009 where a Stradivarius violin was pitted against four of Ronheimer's more modern violins. The majority of the listeners mistook one of Ronheimer's violins as the Stradivarius.
So does this mean that the quality of the widely-loved Stradivarius violins is a fluke or that Antonio Stradivari didn't create excellent violins? I wouldn't go that far, but the quality may have been exaggerated. The rumors of quality may have been started due to his location or connections. It is also possible that many of the violins have lost some sound quality due to years of wear and tear. Until more studies are done, it is up to the best guess of the listener.
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