Eight entertaining stories about Stradivari violins. Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati: what makes the violins of Cremona masters so unique What is the secret of Stradivari violins

On December 18, 1737, in his native Cremona, at the age of 93, Antonio Stradivari, a master who left behind an immortal legacy, died. About 650 musical instruments pleasing to the ear of sophisticated fans of classical sound in our days. For almost three centuries, manufacturers of musical instruments have been haunted by the question: why does the sound of Stradivarius violins look like a sonorous and gentle female voice?

Strings of veins

In 1655, Antonio was just one of the numerous students of Italy's best violin maker. Nicolo Amati.

Being at that time just an errand boy for the famous master, Stradivari sincerely did not understand why the butcher, in response to the signor's note, sends him guts.

Amati revealed the first of the secrets of instrument-making to his student: strings are made from the entrails of lambs. According to the technology of that time, they were soaked in an alkaline solution based on soap, dried and then twisted. It was believed that not all strands were suitable for strings. Most best material- these are the veins of 7-8-month-old lambs grown in Central and Southern Italy. Amati taught his wards that the quality of the strings also depends on the pasture, on the time of slaughter, on water, and on many other factors.

Tyrolean tree

At the age of 60, when most people are already retired, Antonio developed a violin model that brought him immortal fame.

His violins sang so unusually that some seriously claimed that the wood from which the instruments were made was the wreckage of Noah's ark.

Scientists suggest that Stradivarius used high-mountain spruces that grew in unusually cold weather. Such a tree had an increased density, which gave a distinctive sound to the instruments made from it.

Stradivari, no doubt, chose wood for his instruments only highest quality: well dried, aged. A special spruce was used for the manufacture of the soundboard, maple was used for the bottom. In addition, he cut the chocks not into boards, but into sectors: "orange slices" were obtained. The researchers came to this conclusion based on the location of the annual layers.

furniture varnish

It was said that Stradivari learned the secret of varnish in one of the pharmacies and improved the recipe by adding "insect wings and dust from the floor of his own workshop" to it.

Another legend says that the Cremonese master prepared his mixtures from the resins of trees that grew in those days in the Tyrolean forests, and later completely cut down.

In fact, everything is quite prosaic: scientists have found that the varnish with which Stradivari covered his famous violins, was no different from what furniture makers used in that era.

At the same time, many instruments were generally "repainted" again during the restoration in the 19th century. Even a risky experiment was carried out: the varnish was washed off with caustic mixtures from one of the violins. The instrument faded, peeled off, but did not sound worse.

Ideal Shape

Stradivarius had a special way of hollowing out soundboards, a unique pattern of holes, a characteristic outline of the outer lines. Historians say that among the violins known today, no two are exactly the same in relief and sound.

In an attempt to repeat the success of Stradivari, the masters went to extreme measures: they opened up an old violin and made ten new ones from it, up to the smallest detail reproducing the form. So, in the USSR in the 1930-1950s, scientific research was carried out on Stradivari violins in order to establish the production of similar instruments on automatic lines. The most successful experimental instruments turned out to be quite comparable in sound to Stradivari's instruments.

The most successful imitations, experts believe, are on the account of Simon Fernando Sacconi. This Italian master bowed instruments, who worked in the first half of the 20th century, used the model of Antonio Stradivari when creating instruments and achieved excellent results.

Talent of the scientist and carver

Stradivari possessed the intuition of a scientist, the dexterous hands of a cabinetmaker, the keen eye of an artist, and the subtle ear of a musician. And all this, multiplied a thousand times by inexhaustible diligence, he put into his creations. Maybe it is in the talent of the master that the secret of the sound of his instruments is hidden?

The master did not seek to imitate anyone, he sought to achieve the beauty and power of sound at any cost. His work became the work of a researcher. His violins are acoustic experiments, some more successful than others. Sometimes the slightest change in the properties of wood forced him to correct the configuration of the decks, their thickness, and bulge. How to do this, the rumor told the master.

And, of course, the value of the "brand" should not be discounted: there is an opinion that about 20 percent of his musical instruments brought Stradivari fame. The rest, less outstanding, were perceived as works of art only because their author is "the same Cremonese genius."

Violins by Antonio Stradivari contain various combinations aluminium, copper and zinc. Probably, the craftsman dipped the wood into a kind of solution that helped the tools to pass through the centuries. This is evidenced by a study by a professor of chemistry at Taiwan University Hwang Ching Tai.

"The use of this kind of chemical alloys was an unusual practice, they remained unknown to subsequent generations of violin makers," - says the scientist.

Experts examined violins at the molecular level. However, they could not determine how much the special coating affects the timbre and sound quality. Only one thing was clear: in the 17th century, Stradivari had an extraordinary knowledge of chemistry for that time. It was established that the tools were treated with a complex mineral composition. Moreover, the preservative was used for soaking wood for a long time.

A comparative analysis shows that chemical treatment of wood was not resorted to in the 18th and XIX centuries. Today, when creating violins, the raw materials are air-dried for several years. Stradivari was one of the few craftsmen in Cremona who used special solutions. This technique is likely to have been lost. Playing a unique composition would allow to inhale new life in modern musical instruments.

The version of Taiwanese researchers is confirmed by Joseph Najiyari from the University of Texas. He believes that the wood of Stradivarius violins was covered with a protective composition against wood pests containing various chemical elements, including borax, used by the Egyptians to embalm mummies.

The greatest master of bow instruments of all time was born in Italy in 1644 in a village near Cremona. The Stradivari family moved here from Cremona when the plague raged there. Here the future violin maker spent his childhood. In his youth, Antonio tried to become a sculptor, artist, woodcarver, which later would help him accurately select the material for his masterpieces. Later he became interested in playing the violin. Unfortunately, disappointment awaited him here too - in the presence of an ideal musical ear his fingers lacked mobility. Fascinated by violins, he got a job in the workshop of Nicolo Amati, the grandson of Andrea Amati, the founder of the famous dynasty of Italian violin makers.

In the workshop, Antonio worked for free, in exchange for the knowledge gained here. Niccolò Amati turned out to be not only an excellent violin maker, but also a good teacher both for A. Stradivari and for another student, A. Guarneri, who also became a famous master over time. In 1666, Stradivari made his first violin, the sounds of which resembled those of his teacher. He wanted to make her different. With each newly created instrument, its sound improves, its quality improves. In 1680 he began to work independently. In search of his own style, he tries to get away from the Amati design, uses new materials, a different way of processing. At his violins different shape: he makes some narrower, others wider, some of them were shorter, others longer. His instruments were decorated with pieces of mother-of-pearl, ivory, images of cupids or flowers. But the main difference between his violins and others was their unusual, special sound.

For many years the master was looking for his own model, improving and improving his violins, until finally, in 1700, he designed his unsurpassed violin. Until the end of his days, the master continued to experiment, but he no longer made any fundamental deviations from the already created model. For many years, the master stubbornly and painstakingly worked out the technique of woodworking, combined different types of wood, getting a consistent sound. different parts violins. For the top deck, Stradivari took spruce, for the bottom - maple. The master was one of the first who noticed that the sound of the violin largely depends on the properties of the varnish that was used to cover the instrument and the wood used for this. Buy matte varnish for wood from different types of wood at affordable price. Due to the elasticity of the lacquer, the soundboards could resonate and "breathe", which gave the timbre a special "volumetric" sound. It is believed that the mixtures were prepared from the resins of trees growing in the Tyrolean forests, however, the exact composition of the varnishes has not been established. Each violin made by a great master, like a living being, had its own name and incomparable unique voice. Not a single master in the world has been able to achieve such perfection.

During his long, 93-year life, Stradivari gave the world more than a thousand violins, each of which is beautiful and unique. The best of them are the instruments created by the master from 1698 to 1725. Unfortunately, there are about 600 genuine instruments in the world today. Attempts by violin makers to create a semblance of a Stradivarius violin were unsuccessful. Antonio Stradivari was married twice. He had three children from his first marriage. They lived in spacious house where the master had his own workshop. Unfortunately, the wife died from one of the epidemics that happened often in those days and claimed the lives of many people. Stradivari married a second time. In this marriage he had six children. His two children, Francesco and Omobono, when they grew up, began to work with their father, where they learned the secrets of his skill. They learned to make magnificent instruments, but none of them reached the perfection of the form and beauty of the sound of their father's violin. The master himself continued to make tools being already a respected old man. Stradivarius died at the age of 94, in 1737. Last violin master of genius was born when he was 93 years old.

The most famous in the world violin maker Antonio Stradivari was born in 1644 in Cremona. It is known that already at the age of thirteen he began to study violin making. By 1667 he had completed his apprenticeship with famous master stringed instruments by Andrea Amati.

Stradivarius made his first violin in 1666, but for more than 30 years he was looking for his own model. Only in the early 1700s did the master construct his own, still unsurpassed, violin. It was elongated in shape and had kinks and irregularities inside the body, thanks to which the sound was enriched due to the appearance a large number high overtones. From that time on, Antonio no longer made fundamental deviations from the developed model, but experimented until the end of his long life. Stradivari died in 1737, but his violins are still highly valued, they practically do not age and do not change their "voice".

During his life, Antonio Stradivari made about 2,500 instruments, of which 732 are indisputably authentic (including 632 violins, 63 cellos and 19 violas). In addition to bow strings, he also made one harp and two guitars.

It is generally accepted that the most best tools were made from 1698 to 1725 (and the best in 1715). They are especially rare and therefore highly valued by musicians and collectors alike.

Many Stradivari instruments are in rich private collections. There are about two dozen Stradivari violins in Russia: several violins are in State collection musical instruments, one - in the Glinka Museum (where it was given by the widow of David Oistrakh, who, in turn, received it as a gift from the English Queen Elizabeth) and a few more - in private possession.

Scientists and musicians around the world are trying to unravel the mystery of the creation of Stradivari violins. Even during his lifetime, the masters said that he sold his soul to the devil, they even said that the tree from which several of the most famous violins, are the wreckage of Noah's ark. There is an opinion that Stradivari violins are so good because a real instrument begins to sound really good only after two or three hundred years.

Many scientists have done hundreds of studies on violins using the latest technologies, but they have not yet succeeded in unraveling the secret of Stradivari violins. It is known that the master soaked wood in sea water and exposed it to complex chemical compounds of plant origin.

At one time, it was believed that the secret of Stradivari was in the form of an instrument, later they began to attach great importance to the material, which is constant for Stradivari violins: spruce for the upper deck, maple for the bottom. They even thought that the whole thing was in varnishes; the elastic lacquer covering the Stradivari violins (due to its soft consistency, small dents and scratches on the surface are quickly healed) allows the soundboards to resonate and "breathe". This gives the timbre its characteristic "surround" sound.

According to legend, the Cremonese masters prepared their mixtures from the resins of some trees that grew in those days in the Tyrolean forests and were soon completely cut down. The exact composition of those varnishes has not been established to this day - even the most sophisticated chemical analysis turned out to be powerless here.

In 2001, biochemist Joseph Nigivare of the University of Texas announced that he had solved the secret of Stradivarius. The scientist came to the conclusion that the special sound of bowed strings was the result of the master's efforts to protect them from the woodworm. Nigivara found out that during the creation of the violin maker, wooden blanks were often struck by a wood borer, and Stradivari resorted to a storm to protect unique musical instruments. This substance, as it were, soldered the molecules of the tree, changing the overall sound of the violin. When Stradivarius died, the wood-borer was already defeated in Northern Italy, and subsequently the borax was no longer used to protect the tree. Thus, according to Nigiwara, the master took the secret with him to the grave.

Scientists wondered why the Stradivarius and Amati violins sound more pleasant to a person than the rest, and found the answer. As it turned out, the frequency of the sound emitted by the first instrument is close to the female singing voice. This was found by comparison between researchers from Taiwan and published article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Stradivarius violins

Antonio Stradivari was born in the middle of the 17th century and became famous for making musical instruments, which are still considered the standard. Of course, most know the violin masters, although in addition to them he also created guitars, violas, cellos, and harps. Stradivari was constantly improving the sound of stringed instruments, changing their shape to a more curved one and decorating the base, thanks to which they became recognizable. The master made the best samples in the period from 1698 to 1725. Antonio was a student of Nicolò Amati, another famous master string instruments. Unfortunately, his works have been poorly preserved: on this moment only a little more than twenty violins and cellos remained "alive". Nicolò's grandfather was the inventor of the modern four-string violin, Andrea Amati.

The secret of sound

The researchers came up with an assumption that the success of the instruments is due to the similarity of their sound with the voices of people. As the authors note, the inspiration for them was the phrase of the Italian musician Francesco Gemignani that the violin should "become a rival to the most perfect of human voices." To test their hypothesis, the scientists recorded a professional violinist who played the scale on fifteen classical Italian instruments the hands of both Stradivari and Amati. After that, another recording was made, this time with sixteen singers playing the same scale. Among them were both men and women.

After that, the amplitude-frequency characteristics of the recordings were measured and the presence of formants, indicators of the sounds of human speech, was analyzed. If we represent the sound as a frequency graph, then the formants will stand out high peaks. The analysis showed that the Amati violin is similar in sound to male voice, and the Stradivari instrument repeats the formants of the female voice.

Apparently, Italian masters were guided by the principles of similarity. It remains only to be amazed at their excellent hearing and, in Once again, to make sure that the imitation of natural natural phenomena really gave rise to high art.

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It can be seen that people who have achieved perfection in any activity almost always have students. After all, knowledge exists to spread it. Someone passes it on to relatives, from generation to generation. Someone gives the same talented craftsmen, and someone just to all those who show interest. But there are also those who last breath trying to hide the secrets of their skill. Anna Baklaga about the mysteries of Antonio Stradivari.

Before realizing your true purpose, Great master went through many professions. He tried to draw, make wooden decorations for furniture, sculpt statues. Antonio Stradivari diligently studied the ornamentation of doors and wall paintings of cathedrals until he realized that he was attracted by music.

Stradivari did not become famous due to insufficient arm mobility.

Despite the diligent practice of playing the violin famous musician he failed to become. Stradivari's hands were not mobile enough to extract a melody of particular purity. However, he had an excellent ear and an ardent desire to improve the sound. Seeing this, Nicolò Amati (Stradivari's teacher) decided to dedicate his ward to the very process of creating a violin. After all, the sound of a musical instrument directly depends on the quality of the assembly.

Soon, Antonio Stradivari found out how thick soundboards should be. Learned to choose the right tree. I understood what role the varnish covering it plays in the sound of the violin, and what is the purpose of the spring inside the instrument. At twenty-two, he made his first violin.

In his violin, Stradivari wanted to hear children's and women's voices

After he managed to create a violin, the sound is no worse than that of his teacher, he began to work independently. Stradivari had a dream to build the most ideal instrument. He was just obsessed with this idea. In the future violin, the master wanted to hear the sounds of children's and women's voices.

Before achieving the desired result, Antonio Stradivari went through thousands of options. The most important thing was to find the right kind of wood. Each tree resonates differently, and he searched by distinguishing them by acoustic properties. Great importance it also had the month in which the trunk was cut down. For example, if in spring or summer, then there was a possibility that the tree would ruin everything, since it would have a lot of juice. For real good tree came across rarely. Often, the master carefully used one barrel for several years.

The sound of the future violin directly depended on the composition of the varnish with which the instrument was coated. And not only from the varnish, but also from the primer that needs to cover the tree so that the varnish does not soak into it. The master weighed the details of the violin trying to find the best proportion between the lower and upper deck. It was a long and painstaking job. Many tried and tested options long years calculations went into making a violin unsurpassed in sound quality. And only at the age of fifty-six he managed to construct it. It was elongated in shape and had kinks and irregularities inside the body, due to which the sound was enriched due to the appearance of a large number of high overtones.

Stradivari created the perfect instrument at the age of 56

However, in addition to excellent sound, his instruments were famous unusual view. He skillfully decorated them with all sorts of drawings. All violins were different: short, long, narrow, wide. Later he began to make other stringed instruments- cello, harp and guitar. Thanks to his work, he achieved fame and honor. Kings and nobles ordered him instruments that were considered the best in Europe. During his life, Antonio Stradivari made about 2,500 instruments. Of these, 732 originals have been preserved.

For example, the famous cello called "Bass of Spain" or the most magnificent creation of the master - the violin "Messiah" and the violin "Muntz", according to the inscription on which (1736. D'anni 92) it was calculated that the master was born in 1644.

However, despite the beauty that he created, as a person, he was remembered as silent and sullen. To his contemporaries, he seemed aloof and stingy. Perhaps he was like that because of the constant hard work, or maybe he was simply envied.

Antonio Stradivari died at ninety-three. But until the end of his long life, he continued to make instruments. His works are admired and appreciated to this day. Unfortunately, the master did not see worthy successors the knowledge he has acquired. IN literally words, he took it with him to the grave.

Stradivari made about 2500 instruments, 732 originals have been preserved

The most interesting thing is that the violins he made practically do not age and do not change their sound. It is known that the master soaked wood in sea water and exposed it to complex chemical compounds of plant origin. However, to define chemical composition primer and varnish, applied to his tools, still fails. Using the work of Stradivari as an example, scientists have conducted many studies and attempts to make a similar violin. Until now, no one has been able to achieve that perfect sound, like the original creations of the master.

Many Stradivari instruments are in rich private collections. There are about two dozen violins by the master in Russia: several violins are in the State Collection of Musical Instruments, one is in the Glinka Museum, and a few more are privately owned.