Instrument Article Archives

On these pages are links to illustrated articles we’ve written, highlighting some of the noteworthy and/or unusual instruments that Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins has handled as well as important makers worthy of study. The links are divided into three groups:

Articles published on this website (immediately below)
Articles we’ve authored for the Cozio Archives of the Tarisio website (where you will be prompted to sign up for a free login to view articles) Jump to links
Other externally-published articles (e.g., in The Strad magazine) Jump to links

Articles on This Website

Viotti and Tourte: A Tenuous Connection

Francois Xavier Tourte (1747-1835) is widely regarded as having created the greatest violin, viola, and cello bows of all time in his Paris workshop. Tourte is traditionally credited with establishing the standard weights, dimensions, and basic design that still endure today for the modern bow.

Giovanni Battista Rogeri, Part Two: A Tale of Three Makers

In Part Two, we explore how the work of Giovanni Battista Rogeri (1642 – c. 1710), the only luthier of significance to work in both Brescia and Cremona, demonstrates a fusion of styles from both cities.

Giovanni Battista Rogeri, Part One: A Tale of Two Cities

The first violin was probably born in one of two towns in northern Italy, either Brescia or Cremona. Giovanni Battista Rogeri was the only important luthier of the 17th and 18th centuries to work in both.

Vittorio Bellarosa, Last of the Neapolitans

Vittorio Bellarosa (1907-1978) was the last of an unbroken Neapolitan tradition of violin making that had begun in the 17th century with Alessandro Gagliano (1665-1732). He was a prolific maker whose work is nearly exclusively devoted to Gagliano-inspired violins.

David Tecchler: German Emigre, Roman Master

David Tecchler is widely regarded as the most important maker of the Roman school of instrument making. German by birth, Tecchler emigrated to Rome at the end of the 17th century and ran a highly successful business there for roughly 50 years.

Alfredo Contino, Heir to a Legacy

Alfredo Contino (1890-c.1963) was a minor master of violin making, but a master nonetheless. He was a member of the last generation of makers in a centuries-old Neapolitan tradition.

Music in Naples and the Gagliano Family of Violin Makers

The Gagliano family plays a significant role in the history of violin making. But it is impossible to discuss the prominence of the Gagliano family without an awareness of the importance of music in 18th century Neapolitan life.

Antonio Stradivari

Antonio Stradivari, deservedly the most famous violin maker of them all, was born in 1644 and worked in Cremona, Italy. By 1690 he had become the dominant force in bowed string instrument building in Europe.

Nicolo Amati After 1640

Nicolo Amati, the third generation of the illustrious Amati instrument makers, must have begun to assume a leadership role in the family workshop by the early 1620s. When his father, Girolamo I, died in 1630 amid the ravages of the plague, the 35-year-old Nicolo became the patriarch of the household and family business.

A Large Form Stradivari Cello: “Bonnet,” 1693

Prior to 1701 the Stradivari workshop built cellos of large dimensions, in keeping with the standards of the time. Most surviving examples have, like this one, been reduced in size due to changes in musical style.

A Brothers Amati Violin, Cremona, c. 1624

To fully appreciate the exquisite instrument shown here, it is instructive to go back to the dawn of the Amati violin-building tradition, believed to be sometime around 1525.

The Bows of François-Nicolas Voirin

François-Nicolas Voirin (1833-1885) was perhaps the most important French bow maker of the second half of the 19th century. In 1855, after an apprenticeship in his hometown of Mirecourt with Jean Simon, Voirin moved to Paris to join the workshop of his cousin, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.