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(Herr Robert Mendelssohn.) Plate III.
Vast improvements have been effected in the stringing of Violins within the last thirty years. Strings of immense size were used alike
on Violins, Violoncellos, Tenors, and Double Basses. Robert Lindley, the king of English Violoncellists, used a string for his first very nearly equal in size to the second of the present time, and the same robust proportion was observed in his other strings. The Violoncello upon which he played was by Forster, and would bear much heavier stringing than an Italian instrument; and, again, he was a most forcible player, and his power of fingering quite exceptional. Dragonetti, the famous Double-Bass player, and coadjutor of Lindley, possessed similar powers, and used similar strings as regards size. Their system of stringing was adopted indiscriminately. Instruments whether weakly or strongly built received uniform treatment, the result being in many cases an entire collapse, and the
most disappointing effects in tone. It was vainly supposed that the ponderous strings of Dragonetti and Lindley were the talisman by use of which their tone would follow as a matter of course, whereas in point of fact it was scarcely possible to make the instruments utter a sound when deprived of the singular muscular power possessed by those famous players. After Lindley's death his system passed away gradually, and attention was directed to the better adaptation of strings to the instrument, and also to the production of perfect fifths.
We have now only to speak of covered strings, in which it is more difficult to obtain perfection than in the case of those of gut. There are several kinds of covered strings. There are those of silver wire, which are very durable, and have a soft quality of sound very suitable to old instruments, and are therefore much used by artistes; there are those of copper plated with silver, and also of copper without plating, which have a powerful sound; and, lastly, there are those which are made with mixed wire, an arrangement which prevents in a measure the tendency to rise in pitch, a disadvantage common to covered strings and caused by expansion of the metals; these strings also possess a tone which is a combination of that produced by silver and copper strings. Here again, however, great discrimination is needed, viz., before putting on the fourth string. The instrument must be understood. There are Violins
which will take none but fourths of copper, there are others that would be simply crippled by their adoption. It cannot be too much impressed upon the mind of the player that the Violin requires deep and patient study with regard to every point connected with its regulation. So varied are these instruments in construction and constitution, that before their powers can be successfully developed they must be humoured, and treated as the child of a skilful educator, who watches to gain an insight into the character of his charge, and then adopts the best means for its advancement according to the circumstances ascertained.
The strain and pressure of the strings upon a Violin being an interesting subject of inquiry, I give the annexed particulars (see Table below) from experiments made in conjunction with a friend interested in the subject, and possessed of the necessary knowledge to arrive at accurate results.
The Violin being held in a frame in a nearly upright position, so that the string hung just clear of the nut to avoid friction, the note was obtained by pressing the string to the nut.
When the Violin was laid in a horizontal position, and the string passed over a small pulley, an additional weight of two or three pounds was required to overcome the friction on the nut and that of the pulley. Therefore it is probable that the difference in the results obtained by other experiments may have arisen from the different methods employed. But with a dead weight hung on the end of each string there could be no error.
TENSION OF VIOLIN STRINGS.
Ascertained by Hanging a Dead Weight on the End of the String.
B A C is the average angle formed by a string passing over the bridge of a Violin, and the tension acts equally in the direction A B, A C.
Take A C=A B.
From the point B draw B D parallel to A C. And from the point C draw C D parallel to A B, cutting B D at D. Join A D.
Then, if a force acting on the point A, in the direction of A B, be represented in magnitude by the line A B, an equal force acting in the direction A C will be represented by the line A C, and the diagonal A D will represent the direction and magnitude of the force acting on the point A, to keep it at rest.
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N.B.--The bridge of a Violin does not divide the angle B A C quite equally, but so nearly that A D may be taken as the position of the bridge.
Also, the plane passing through the string of a Violin, on both sides of the bridge, is not quite perpendicular to the belly. To intro-
duce this variation into the calculation would render that less simple, and it will be sufficient to state that about the 150th part must
be deducted from the downward pressures given in the above table from the first and fourth strings, and about the 300th part for the
second and third strings. The total to be deducted for the four strings will not exceed three ounces.
On the line A B or A C set off a scale of equal parts, beginning at A, and on A D a similar scale beginning at A.
Mark off on the scale A B as many divisions as there are lbs. in the tension of a string, for example 18, and from that point draw a line parallel to B D, cutting A D at the point 8 in that scale. Then, if the tension of a string be 18 lb., the downward pressure on the bridge will be 8 lb.; and therefore for the above angle the downward pressure of any string on the bridge will be 8/18=4/9 of the tension of that string.
The whole of the downward pressure of the first string falls upon the Treble Foot of the Bridge.
The downward pressure of the second string is about 2/3 the Treble Foot of the Bridge, and 1/3 on the Bass Foot. The downward pressure of the third string is about 1/3 on the Treble Foot, and 2/3 on the Bass Foot.
The whole of the downward pressure of the fourth string falls upon the Bass Foot of the Bridge.
SECTION IV
The Italian School
The fifteenth century may be considered as the period when the art of making instruments of the Viol class took root in Italy, a period rich in men labouring in the cause of Art. The long list of honoured names connected with Art in Italy during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries is a mighty roll-call indeed! The memory dwells upon the number of richly-stored minds that have, within the limits of these three centuries, bequeathed their art treasures to all time; and if here we cannot suppress a comparison of the art world of the present Italy with that of the periods named, still less can we fail to be astonished as we discover the abyss into which Italy must be judged to have sunk in point of merit, when measured by the high standard which in former days she set herself. But perhaps the greatest marvel of all is the rapidity of the decadence when it once set in, as it did immediately after the culminating point of artistic fame had been reached.
To reflect for a moment upon the many famous men in Italy engaged in artistic vocations contemporary with the great Viol and Vio-lin makers cannot fail to be interesting to the lovers of our instrument, for it has the effect of surrounding their favourite with an interest extending beyond its own path. It also serves to make prominent the curious fact that the art of Italian Violin-making emerged from its chrysalis state when the painters of Italy displayed their greatest strength of genius, and perfected itself when the Fine Arts of Italy were cast in comparative darkness. It is both interesting and remarkable that the art of Italian Violin-making--which in its infancy shared with all the arts the advantage attending the revival of art and learning--should have been the last to mature and die.
Whilst the artist, scientist, and musician, Leonardo da Vinci, was painting, inventing, and singing his sonnets to the accompaniment of his Lute; whilst Raphael was executing the commands of Leo X., and Giorgio was superintending the manufacture of his inimitable majolica ware, the Viol-makers of Bologna were designing their instruments and assimilating them to the registers of the human voice, in order that the parts of Church and chamber madrigals