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Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737)
Italian instrument maker, Antonio Stradivari, has long been regarded as one of the finest instrument makers of all time. Primarily a builder of violins, violas, and cellos, his career started around 350 years ago. Today, many instruments he made with his own hands are still in use. His instruments command the highest prices at auctions and have been owned and played by some of the world’s top musicians of every generation for the past 300plus years. Stradivari’s name is well-known by musicians and non-musicians alike. His patterns have been copied hundreds of thousands of times by makers and manufacturers of string instruments. Countless student violins have been inscribed and labeled with the name Stradivarius to entice possible buyers. (Stradivarius, the Latin form of the name, is often used when discussing Stradivari’s instruments or copies).
Early life Very little is known about the early life of Antonio Stradivari, including his exact birthdate and the city of his birth. It is surmised that he was born in 1644 in Cremona, Italy, to Alessandro Stradivari. Cremona was a city that had been known for its master violin makers for nearly 100 years. It is thought that Stradivari apprenticed with Cremona’s leading violin maker, Nicolo Amati, who was the 3rd generation of violin makers in his family. Stradivari is thought to have apprenticed with Amati starting in the late 1650s. There is another theory, in which Stradivari actually started out as a woodcarver and inlayer employed by Amati. This theory is supported by his elaborate purfling work and decorations on some of his later violins. Around 1680, Stradivari began to develop his own style and model for the violin family of instruments. He moved to No. 1 Piazza Roma, just down the street from several other top violin making families of Cremona (including the Amatis and Guarneris), and lived there for the rest of his life.
Golden period Stradivari’s work was marked by experimentation, and in the early 1690s he changed several elements in his instruments. He developed a pattern for a violin that was larger, referred to as “long Strads,” and started using a redder, darker varnish, different from the yellower varnish he had been using (similar to Amati’s). In 1698 he abandoned the larger model violin, and from 1700-1720 settled into one of his finest periods of work called the “Golden Period” by later historians.
Not just violins Although Stradivari is most famous for his violins, he also crafted cellos, violas, harps, guitars, and even mandolins. It is estimated that he made over 1,100 instruments in his life. About 650 instruments still survive, including between 450-512 violins. Here is Krishnasol Jiménez playing Bartolotti's Passacaglie on an Antonio Stradivari "Sabionari" guitar from 1679:
Mysteries of Stradivari One of the enduring mysteries of Stradivarius violins is the varnish. Stradivari’s legendary varnish has puzzled and fascinated violinmakers, historians, musicians, and even chemists since the beginning of the 19th century. Stradivari’s patterns for the actual violin had long been exhaustively analyzed and the wood and other elements scrutinized to discover the secrets of the fine qualities of the sounds produced by his instruments. The qualities of his varnish have turned out to be an elusive “secret” and one of the mysteries surrounding the instruments of Stradivari.
What’s in a name? Every Stradivarius instrument has been given a name. Some bear the name of a previous owner or famous player of the instrument (“Le Sarasate" after the great violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, “Leonardo da Vinci”– owned by the Da Vinci family), composers (the “Wieniawski”),and some have more romantic names like the “Sleeping Beauty.” Napoleon was once thought to have owned the “Molitar” Stradivarius violin. Yo Yo Ma owns probably the most famous cello in existence: the “Davidov” Stradivarius, once owned by Jacqueline du Pre. Here is Yo Yo Ma playing his famous “Davidov” Strad:
Late career Stradivari continued working into his nineties – if we count 1644 as his birth date. It is thought that even though Stradivari had a very long working career, it may have been impossible for him to have made more than 1000 instruments entirely by himself, so it has been argued that his sons Francesco and Omobono – and maybe a third son – were working in the family shop and contributed to the large output.
The enduring legacy Antonio Stradivari created a standard to which many – and even most – instruments are compared to, even 300 years later. His legacy to the violin family of instruments includes lending to the inspiration of countless instrumentalists and instrument makers to create the most beautiful sounds possible from their instruments -– a life that transcends wood, varnish, and time.
Stradivarius: Fascinating Facts You Might Stradivarius: The Violin Maker's Violin Maker Just about everyone has heard of Antonio Stradivari, or to give him his Latin name, Stradivarius. And those who do know of him will almost certainly know he is the most famous violin maker of all time and that his violins are the most expensive. In fact, the top price at auction was a paltry $16 million for the 'Lady Blunt' Stradivarius. It had belonged to the greatgranddaughter of Lord Byron and bears her name.But read on and see if you know any of these little nuggets about Stradivari's fascinating instruments.
Not Just Violins! Stradivarius made around 1,200 instruments during his long life, of which approximately 650 survive. Of those somewhere in the region of 500 are violins, but he also made violas, cellos mandolins, harps, and guitars. He also made bows. The technical name for a stringed instrument maker is a luthier. Probably the most famous cello in existence is the 'Davidov,' once owned by Jacqeline du Pre and now owned by Yo-Yo Ma.
Stradivarius: Man of Mystery Though other craftsmen at the time were curious, even desperate, to discover his secrets, Stradivari never disclosed what made them special. He died taking his unique methods of working to the grave. The first known violin he made was in 1666: the 'Serdet.' The Great Fire of London burned ferociously that year. Just as well Stradivari wasn't a cockney. Even his date of birth isn't known but has been narrowed down to between 1644 and 1649.
What's in a Name? Every Stradivarius has been given a name. Some bear the name of a previous owner, such as 'Jean-Marie Leclair', the baroque French violinist and composer and 'Wieniawski' also a composer and violinist from Poland who died in 1880. The great virtuoso Sarasate had the instrument he played named after him, unsurprisingly as 'Le Sarasate' and was previously owned by Paganni, and a violinist from the 20th century has been honoured 'Oistrakh' after the wonderful Russian player David Oistrakh.The sobriquets can be rather romantic. The 'Sleeping Beauty' is one, with others sounding like characters from the fairy tale: 'Prince Obolensky,' 'Baron Deurbroucq,' and 'Compte D'Amaille'. Two are linked to a duo of towering artists: the 'Leonardo da Vinci' and the 'Titian.'
Stradivari's Golden Period Although all Stravarius violins are all fine, some are finer than others. From 1700 to the early 1720s Stradivari produced his most refined instruments. They became longer, and the body flattened. The varnish he applied was also rethought. Previously he had coated his instruments with a yellow varnish similar to those of whom is presumed to have been his master, Nicolo Amati, but changed it to a red-orange preparation. Stradivari continued working into his nineties if you count 1644 as his birth date.
Stradivarius Decorated Although many of Stradivari's instruments are plain, if I dare venture to write such a thing, some were decorated. Only 11 decorated instruments remain in existence, four of which are in the Spanish Royal Palace collection and designed by Stradivari specifically as a quintet but the tenor viola has been lost. The cello is the only one still in existence that bears decoration. There is more about this cello later in the article. The Smithsonian archives five of the rare decorated instruments, another is at the Ashmolean Museum, and the twelfth is privately owned. We know from a priest called Father Arsi who liked to drop in at the Stradivari workshop that it wasn't unusual for him to enhance his creations. From one of his letters, we know Stradivari painted figures, flowers, and fruit and used ebony and ivory inlay. The 'Hellier' has finely worked filial decoration to the ribs and on the side of the scroll and in place of the usual plain inked purfling—the defining black line around a violin's perimeter—it is embellished with a continuous ivory string of dots alternating with lozenges sandwiched between two thin wood bands both on the front and back. The 'Ole Bull,' named after a Norwegian violinist and composer, is ornamented in the same manner.
Stradivarius: Targets of Theft
Because of their rarity and value, Stradivarius instruments have been targeted by thieves. At least ten have gone astray during their long lifetime. Some of the top players have instrument 'minders' who might carry the instrument or watch and are in overall charge of its safety. The 'Gibson' was taken from the dressing room of the violinist Bronislaw Huberman in 1936 while he was on stage playing on another of his violins, a Guarnerius. The thief kept the violin for nearly fifty years until he contracted cancer and asked his ex-wife to take possession of it. She, in turn, held on to it for another four years or so until she suspected it was rather more than merely an old violin and handed it in. She picked up the finder's fee for her trouble—a cool $263,000. It's thought it was possibly covered it in shoe polish to mask its ancient pedigree and it could never be played in public without alteration for fear of attracting attention. The 'Gibson-Huberman' is now owned by the spectacular violinist Joshua Bell. More recently, in 2010 violinist Min-Jim Kym took a break, along with her precious Stradivarius, in a Pret-A-Manger at Euston train station in London, went to pick up her sandwich, and came back to find it had been nabbed. Happily, it was recovered in 2013 safe and sound. The perpetrator, John Maughan, had apparently tried to sell it to a bus driver who said he wasn't interested as his daughter already had a recorder! Maughan was jailed for four and a half years.
Stradivarius Mishaps and Near Misses In 2012 the unthinkable happened at a photo shoot in Madrid. A Stradivarius cello was being snapped at the Spanish Royal Palace in whilst displayed on a table and fell off. Sotheby's had estimated its value to be in the region of a staggering $20 million. The neck of the highly prized instrument broke away from the body, which had previously met with a former accident in the nineteenth century and had to be replaced. A case of deja vu for the unfortunate cello.
The exceptional violinist Viktoria Mullova was traveling by plane and stowed her violin in the overhead locker. Unbeknownst to her a member of the cabin crew whipped it out again and stuffed in the hold. She was not best pleased. "I could have been smashed," she said. Not without foundation. I think most of us are aware that baggage handlers and conveyors at airports don't necessarily treat luggage—or Strads—in the most gentle manner.
Air Crashes Destroy Stradivarius
At least two Strads have met their demise in air crashes. The late fantastically talented French violinist Ginette Neveu together with her pianist brother, Jean, who was also her accompanist, had just given a recital in Edinburgh from where they were due to fly to New York for another tour. Sadly the plane came down in the Azores with the loss of all on board and the Stradivarius. Steven Isserlis, the celebrated cellist, recalled during an interview with Ida Haendel how his father had attended that final Edinburgh concert and never got over her untimely death.She was just thirty.
Almost four years on in 1953, another wonderful and respected violinist perished in the same manner. Jacques Thibaut, strangely also French, was on the Air France flight bound for New York when it got into difficulties during a storm, almost at its destination of Nice. It crashed into Mont de Cimet in the Alps, killing the 73-year-old Thibaut, Again his accompanist also died plus his daughter-in-law, and the Stradivarius, bearing his name, was lost forever.
Stradivarius Unplayed You'd surmise, would you not, if you had a Strad in your possession, you would lift it out of its case and give it an airing in the concert hall. After all, there are players the world over who would give their back teeth to be seen in public with such an illustrious fiddle on their collar bone. Not so. David Oistrakh was the lucky recipient of a Stradivarius when it was willed to him by Queen Elizabeth of Belgium. What wasn't so lucky was the awkwardness of the style in which it had been constructed - it was rather short and didn't sit easily under his hand, so he played his alternate instrument in preference, the 'Marsick.' Oistrakh's widow donated the shorter violin, named after him to the Glinka Museum and the 'Marsick' is currently in the talented hands of concert violinist James Ehnes.
Stradivarius Odds and Sods Napoleon was once thought to have owned the 'Molitar' Stradivarius. The celebrated Maxim Vengerov owns not one, not two, but four Stradiviaris. A 16-year-old girl was given a Stradivarius violin by her immensely generous grandfather for her birthday in 1990. Edvin Morton, playing his 'Paganni' Strad won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 together with Dima Bilan and Evgeny Plushenko. Cipriano Landscape Design built a swimming pool modeled on the Stradivarius violin, complete with LEDs and clever projections to create the illusion of the strings. Even the chin rest has a place in the left corner, though of course they weren't used in Stradivarius' day.
He was a real person. Antonius Stradivarius lived in Cremona, Italy. He was born in 1644 and died in 1737. That's 93 years! An extremely long life for someone living in the 17th and 18th centuries.
He was married twice and had ten children. Of those ten children, only two (but possibly three) of his children became violin makers. Those two were Omobono and Francesco Stradivarius. There's an obscure son, Giovanni Battista Martino Stradivari, that probably worked in the family workshop, was an outstanding luthier, but died at age 24 in 1727. Very little is concretely known about Giovanni but much research is being done!
Antonius Stradivarius and Antonio Stradivari are the same person. The first spelling (Antonius Stradivarius) is his formal Latin name, the second spelling (Antonio Stradivari) is the more common Italian name. A third son, Paolo, was a cloth merchant, but managed the business end of the Stradivari family workshop after Antonius' death. Stradivarius made his instruments to the Baroque standard of the time. Almost all Stradivarius violins have had their necks replaced with a longer neck and have a new bass bar inside. The Messiah Stradivarius is one of the few violins that has not been altered. Like most other artists of all mediums, Stradivarius had different periods. His best period, from 1700 to 1720 is known as his "Golden" period. Stradivarius. So much of my life is wrapped around learning what he did, how he did it, and maybe even why he did it. Sometimes when I'm working on an instrument, I feel like I'm having a conversation with Stradivarius. Partly with words and partly with the way I work a piece of wood for a violin. Here are some things you may or may not know about him. Over his lifetime, Stradivarius made more than 1,000 instruments. Of those, about 650 survive. Most of the surviving instruments (over 500) are violins.