The secret of Antonio Stradivari's violins. Reference

Three centuries have passed since the death of the great Italian string maker Antonio Stradivari, and the secret of making his instruments has not been revealed. The sound of the violins he made, like the singing of an angel, lifts the listener to heaven.

Youth of Stradivarius

As a child, Antonio tried to express with his voice what was hidden in his heart, but the boy did not do it very well, and people simply mocked him. The strange child constantly carried a small penknife with him, with which he carved various wooden figures. The boy's parents wished him a career as a cabinet maker. At the age of eleven, Stradivari learned that in their hometown of Cremona lived a famous man who was considered the best business in all of Italy. Antonio loved music, so the choice of profession was obvious. The boy became Amati's student.

Carier start

In 1655, Stradivari was just one of the master's many students. At first, his duties included delivering messages to the milkman, butcher and wood suppliers. The teacher, of course, shared his secrets with the children, but the most important ones, thanks to which the violin had a unique sound, he told only to his eldest son, because it was, in fact, a family craft. The first serious task for young Stradivarius was the manufacture of strings, which he made from the veins of lambs; the best were obtained from 7-8 month old animals. The next secret was the quality and type of wood. The most suitable wood for making the upper part of the violin was considered to be spruce trees grown in the Swiss Alps; the lower part was made of maple. He created his first Stradivarius violin at the age of 22. Antonio carefully honed his skills with each new instrument, but he was still working in someone else's workshop.

Short-lived happiness

Stradivari opened his business only at the age of 40, but Stradivari's violin was still a semblance of his teacher's instruments. At the same age, he married Francesca Ferrabochi, and she gave him five children. But the master’s happiness was short-lived, because the plague came to their city. His wife and all five children fell ill and died. Even the Stradivarius violin no longer pleased him; out of despair, he almost never played or made instruments.

Back to life

After the epidemic, one of his students knocked on Antonio Stradivari's house with sad news. The boy's parents died, and he could not study with the master due to lack of funds. Antonio took pity on the young man and took him into his house, later adopting him. Once again Stradivari felt the taste of life, he wanted to create something extraordinary. Antonio decided to create unique violins that were different from others in sound. The master’s dreams came true only at the age of sixty. The Stradivarius violin had a flying, unearthly sound that no one can reproduce to this day.

The mystery and unearthly beauty of the sound of the master’s violins gave rise to all sorts of gossip; they said that the old man had sold his soul to the devil, and that he was creating instruments from the wreckage of Noah’s Ark. Although the reason lay in something completely different: incredible hard work and love for one’s creations.

Cost of an unusual instrument

The Stradivarius violin, which was priced at 166 Cremonese lire (about $700) during the master's lifetime, is now worth about $5 million. If you look from the point of view of value for art, then the works of the master are priceless.

How many Stradivarius violins are left on the planet?

Antonio was an incredible workaholic, a genius creating instruments until his death at 93 years old. Stradivari created up to 25 violin instruments per year. Today's best craftsmen make no more than 3-4 pieces by hand. The maestro made about 2,500 violins, violas, and cellos in total, but only 630-650 instruments have survived to this day, most of which are violins.

It can be noted that people who have achieved perfection in any activity almost always have students. After all, knowledge exists in order to disseminate it. Someone passes it on to their relatives, from generation to generation. Some pass it on to equally talented craftsmen, while others simply pass it on to all those who show interest. But there are also those who try to hide the secrets of their skills until their last breath. Anna Baklaga about the mysteries of Antonio Stradivari.

Before understanding his true purpose, the great master went through many professions. He tried painting, making wooden decorations for furniture, and sculpting statues. Antonio Stradivari diligently studied the ornamentation of doors and wall paintings of cathedrals until he realized that he was attracted to music.

Stradivarius did not become famous due to insufficient mobility of his hands

Despite diligently practicing the violin, he failed to become a famous musician. Stradivari's hands were not mobile enough to produce a particularly pure melody. However, he had excellent hearing and a burning desire to improve sound. Seeing this, Nicolo Amati (Stradivari's teacher) decided to initiate his student into the process of creating a violin. After all, the sound of a musical instrument directly depends on the quality of the build.

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

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

After he managed to create a violin that sounded no worse than his teacher’s, he began to work on his own. Stradivarius had a dream to build the most ideal instrument. He was simply 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 type of wood. Each tree resonates differently, and he looked to differentiate them by their acoustic properties. It was also important what month the trunk was cut down. For example, if it was spring or summer, then there was a chance that the tree would ruin everything, since it would have a lot of sap. It was rare to come across a truly good tree. 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 be used to cover the wood so that the varnish is not absorbed into it. The master weighed the parts of the violin trying to find the best proportion between the lower and upper soundboard. It was long and painstaking work. Many tested options and many years of calculations went into making a violin unsurpassed in sound qualities. And only at the age of fifty-six did he manage 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 their excellent sound, his instruments were famous for their unusual appearance. He skillfully decorated them with all sorts of designs. All violins were different: short, long, narrow, wide. Later he began making 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 survived.

For example, the famous cello called “Bass of Spain” or the master’s most magnificent creation – the “Messiah” violin and the “Münz” violin, from 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 is remembered as silent and gloomy. To his contemporaries he seemed aloof and stingy. Perhaps he was like this because of constant hard work, or maybe they were just jealous of him.

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

Stradivarius made about 2,500 instruments, 732 originals survive

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 the wood in sea water and exposed it to complex chemical compounds of plant origin. However, it is still not possible to determine the chemical composition of the primer and varnish applied to his instruments. Using the example of Stradivari's work, scientists conducted many studies and attempts to make a similar violin. Until now, no one has been able to achieve that perfect sound like the master’s original creations.

Many Stradivarius 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 several more are in private ownership.

Biography

Antonio Stradivari is believed to have been born in 1644, although his exact date of birth is not recorded. He was born in Cremona. His parents were Alessandro Stradivari (Italian: Alessandro Stradivari) and Anna Moroni (Italian: Anna Moroni). It is believed that from 1657 to 1667 he served as an unpaid apprentice to Nicolo Amati, that is, he did menial work. Stradivari married on July 1, 1667 and settled in a fisherman's house (Casa del pescatore), where he opened his own workshop. From this time on, namely from 1667, Antonio does not call himself Amati's student on the labels.

In 1681, Stradivari bought a house located next to the Dominican monastery in Cremona. The house had three floors, each of them had three windows overlooking the square, as well as a basement and mezzanine; in addition, on the roof there was a square extension, characteristic of Cremona, open on both sides - on the south and west and was called by the Cremonese "seccador" "(drying room), it was where the master dried the violins after painting and often worked there in good weather. Stradivari spent the rest of his life in this house.

This house survived untouched until 1880, but then was bought by the owner of a neighboring restaurant and connected to the restaurant, and in the workshop of Stradivarius, the owner of the restaurant located a billiard room.

From the memories of his contemporaries, the master was tall, thin, and always wore a white cap on his head; woolen in winter and paper in summer, as well as a white leather apron when working. Thanks to his work and frugality, the master amassed such a decent fortune that a saying appeared in Cremona: “Rich as Stradivarius.”

On May 20, 1698, Stradivari's wife died, the funeral was lavish, and the master spent a large sum of 182 lire for that time. The following year, 1699, on August 24, Stradivari married a second time. From his first and second marriage, the master had 11 children, and only two, Francesco and Omobono, were engaged in their father’s art, but were able to insignificantly approach their father’s level of skill.

Stradivari had only three students, his two sons - Francesco and Omobono - and Carlo Bergonzi.

Antonio Stradivari died at the age of 93 and was buried on December 10, 1737, in the cemetery of the Dominican monastery (the date of death, December 10, 1737, is indicated on page 96. lines 1 and 2 in the book by E. Vitacek “Essays on the History of Making Bowed Instruments,” edited B. Dobrokhotova, 1952).

In 1869, the Dominican monastery on the territory where Stradivari was buried was abolished, the remains of all the deceased were dug up and buried in one common grave, outside the city. Thus, the ashes of the great master disappeared without a trace.

Stradivarius made the first violin produced under his own name in 1666 and until 1683 strictly adhered to the Amati style, but from 1688 the master began to experiment and the closer to 1690 his instruments became larger. The violins of this period received the conventional name “amatize”. A sharp departure from the Amati school was revealed only in 1691. and its own type of violin was born. These are the so-called elongated violins (allonge) in which the maple is already exclusively radial cut and the timbre of the sound from soprano changes to mezzo-soprano, but in 1698 he again returned for a short time to the Amati model and only around 1704 at the age of 60 Stradivarius finally constructed his own model of a violin, which no one has yet been able to surpass in perfection. This period lasted from 1704 to 1725, about 21 years. In this interval, two periods are distinguished….from 1704 to 1717. when the spruce on the instruments has a silky shine, regular layering and dense, and the lower soundboards are most often made of one piece. Beginning in 1717, the master began to use the Haselfichte spruce variety for his decks.

In addition to violins, Stradivari also made guitars, violas, cellos and even made one harp - according to various catalogs, the number of his works reaches 1150 units, but given that a significant number of his instruments disappeared under the influence of various disasters, the number of his instruments could reach 500 units .

Stradivarius instruments

List of instruments created by Antonio Stradivari

The most outstanding instruments were made between 1704 and 1725. Stradivarius violins from this period are highly prized.

To date, about 650 instruments made by Stradivarius have been preserved, including about 450 violins.

His instruments are distinguished by a characteristic inscription in Latin: Antonius Stradivarius Cremonenfis Faciebat Anno 1732, the same inscription appears on the label of a violin from 1697.

On the labels of 1736, the master marked “d ’ anni 92" on the labels of 1737 marked "d ’ anni 93” that is, your age.

5. The museum also has a violin from 1708. There is no label on it, but the label “Brought from Rome by Koretsky to me since 1796 by Prince Shakhovskoy” is pasted on. It was sold to Tretyakov, who bequeathed it to the Rumyantsev Museum, from there it went to the Moscow Conservatory and in 1921 was moved to the State Collection.

6. There is also a violin from 1711 in the collection, which is the best preserved.

7. There is also a medium sized violin with a fake top. The violin was bought by Tretyakov abroad and after his death moved to the Moscow Conservatory, and then in 1921 to the State Collection.

8. The State Collection also has a viola with a label dated 1715 by Stradivarius. It belonged to Count Matvey Yuryevich Venlgorsky and was played for some time by the Belgian violinist (violist?) Henri Vietun (1820-1881).

9. Next in the collection is a cello from 1725. The cello was bought in Paris from Rambaud by the St. Petersburg artist Vorobyov and brought to Russia around 1845.

10. and 11. The State Collection also has two Stradivarius violins, presumably from the period after 1725. The labels have been cleaned and the dates have been replaced.

One of these violins was restored in 1806 by St. Petersburg masters, brothers Franz and Moritz Steininger. It belonged to Prince Trubetskoy, which then came to K. Tretyakov and from him to the Conservatory and then in 1921 to the State Collection.

12. The State Collection also contains a violin from 1736, made by the master a year before his death, at the age of 92. That year Stradivarius made only 4 violins. Prince Yusupov bought this violin in Italy and it was kept in his family until 1918. The last scion of the Sumarokov-Elston family fled to Paris, but walled up the violin in one of the basements of his palace on the Moika, where it was found and transferred to the State Collection. (the list is presented by E. Vitachek in the book “Essays on the history of making bowed instruments”, 1952, edited by B. Dobrokhotov, pp. 213-222).

Also known is the collection of Stradivarius instruments belonging to the King of Spain. Exhibited at the Museum of Musical Instruments of the Royal Palace of Madrid:

Violin ("Boissier" (1713), which belonged to Boissier, a Swiss violinist at the court of the Spanish king Charles III, later to Pablo Sarasate. Since 1908 it has been kept in the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid.)
Also owned by the Spanish Crown is the Spanish Quartet (Cuarteto Palatino). It originally existed as a quintet, but the tenor was subsequently lost during the French Revolution. It was intended as a gift to the Spanish king Philip V, who was in Cremona in 1702, but the instruments did not leave the workshop during the life of Antonio Stradivari. The quartet consists of the inlaid instruments "Spanish I" (1709), "Spanish II" (1709), contralto "Spanish Court" (1696) and cello "Spanish Court" (1694) and is now kept in the Royal Palace of Madrid.

In the Museum of Musical Instruments of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia there is a so-called Tuscan violin, also part of the Medici quintet.

Violins and cellos by name with a short history:

"Delfino" (1714) - "Dolphin". Belonged to Jascha Heifetz. Owned by Nippon Music Foundation since 2000.
The inlaid Stradivarius violin “Le Lever du Soleil” (“Sunrise”) (1677) - “Sunrise”, has been in the Museum of Historical Curiosities in Vienna since 2004.
"Marquis de Corberon, Loeb" (1726). It belonged to the French ambassador at the court of Catherine II, Marquis de Corberon. Currently belongs to the Royal Academy of Music in London.
"Viotti" (1709). It belonged to the Italian violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824). Since 2005 he has been at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
"Provigny" (1716). Located in the Paris Music Museum (Cité de la Musique, Musée de la Musique).
"Davidoff" (1708). It belonged to the Russian cellist Karl Davydov (1838-1889). Located in the Paris Music Museum (Cité de la Musique, Musée de la Musique).
"Messiah" (1716) - "Messiah". Since 1939 it has been kept in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
"Mendelssohn" (1709). Stolen from Deutsche Bank during the occupation of Berlin.
"Sleeping Beauty" (1704) - "Sleeping Beauty." Since 1995 it has been owned by Landeskreditbank Baden Württemburg and is owned by violinist Isabelle Faust.
"Betts" (1704). In 1830-1852 it belonged to Arthur Betts. Since 1936 it has been kept in the Library of Congress.
"Earl of Plymouth, Kreisler" (1711). It belonged to the Earl of Plymouth, the Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962). Since 1965 it has been in the possession of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
"Le Brun" (1712). Belonged to Nicolo Paganini, Charles le Brun (Paris). Sold at auction in 2008.
"Eldina Bligh" (1712). Until 1912 it belonged to Eldina Bly. Owned by Virgil C. Brink since 1945.
"Pingrille" (1713). Since 1979 it has belonged to violinist Gabriel Banat, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic.
"Lipinski" (1715). It belonged to Giuseppe Tartini, the Polish violinist Karol Joseph Lipinski (1790-1861). Sold in 2007.
"David Hochstein, Nowell, Joachim" (1715). It belonged to the Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim (1831-1907). Since 1997, it has been owned by William Palmer.
"Emperor" (1715) - "Emperor". It belonged to the Hungarian violinist Jan Kubelik (1880-1940).
"Titian" (1715) - "Titian". It got its name because of the transparent red-orange varnish, reminiscent of the paints of Titian Vecellio. In the possession of Irwin Miller.
"Baron Knoop" (1715). Belonged to Baron Johann Knoop (1846-1918). Since 1992, owned by David L. Fulton.
"Milstein" (1716). It belonged to the American violinist of Ukrainian origin Nathan Milstein (1903-1992). Since 2006 it has been owned by Jerry Cole.
"Cessole" (1716). It belonged to a close friend of Nicolo Paganini, Count Cessola from Florence.
"Marquis de Riviere" (1718). In the 19th century it belonged to the Marquis de Riviere. Sold in 1993.
"Lady Blunt" "Lady Blunt" (1721). Belonged to the granddaughter of the poet Lord Byron, Lady Anne Blunt from 1864 to 1895 (age 31). This violin was also owned by the famous Parisian master Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, collectors - Richard Bennett, Baron Knoop, Sam Bloomfield, as well as the Nippon Music Foundation. Sold in June 2012 at auction at the Tarisio auction house for a price of $15,890,000.
"King Maximilian, Unico" (1709). It belonged to the Bavarian king Maximilian Joseph in 1806-1826. Was in the Axel Springer Foundation since 1966, stolen.
"Leonora Jackson" (1714). From 1904 to 1919 it belonged to violinist Leonora Jackson McKim. Since 1984, owned by Dr. William & Professor Judy Sloan.
"Cremonese" (1715) - "Cremonese". Since 1961 it belongs to the city of Cremona.
"Colossus" (1716) - "Colossus". It belonged to Viotti, violinist Luigi Alberto Bianchi, and was stolen in 1998.
"Nachez" (1716). It belonged to violinist Tivador Nashez. Sold in 2003.
"Eck" (1717). It belonged to the German violinist Franz Eck (1774-1804). Sold in 1992.
"Hausmann" (1724). It belonged to cellist Georg Hausmann (1814-1861). Sold at auction for $4,500,000.

Reference: These four Stradivarius instruments were purchased by Mrs. Huguette Clark (daughter of copper magnate, senator, and banker from Montana, William A. Clark. She died in 2011 in New York at the age of 104). The first violin "Comte Cozio di Salabue" was made by Stradivarius in 1727 and was played by Paganini after he acquired it from Count Cozio de Salabue in 1817. The second violin "Desaint" was made by Stradivarius in 1680 in the "amatize" style.

The viola, "Mendelssohn", was made in 1731, Stradivari at 86 years old. This is one of the few surviving Strad violas (another shorter name for Stradivarius instruments). Cello - "Ladenburg" 1736. It belonged to the Mendelssohn family before becoming the property of Paganini. These instruments are currently owned by the Nippon Music Foundation.

Other Stradivarius are also used by modern musicians. Cello "Davidoff" (1708), currently played by Yo-Yo Ma. The cello “Duport” (1711) belonged to the French cellist Jean Pierre Duport (1741-1818), but was in the possession of Mstislav Rostropovich from 1974 to 2007. Violin "Comtesse de Polignac" (1699), used by Gil Shaham. Violin "Sinsheimer, Perlman" (1714). belonged to violinists Bernard Sinsheimer, Itzhak Perlman, Uto Ugi. Sold at auction in 2005. Violin "Soil" (1714). It belonged to Amedee Soil, the Belgian consul in Moscow in the period 1874-1911. Since 1986, in the possession of violinist Itzhak Perlman.

Antonio Stradivari or Stradivarius (1644 - December 18, 1737) - famous master of string instruments, student of Nicolo Amati. About 650 instruments of his work have survived.
Having tried many professions, he experienced failure everywhere. He wanted to become a sculptor, like Michelangelo; the lines of his statues were elegant, but their faces were not expressive. He abandoned this craft, earned his living by carving wood, making wooden decorations for rich furniture, and became addicted to drawing; with the greatest suffering he studied the ornamentation of doors and wall paintings of cathedrals and the drawings of great masters. Then he was attracted to music and decided to become a musician. He studied violin playing hard; but the fingers lacked fluency and lightness, and the sound of the violin was dull and harsh. They said about him: " Musician's ear, carver's hands". And he gave up the craft of a musician. But he did not forget it.
Biography
Antonio Stradivari was born around 1644 in a small settlement near Cremona in the family of Alexandro Stradivari and Anna Moroni. His parents were from Cremona. But at this time, a terrible plague was raging in the southern part of Italy, which reached their city. People fled wherever they could. So the Stradivarius family settled near Cremona, and they never returned there again. The future great master spent his childhood there. For a long time, young Antonio could not decide what to do. He tried to be a sculptor, painter, woodcarver, and violinist. But in order to seriously engage in music, he lacked the mobility of his fingers, despite the fact that his ear for music was perfect. Violins interested him, and at the age of 18 Antonio became a free student of the well-known violin maker Nicolo Amati in Italy. At the first stage of his stay with Amati, Stradivari performed only the most menial work and was, as they say, at the beck and call of a recognized master. But one day Nicolo Amati saw Antonio carving f-holes on a useless piece of wood. And from that moment on, Antonio began to comprehend Amati’s skill, to learn how to choose wood, how to make maple or spruce sing, how thick the soundboards should be, what the purpose of the spring inside the instrument is, and what role the varnish covering it has in the sound of the violin. With persistence, Stradivarius achieved perfection in the sound of the violin. And when he heard that his violin sang the same way as Master Nicolo’s, he was overcome by the desire to make it different. Stradivari wanted to hear the sounds of women's and children's voices in it. But for a long time he was unable to implement his idea. In 1680, Stradivarius began working independently.
In addition to the perfection of sound, his instruments were distinguished by their unusual design, as they would say today. All the violins were different, some he made narrower, others wider, some were shorter, some longer. Stradivarius decorated his instruments with pieces of mother-of-pearl, ebony, ivory, and images of flowers or cupids. They had a special sound; contemporaries compared the sound of his violins with the voice of a girl in a Cremona square. All this spoke of his own style of work, and therefore distinguished it from many others. By the age of forty, Stradivarius was very rich and famous. The Italians said: “Rich as Stradivarius.”
It was difficult to call his personal life happy. He was widowed early and lost two adult sons, whom he hoped to make the support of his own old age, to reveal to them the secret of his skill and to pass on everything that he had achieved throughout his long life. However, he still has four more sons. Francesco and Omobono, although they worked with him, did not have his instincts, much less his talent. They just tried to copy him. The third son, Paolo, did not understand his craft at all, he was carried away by trade, and he was extremely far from art. The fourth son, Giuseppe, became a monk. Stradivarius was 76 years old. He lived to a ripe old age and achieved great respect and wealth. But thinking about his family, Antonio became increasingly gloomy. The violins understood and obeyed him much more than their own sons, and he knew how to feel them, which could not be said about his children. Stradivari left them all his acquired property, they will acquire good houses; but there was no one to leave the secret of his mastery to Stradivarius. For only a true master can pass on his experience and part of his talent; he did not feel even a grain of such abilities in his sons. He did not want to share with them the subtle ways of composing varnishes, recording the unevenness of the decks. Believing that all the nuances that he meticulously collected and learned over 70 years can only help, teach him to be a master and feel the tree as if it were alive, never. Calm does not leave Stradivarius. He will make tools until the last days of his life, get up early, sit for hours in the laboratory and at the workbench. Despite the fact that every month it becomes more and more difficult for him to finish the violin he started. He stopped thinking about everything that had previously prevented him from sleeping peacefully. The master finally decided that he would take his secrets with him to the grave. It is better to let them remain undiscovered forever than to pass on knowledge to those who have neither talent, nor love, nor courage. He already gave a lot to his family, they are rich, they still have his noble name and his good reputation. Over his long life, he made just over a thousand instruments, which were sold all over the world. In addition to violins, Stradivari made violas, guitars, cellos, and even made a harp. He was satisfied with the outcome of his journey, and therefore left calmly.
On December 18, 1737, Stradivari's heart stopped. Dressed in black robes with hoods, belted with ropes, and wearing rough wooden sandals, the monks of the Dominican order walked behind the hearse, in whose church the master bought a crypt for the burial of himself and his family during his lifetime. The sons walked solemnly and importantly behind the coffin, followed by the disciples. None of them ever learned the secret of the great master Antonio Stradivari.
The Mystery of Antonio Stradivari
The violin is in the hands of a wonderful musician, responding to his inspiration with a clear, deep voice. Like a living being, she told us about grief and joy, about tragedy and happiness, and everyone understood her in their own way, and she found her own response in everyone’s soul. Light golden, elegant, it sparkled with all its facets, and only a few knew that in fact its age was measured in centuries and that it was given to the musician from the State Collection only for this tour. This violin had no price: like any masterpiece, it was priceless. After two and a half centuries, it has retained all the nuances of its extraordinary sound. She brought to us the “soul of Stradivarius”... He was not loved for his stinginess and aloofness. They envied him - his wealth and fame. When he remarried at 55, a year after his wife's death, he was maligned. Not all of his eleven children survived, but when one of them died, they did not rush to him with words of consolation and sympathy. And they were also afraid of him, because he was terrible in his obsession: no one had ever seen him do nothing, not once in all nine decades of his life. Along with the first rays of the gentle Italian sun, he appeared on the roof of his three-story house in St. Domenic Square and hung up his tools; at sunset he went out to take them off. The students have long gone home, the sons helping with their work have gone to bed, and in the window of the workshop on the first floor there is a light shining, and every now and then the tall, thin figure of the great master flashes.
For almost two centuries, the Cremona school of violin makers accumulated experience in creating instruments that the European stage had never seen before. How many generations of masters had to change, passing on the secrets of their craft to each other, so that he, Stradivarius, could finally appear, who could not only absorb their knowledge, but also bring the common work to perfection!
80 years of intense, never-ending work. When my hands got tired, my brain continued to work. Antonio dreamed that he had to make a violin unsurpassed in its sound qualities, and he made it, although it took his whole life. At the age of 13, he glued his first instrument with the brilliant Nicolo Amati, but another 10 long years passed until, having opened his own workshop, he allowed himself not to be called a student on violin etiquette, and another 20 years, when he first made an instrument different from those what his teacher did.

What did he change then? Yes, he made the model longer, but a little narrower. The sound timbre became lower. And then he began to weigh the parts of the violin. It seemed to him that he was about to find in this flat instrument the best proportion between the upper soundboard and the lower one. Then the idea appeared that the sound depended on the thickness of the decks. Dozens of prototypes were made, and it turned out that the thinner the deck, the lower the tone. But can the thickness be the same throughout? What should it be like then? Long years of calculations, experiments: somewhere, in some place a little thicker, somewhere a little thinner, just a fraction of a millimeter - and a different sound. Was it really necessary to live 93 years to finally establish a system by which the thickness of the decks in different places is determined, the change from the center to the edges? Hundreds and thousands of options and, finally, the conclusion - the top part should be made of spruce, and not from Saxon, which has a lot of resin, but from Tyrolean or Italian. And for interior decoration, alder and linden will be suitable. How good maple works! It has such a beautiful cut design: the instrument should be elegant. Italian maple has a special shine, the surface of its cuts is silky, but you only need to take the trunk that was cut down in January, otherwise there will be a lot of juice in it - this will ruin everything.
Antonio is convinced that his violins should last for centuries. Stradivarius learned to choose wood accurately. But he rarely came across a good tree; he sometimes used one trunk for a whole decade, carefully selecting piece by piece. It’s better to glue it, take a chance with the design - as long as it sounds. And only he knew which tree to choose: young, old, or even with wormholes. When did he create his final model? In 1704? Decades of work and research before a problem with many unknowns was solved. Yes, he found the main unknown when he was already 60 years old: he proved that its “voice” depends on the composition of the varnish with which the instrument is coated. And not only from the varnish, but also from the primer that needs to be used to cover the wood so that the varnish is not absorbed into it. And who can suggest their composition - scientists, alchemists? How much do they know about this? About one and a half thousand The instruments came from the workshop of the great Antonio Stradivari, and he made every single one with his own hands. And how much did he then reject in the process of endless searches?! This is what took 80 years, spent like one day, alone with the singing tree. He achieved fame and glory. He is commissioned for instruments - and not only violins, but also violas and viols - by kings and nobles. His creations are the best of all that was created in Europe; it was they who confirmed the superiority of the “Italian timbre” inherent only to them...
So what is the master dissatisfied with, what makes him suffer?
For centuries, the skill of making musical instruments has been passed down by inheritance: from grandfather to father, from father to son, grandson. In Northern Italy, in Brescia, there was a dynasty of violin makers, originating from Gasparo Bertolotti. Here in Cremona, a dynasty has existed for 200 years, founded by Andrea Amati, whose grandson Nicola, who lived 88 years, taught Stradivarius this craft. Nikola's son, violin maker Girolami Amati, is still alive; he is only five years younger than Stradivari. Even Andrea Guarneri, with whom Antonio studied with Amati, became the founder of a dynasty of masters, and his grandson Giuseppe, nicknamed del Gesu, seems to eclipse the glory of Stradivari himself. And only Signor Antonio himself does not leave behind heirs to his talent. Both of his sons, Francesco and Omobono, did not go further than apprentices. Why did he work so hard, to whom will he leave the secrets of his mastery? To whom will he reveal the great meaning of deck thickness tables, the system of measuring points - its points, the composition of the primer and varnish, the methods of their preparation? Take them to the grave with you? He spent 80 years trying to achieve perfection in his craft. Can anyone else do this? So, is he destined to remain unsurpassed for centuries?
Almost two and a half centuries have passed since the death of the great master Antonio Stradivari. His careless sons outlived their father by only 5-6 years. Until his last days, 93-year-old Stradivarius worked on violins. Blanks of instruments have been preserved, on the label of which, next to the traditional Maltese cross, is the name of the creator and the date - 1737, the year of his death. There are about 800 instruments in the world now, which are known for sure to have been made by the hand of the great Stradivarius. Among them are the famous cello called “Bass of Spain” and tiny “pochettes” - violins for dance teachers, the Master’s most magnificent creation - the “Messiah” violin and the “Münz” violin, from the inscription on which it was determined that the master was born in 1644. But the secrets of creativity, which suddenly disappeared with his death, have not yet been solved. Everything that can be measured has been measured, everything that can be copied has been copied, but no one can make a violin made according to these measurements “sing” the way it did with the great Stradivarius. To this day it is not possible to determine the chemical composition of the primer and varnish applied to his instruments. That is why the legend about the “soul of Stradivari”, imprisoned in his violins and talking to his descendants, is passed down from generation to generation.
The secret of Antonio Stradivari's violins
Scientists around the world are trying to unravel the mystery of Stradivarius violins. Even during his lifetime, the masters said that he sold his soul to the devil - but they also said that several violins were made from the wreckage of Noah's Ark. Stradivari made his first violin in 1666, but for more than 30 years he searched 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, due to which the sound was enriched due to the appearance of a large number of 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 undoubtedly authentic. In addition to bowed ones, he also made one harp and two guitars. It is generally accepted that his best instruments were made from 1698 to 1725 (and the best in 1715). They are especially rare and therefore highly prized by both musicians and collectors. Many Stradivarius instruments are in rich private collections. There are about two dozen Stradivarius violins in Russia: several violins are in the State Collection of Musical Instruments, one in the Glinka Museum and several more in private ownership. Scientists and musicians around the world are trying to unravel the mystery of how Stradivarius violins were created. Even during his lifetime, the masters said that he sold his soul to the devil, they even said that the wood from which several of the most famous violins were made were the fragments of Noah's Ark. There is an opinion that Stradivarius violins are so good because a real instrument begins to sound truly good only after two or three hundred years. Many scientists have conducted hundreds of studies on violins using the latest technologies, but they have not yet been able to unravel the secret of Stradivarius violins. It is known that the master soaked the wood in sea water and exposed it to complex chemical compounds of plant origin.
At one time it was believed that Stradivari's secret was in the shape of the instrument; later they began to attach great importance to the material, which is constant for Stradivarius violins: spruce for the top, maple for the bottom. They even believed that it was all about the varnishes; The elastic varnish covering Stradivarius violins allows the soundboards to resonate and “breathe.” This gives the timbre a characteristic “big” sound.
According to legend, Cremonese craftsmen 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 was powerless here. In 2001, biochemist Joseph Nigiware of the University of Texas announced that he had unraveled the secret of Stradivarius. The scientist came to the conclusion that the special sound of the bowed strings was the result of the master’s efforts to protect them from the woodworm. Nigiwara found out that when the master created violins, wooden blanks were often affected by woodworm, and Stradivari resorted to borax to protect the unique musical instruments. This substance seemed to solder the molecules of the wood, changing the overall sound of the violin. When Stradivari died, the victory over the woodworm in Northern Italy had already been won, 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.

There are still legends about the Stradivarius violin. What is the secret of its special sound? What unique technologies and materials did the master use? The Stradivarius violin is still an unsurpassed masterpiece.

Biography of the master

Antonio Stradivari, violin maker, was born in 1644. But this is only approximately; the exact date of his birth has not been established. His parents are Anna Moroni and Alessandro Stradivari. The violin maker was born and lived his entire life in the city of Cremona.

Antonio has loved music since childhood. But he sang very badly, and everyone who heard him sing laughed. Antonio's second passion was turning wood. The parents were sure that their son would become a cabinetmaker.

One day the boy learned that the best violin maker in Italy, Nicolo Amati, lived in his city. Antonio loved the violin very much and decided to become a student of the genius.

A. Stradivari married only at the age of 40. His wife was the shopkeeper's daughter, Francesca Ferrabochi. The couple had five children. But soon a plague epidemic began. A. Stradivari's beloved wife and children died. This loss plunged him into despair, and he was unable to work. But time passed, the master began to create again and soon became famous throughout the world. Along with fame, new love came to A. Stradivari. His second wife was Maria Zambelli. In his marriage to her, he had five children. A. Stradivari taught his two sons - Francesco and Omobono - his craft. They became masters of violin making. But there is an opinion that Antonio did not reveal his professional secrets even to his sons. They failed to repeat his masterpieces.

Antonio Stradivari was a workaholic. He did not leave his craft until his death. Antonio Stradivari died in 1737, at approximately 93 years old. His burial place is the Basilica of San Domenico.

Amati's student

A. Stradivari was involved in violin making from the age of 13. He was a student of the best master of that time - Nicolo Amati. Because the genius taught him his craft for free, he did all the grunt work for him and was his errand boy. N. Amati shared his knowledge with his students, but did not reveal all the secrets. He told some tricks only to his eldest son.

The first secret of N. Amati that young Antonio learned was how to make strings. The master made them from the entrails of lambs. First, it was necessary to soak the veins in an alkaline solution. Then dry. And then twist them into strings.

At the next stage of his training, A. Stradivari learned which wood should be chosen for making violin soundboards. The boy realized that the main thing is not the appearance of the tree, but its sound. N. Amati often made violins from nondescript looking pieces of wood.

A. Stradivari created his first instrument at the age of 22. After some time, he had already made dozens of violins. But all his creations bore the mark of Nicolo Amati. This did not upset young Stradivarius. He was happy that his skill was growing. At the age of 40, Antonio opened his own workshop. He soon became a respected violin maker. He had many orders, but he could not surpass his teacher.

A. Stradivari became a famous master in 1680. He improved the instruments created by his teacher N. Amati. To do this, he slightly changed their shape and added decorations. He tried in every possible way to make the voices of the instruments sound more melodious and beautiful. As a result of all his efforts and searches, in the early 1700s, the famous Stradivarius violin was born, which has no equal to this day.

At the peak of excellence

The best musical instruments were created by A. Stradivarius between 1690 and 1725. They were of the highest concert quality. The finest Stradivarius violin, as well as other instruments, date back to 1715.

His skill blossomed after he experienced the loss of his family. After such a terrible tragedy, he fell into despair and could not work. One of his students helped him continue creating again. He once came to A. Stradivarius, burst into tears and said that his parents had died, and he would not be able to continue learning to make violins, since he was now forced to earn a living. The master felt sorry for the boy, and he left him in his house, and after several years he adopted him. Fatherhood inspired him and he had a desire to create his own unique instrument, not copies of the creations of his great teacher, but something extraordinary, which no one had done before.

Famous violin

When Antonio was already 60 years old, he created a new one, which brought him fame as a great master, the legendary Stradivarius violin. A photo of this masterpiece is presented in this article.

The violin model Antonio developed brought him fame and immortality. They began to call him the “super-Stradivarius.” His violins were and remain to this day the best musical instruments. And they sound incredible. The master managed to give his violins, violas and cellos a rich timbre and make their “voices” stronger. Because of this, rumors circulated about the master that he had sold his soul to the devil. People could not believe that a person, even a genius with golden hands, could make a piece of wood sing like that.

The secret of a unique sound

Until now, musicians, as well as scientists all over the world, are trying to unravel the secrets of the great master in order to understand how the famous violin of Antonio Stradivari was created. Almost 300 years have passed since the death of the genius, but his creations are still alive, they hardly age, and their sound does not change.

Today, there are several versions with which scientists are trying to explain the secret of the magnificent sound of A. Stradivari's instruments. But none of them have been proven, although hundreds of studies have been conducted using the latest technologies.

There is a version that it’s all about the form. The master lengthened the body, and made creases and irregularities inside it, thanks to which many high overtones appeared, which enriched the sound.

Later, a version appeared that the secret lay in the materials from which A. Stradivarius made his violins. It was found out what kind of wood Stradivarius violins were made from. He made the upper soundboards from spruce, and the lower ones from maple.

Some scientists put forward the version that the secret is not what A. Stradivarius was made of. The varnishes and impregnations with which he coated his instruments are the main “culprits” for the appearance of this masterpiece. There are reliable facts that the master first soaked the wood in sea water, and then covered it with some mixtures of components of plant origin. Perhaps they included resins from trees that grew in those days, but later every single one was cut down.

As for varnishes, according to some scientists, they consisted of such substances, thanks to which dents and scratches on the wood were healed, and the soundboards were able to “breathe” and resonate better, which makes it possible to achieve beautiful surround sound. But other scientists argue against this version, since many violins have been restored. They were covered with ordinary varnish, but their sound did not change. One of the researchers conducted an experiment - completely cleared one of the Stradivarius violins from varnish. Nothing in her sound has changed because of this.

There are many hypotheses as to why Stradivarius violins sound so extraordinary. But none of them could be proven. The master's secret has not yet been revealed.

Instruments of Antonio Stradivari

According to researchers, the master created at least 1,000 musical instruments during his life. These were mostly violins, but there were also violas, cellos, guitars, mandolins and even a harp. He was so efficient that in 1 year he created 25 instruments. Whereas modern craftsmen, who also work by hand, are able to produce only 3-4 copies during this time. How many violins did Stradivari create during his life? It's impossible to say for sure. But approximately 600 violins, 12 violas and 60 cellos have survived to this day.

Cost of violins

A. Stradivari's musical instruments are still the most expensive in the world. During the master’s lifetime, his violins cost 700 modern dollars, which was a very large sum for that time. Today the cost of his masterpieces ranges from 500 thousand dollars to 5 million euros.

Most expensive

There is a violin that is valued at $10 million. She goes by the name "Lady Blunt". This is the most expensive Stradivarius violin to date. The photo of “Lady Blunt” is presented in this article.

It was made by a master in 1721. The Stradivarius violin, named "Lady Blunt" in honor of the granddaughter of the poet Byron, who was its owner, has survived to this day in perfect condition, since it was practically never played. Throughout the 300 years of her life, she moved from one museum to another.

Steal a masterpiece

All the creations of the brilliant master each have their own name and are registered. But at the same time, robbers regularly steal the musical instruments of the great Italian. For example, the famous Stradivarius violin, which belonged to the Russian violin virtuoso Koshansky before the revolution, was stolen five times. The last time she was kidnapped was from a musician named Pierre Amoyal. He valued it so much that he carried it in an armored case, but this did not save it. Since then, nothing is known about where the Stradivarius violin called “Koshansky” is located, whether it has survived and who it now belongs to.