10 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019INVENTIONSthe 11th century, and the three-stringed
rebec, which appeared in Spain between
the 11th and 13th centuries, likely as a re-
sult of the Crusades, is also reflected in the
modern violin. The French vielle, like the
rebec, was usually supported on the chest
or under the chin and was widely used
by troubadours in the 13th to 15th centu-
ries to accompany singing and dancing.
Stringed instruments have a long history
in folk music, but the violin became more
standardized after it went to court.
Most historians agree that today’s vi-
olin emerged in the early 16th century
in northern Italy, an area which would
maintain the violin-making tradition
over the coming centuries. Maple andT
he violin is arguably the world’s
most popular instrument. Its
expressive tones suit a variety
of musical styles, from fast and
furious to slow and sanguine.
Becoming popular in the 16th century
with both commoners and nobles, the
violin has remained a democratic instru-
ment, universal and versatile.
The development of the modern violin
was gradual and complex, evolving from
a variety of other stringed instruments.
The pear-shaped lira, found in Europe as
early as the ninth century, was played in
an upright position and bowed. The influ-
ence of the two-stringed rabab, an Arabi-
an fiddle introduced to western Europe inThe Violin:
From Fiddle
to First Chair
Strummed, plucked, or bowed, violins have been
making music for centuries, whether backyard
bluegrass or classical concertos.spruce, the two types of wood most fa-
vored by violin makers then and since,
were readily available in the Lombardy
region. The city of Brescia, located at the
foot of the Alps, was the earliest to excel
in the crafting of violins, but Cremona,
home to the world’s most famous luthi-
ers, Giuseppe Guarneri, Antonio Stra-
divari, and the Amati family, became syn-
onymous with the art of violin making.Lombardy Luthiers
In February 1539 master craftsman An-
drea Amati leased (and later bought) a
house and workshop in Cremona that re-
mained in his family’s possession for 200
years and became one of the premier mu-
sical instrument workshops in Europe.
In the early 1560s, Catherine de Médi-
cis, the French queen regent, commis-
sioned Amati to make a variety of string
instruments for the Royal Ensemble.
How many Amati made and delivered
remains unknown, but it is thought that
the scale of work required ultimately es-
tablished the basic form and construc-
tion of the modern violin. Amati’s cre-
ation had a wooden sound box with two
F-shaped apertures. Tuned to perfect
fifths, four strings stretched along the in-
strument’s neck, where they were tight-
ened with pegs. Amati’s workshop was a
family venture, as he shared the secrets
of his craft with his two sons, Girolamo
and Antonio. The dynasty extended to
a third generation with Girolamo’s son,A VIELLE, AN ANCESTOR OF THE MODERN VIOLIN, APPEARS
IN A 1330 FRESCO. MUSEUM OF NAVARRA, PAMPLONABRIDGEMAN/ACIMASTER VIOLIN MAKER ANTONIO
STRADIVARI INSPECTS HIS CREATION IN AN
ILLUSTRATION OF HIS CREMONA WORKSHOP.
GRANGER/ALBUM