Chronology

In the 17th and 18th centuries more or less prominent violin makers were to be found all over Europe, especially in Italy: in Milan, Bologna, Venice, Rome, Naples, Palerma. In Mittenwald, Germany, it was the Klotz family. Violin makers also worked in Holland, Paris, England, Norway, Austria, Prague and Spain...

Violin making in Italy, however, gradually declined in the second half of the 18th century; the large schools fell into decadence due to increasingly negligent work. But their decline certainly also had something to do with the end of the Baroque era, and nothing could emphasise more clearly to what extent the violin was representative of the Baroque style product.

A wave of rationalization swept over the corporation of violin makers. Attempts were made to measure the instruments in order to establish optimal norms. The process of manufacture was also rationalised by dividing the work: isolated elements were produced by different artisans and assembled afterwards. Thus industrial manufacture came into being - and still exists in the 20th century - with several people in several places working at home. (Quite obviously such a procedure cannot possibly afford the quality of the timbre all the attention it deserves.) The first violin factory was founded around 1790 at Mirecourt, France, by Dider Nicolas. Afterwards other European cities shared the mass production of bow instruments.

Towards 1800 the attempts to adapt the violin to the new style were unsuccessful, despite some interesting improvements. One should bear in mind that the attempts were in keeping with the new spirit that reigned after the French Revolution (1789-1815) and were unacceptable because the new form of the violin gave it a different timbre that did not correspond to the musicians’ ideal. Moreover, the Romantic Movement of the 19th century soon saw the return to the ancient forms, and the imitation of the old styles (Neo-Gothic, Old German and Neo-Baroque) reached their apogee.

Violin makers began buying large quantities of old Italian violins and began to speculate. They would take everything they could lay their hands on, regardless of the quality... Active violin makers were forced to "produce antique" in order to sell their instruments. They would "cook" the violins (Jean Baptiste Vuillaume) by accelerating the natural drying process through smoking or the use of chemical products.

Then came the series of experiments with the varnish; with time more and more tests were run in an effort to hit upon the ancient compositions of varnish and colour. Remarkable results were obtained on small surfaces but almost never on the entire surface of an instrument! This was proof that the art of varnishing depends less on the material used than on the experienced hands and eyes of the expert violin maker.The pernicious evolution that occurred in the 19th century led to innumerable imitations and even to forgery. J.B. Vuillaume is said to have copied Paganini’s Guarnerius so perfectly, that Paganini himself was not able to recognise the original offhand. Likewise the Stradivarius named "Balfour" much later turned out to be the work of J.B. Vuillaume!

These facts bear testimony to the talent of certain modern violin makers. It is regrettable that such an ingenious man as Vuillaume found himself forced to copy. His typically "red" violins are amongst the greatest marvels of violin making. Thus new masterpieces emerged which were nevertheless only copies or free imitations of ancient instruments.

A new challenge appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, following the increasing interest in Baroque music: as there was a total lack - or at least an insufficiency - of ancient, unaltered violins, violins were built according to the classical concept. Such instruments were presented for the first time in 1930.

Today violin-makers continue to hand-make beautiful, sturdy violins as was done in the old days. There are also factory-made instruments, but they are often rather catastrophic from every point of view! The violin is an infinitely complex instrument whose construction requires all the passion of a violin-maker for his art together with his experience, patience, meticulousness, talent and intuition, if it is to give full satisfaction and joy to the musician who plays it.

Violin Construction