There is hardly a person who has not heard of Stradivarius violins ( Antonio Stradivar i, 1644 - December 18, 1737), famous Italian master, student Nicolo Amati (Nicola Amati), who surpassed his teacher head and shoulders.
The glory of Stradivarius can only be compared with the glory of another student of Amati - Andrea Guarneri (Andrea Guarner i, 1626-1698).
Both great Cremonese (city Cremona in Lombardy, part of the Duchy of Milan, Italy) made about 1,500 stringed instruments during their lives, of which about 650 Stradivarius violins and about 140 Guarneri violins have survived to ours.
In addition to violins, there were also guitars, violas and cellos, but nothing is known about their fate.
In the same way, until recently, nothing was known about who was the teacher of their teacher, Amati, who had said all his life that he was only passing on the knowledge and skills he had inherited.
This is what Amati himself wrote in his memoirs: " ...Our Lord, in his inexplicable mercy, sent me the most skillful teacher who ever lived in the world, and gave me the strength to learn from him the talents with which he was generously endowed. Now I share the treasure I received, and I will give it to the last drop".
But who is this mysterious teacher?
No other information, not even his name, has been preserved about him except that recorded in the chronicles of the Amati family and the fact of Nicolo’s two-year training.
It seems like he came out of nowhere and disappeared into nowhere.
However, a recent discovery in the dungeon of one of the castles in the Krakow region has finally made it possible to reveal one of the most amazing secrets.
What was hidden in the dungeon for more than two centuries?
As it turned out, neither more nor less - famous Fallopian Tubes (in the future FT - ed.) a set of 9 instruments - horns, oboes, flutes and clarinets (two units of each type), as well as a helicon, considered lost in early XIX century, and according to many historians, did not exist at all, i.e. legendary.
Fallopian Tubes
Based on some details, it was possible to establish that they were hidden in the dungeon by order of Napoleon, during the planned redeployment Great Army for winter quarters during the 1812 campaign.
FT They are very sensitive to temperature changes, so the only way to preserve them was to place them in an environment where the temperature is stable regardless of the time of year.
A few explanations to make their uniqueness clear.
Each musical instrument has a certain range of sounds produced.
These ranges are described by the so-called. octave system, according to which there are a total of 9 octaves, each of which has its own name - subcontra, counter, major, minor, and also from the first to the fifth.
In turn, any octave consists of 7 notes, from To to Si, the frequency of which increases from left to right.
A total of 9 octaves cover the frequency range from 16.352 Hz (note To subcontractaves) up to 8372 Hz (upper Si fifth octave).
The human voice is subject to the same laws.
A singer from St. Petersburg entered the Guinness Book of Records
Tatiana (Tatiana) Dolgopologova, as the owner of the most unique voice on Earth.
It has an amazing range - 5 octaves and 1 tone (!!!). There is hardly a person who can surpass her capabilities.
U modern singers the middle range is 2 octaves, which is quite enough for full-fledged work on the stage.
Of course, there are exceptions among them.
Whitney Houston (Whitney Elizabeth Houston) neither more nor less, FIVE octaves. Thanks to her magnificent voice, the singer, who made a world tour six times in her life, was greeted with delight in every country in the world.
And the inimitable charismatic
Freddie Mercury (Freddie Mercury) with a voice range of 3 octaves captivated multimillion-dollar stadiums.
Uniqueness FT is that they can reproduce all notes of all octaves, with absolute frequency accuracy and without overlapping each other.
That is why the existence of such a set was considered impossible, since even with the help of modern electronic means the problem cannot be solved, primarily due to the imperfection of acoustic systems.
The very name FT received the name of the master who created them in the middle of the 16th century, Gabriela Fallopia (Gabriele Falloppio).
Who was the teacher, as established, Nicolo Amati...
This conclusion was made based on an examination of the miraculously preserved leather mouthpiece of one of the flutes, made from stingray skin, on back side which (mouthpiece) we managed to decipher the recording:
I, Mikola Muzichko, called here Gabriel Fallopius, having collected nine instruments for the beginning of my profession, of the Amati family, for which I charged a fee of 404 ducats
Managed to unravel the mystery of sound FT- as it turned out, they are made of an alloy of silver, titanium, rubidium and platinum.
This is, although indirect, but extremely powerful additional confirmation, since in Europe only one deposit with a similar composition of metals is known, and it is located in the Poltava region.
According to experts, the market value FT could range from 8 to 12 billion euros.
Now Ukraine is negotiating with Poland about the return of the national property, since its ownership leaves no room for absolutely no doubt for those who understand.
Amati, Guarneri, Stradivari.Names for eternity
In the 16th and 17th centuries, large schools of violin makers formed in several European countries. Representatives of the Italian violin school were the famous Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari families from Cremona.
Cremona
The city of Cremona is located in Northern Italy, in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River. This city has been known since the 10th century as a center for the production of pianos and bows. Cremona officially holds the title of world capital of string production musical instruments. Nowadays, more than one hundred violin makers work in Cremona, and their products are highly valued among professionals. In 1937, the year of the bicentenary of Stradivari's death, a violin-making school, now widely known, was founded in the city. It has 500 students from all over the world.
Panorama of Cremona 1782
There are many in Cremona historical buildings and architectural monuments, but the Stradivarius Museum is perhaps the most interesting attraction in Cremona. The Museum has three departments dedicated to the history of the development of violin making. The first is dedicated to Stradivari himself: some of his violins are kept here, and samples of paper and wood with which the master worked are exhibited. The second section contains works by other violin makers: violins, cellos, double basses, made in the 20th century. The third section talks about the process of making stringed instruments.
An outstanding man was born in Cremona Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and the famous Italian stone carver Giovanni Beltrami (1779-1854). But most of all, Cremona was glorified by the violin makers Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari.
Unfortunately, while working for the benefit of humanity, the great violin makers did not leave behind their own images, and we, their descendants, do not have the opportunity to see their appearance.
Amati
Amati (Italian: Amati) - a family of Italian craftsmen bowed instruments from the ancient Cremonese family of Amati. The name Amati is mentioned in the chronicles of Cremona as early as 1097. The founder of the Amati dynasty, Andrea, was born around 1520, lived and worked in Cremona and died there around 1580.
Two famous contemporaries of Andrea, masters from the city of Brescia, Gasparo da Salo and Giovanni Magini, were also engaged in violin making. The Bresci school was the only one that could compete with the famous Cremona school.
Since 1530, Andrea, together with his brother Antonio, opened his own workshop in Cremona, where they began making violas, cellos and violins. The earliest instrument that has come down to us is dated 1546. It still retains some features of the Bresci school. Based on the traditions and technology of making stringed instruments (viols and lutens), Amati was the first among his fellow workers to create a violin modern type.
Amati created violins of two sizes - large (grand Amati) - 35.5 cm in length and smaller - 35.2 cm.
The violins had low sides and a fairly high arch. The head is large, skillfully carved. Andrea was the first to define the selection of wood characteristic of the Cremonese school: maple (lower soundboards, sides, head), spruce or fir (upper soundboards). On cellos and double basses, the backs were sometimes made of pear and sycamore.
Having achieved a clear, silvery, gentle (but not strong enough) sound, Andrea Amati raised the importance of the violin maker's profession to a high level. The classical type of violin he created (the outline of the model, the processing of the arches of the soundboards) remained largely unchanged. All subsequent improvements made by other masters mainly concerned the strength of sound.
At the age of twenty-six, the talented violin maker Andrea Amati had already “made” a name for himself and put it on the labels attached to the instruments. The rumor about the Italian master quickly spread throughout Europe and reached France. King Charles IX invited Andrea to his place and ordered him to make violins for the court ensemble “24 Violins of the King”. Andrea made 38 instruments, including treble and tenor violins. Some of them have survived.
Andrea Amati had two sons - Andrea Antonio and Girolamo. Both grew up in their father's workshop, were their father's partners all their lives and were probably the most famous violin makers of their time.
The instruments made by Andrea Amati's sons were even more elegant than those of their father, and the sound of their violins was even more delicate. The brothers enlarged the vaults a little, began to make recesses along the edges of the soundboards, lengthened the corners and slightly, very slightly, bent the f-holes.
Nicolo Amati
Girolamo's son Nicolo (1596-1684), Andrea's grandson, achieved particular success in violin making. Nicolo Amati created a violin designed for public performances. He brought the form and sound of his grandfather's violin to the highest perfection and adapted it to the requirements of the time.
To do this, he slightly increased the size of the body (“large model”), reduced the bulge of the decks, enlarged the sides and deepened the waist. He improved the deck tuning system, special attention devoted dec. to impregnation. I selected wood for the violin, focusing on its acoustic properties. In addition, he ensured that the varnish covering the instrument was elastic and transparent, and the color was golden-bronze with a reddish brown tint.
The design changes made by Nicolo Amati made the violin sound stronger and the sound travel further without losing its beauty. Nicolo Amati was the most famous of the Amati family - partly because huge amount instruments he made, partly due to his illustrious name.
All Nicolo's instruments are still valued by violinists. Nicolo Amati created a school of violin makers, among the students were his son Girolamo II (1649 - 1740), Andrea Guarneri, Antonio Stradivari, who later created their own dynasties and schools, and other students. The son of Girolamo II was unable to continue his father’s work, and it died out.
Guarneri.
The Guarneri are a family of Italian bowed instrument makers. The founder of the family, Andrea Guarneri, was born in 1622 (1626) in Cremona, lived, worked there and died in 1698.
He was a student of Nicolo Amati, and created his first violins in the Amati style.
Later, Andrea developed his own model of a violin, in which the f-holes had irregular outlines, the arch of the soundboards was flatter, and the sides were rather low. There were other features of Guarneri violins, in particular their sound.
Andrea Guarneri's sons Pietro and Giuseppe were also major masters of violin making. The elder Pietro (1655 -1720) worked first in Cremona, then in Mantua. He made instruments according to his own model (wide “chest”, convex arches, rounded f-holes, rather wide scroll), but his instruments were close in design and sound to his father’s violins.
Andrea's second son, Giuseppe Guarneri (1666-c. 1739), continued to work in the family workshop and tried to combine the models of Nicolo Amati and his father, but, succumbing to the strong influence of the works of his son (the famous Giuseppe (Joseph) del Gesu) began to imitate him in the development strong and courageous sound.
Giuseppe's eldest son, Pietro Guarneri 2nd (1695-1762), worked in Venice, youngest son- also Giuseppe (Joseph), nicknamed Guarneri del Gesù, became the largest Italian violin maker.
Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744) created his own individual type of violin, designed for playing in large concert hall. The best violins of his work are distinguished by strong voices with thick, full tones, expressiveness and variety of timbre. The first to appreciate the advantages of Guarneri del Gesù violins was Niccolò Paganini.
Guarneri del Gesù violin, 1740, Cremona, inv. No. 31-a
Belonged to Ksenia Ilyinichna Korovaeva.
Entered the State Collection in 1948.
Main dimensions:
case length - 355
width of the upper part - 160
bottom width - 203
smallest width - 108
scale length - 194
neck - 131
head - 107
curl - 40.
Materials:
the lower deck is made of one piece of semi-radial cut sycamore maple,
the sides are made of five parts of sycamore maple, the top is made of two parts of spruce.
Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari or Stradivarius - famous master stringed and bowed instruments. It is believed that he lived and worked in Cremona because one of his violins is stamped "1666, Cremona". The same mark confirms that Stradivari studied with Nicolo Amati. It is also believed that he was born in 1644, although the exact date of his birth is unknown. The names of his parents are known: Alexandro Stradivari and Anna Moroni.
In Cremona, starting in 1680, Stradivari lived in St. Dominic, where he opened a workshop in which he began to produce string instruments- guitars, violas, cellos and, of course, violins.
Until 1684, Stradivarius built small violins in the Amati style. He diligently reproduced and improved the teacher's violins, trying to find own style. Gradually, Stradivari freed himself from Amati's influence and created a new type of violin, differing from Amati violins in its timbre richness and powerful sound.
Beginning in 1690, Stradivari began to build larger instruments than the violins of his predecessors. A typical Stradivarius "long violin" is 363 mm long, which is 9.5 mm larger than the Amati violin. Later, the master reduced the length of the instrument to 355.5 mm, at the same time making it somewhat wider and with more curved arches - this is how a model of unsurpassed symmetry and beauty was born, which became part of the world history as a “Stradivarian violin”, and covered the name of the master himself with unfading glory.
The most outstanding instruments were made by Antonio Stradivari between 1698 and 1725. All violins of this period are distinguished by their remarkable finish and excellent sound characteristics - their voices are like sonorous and tender female voice.
Over the course of his life, the master created more than a thousand violins, violas and cellos. About 600 have survived to this day, some of his violins are known as proper names, for example, the Maximilian violin, which was played by our contemporary, the outstanding German violinist Michel Schwalbe - the violin was given to him for lifelong use.
Other famous Stradivarius violins include the Betts (1704), housed in the Library of Congress, the Viotti (1709), the Alard (1715), and the Messiah (1716).
In addition to violins, Stradivarius created guitars, violas, cellos, and created at least one harp - according to current estimates, more than 1,100 instruments. The cellos that came from the hands of Stradivarius have a wonderful melodious tone and external beauty.
Stradivarius instruments are distinguished by a characteristic inscription on Latin: Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno in translation - Antonio Stradivari of Cremona made in the year (such and such).
After 1730, some Stradivarius instruments were signed Sotto la Desciplina d'Antonio Stradivari F. in Cremona)
