Violin Forum/Message Board

CT Dolan · Member Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 143

Likely some of you have already seen this, but for those of you who have not you might enjoy the excerpt on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXxjQZnQU0Y&fmt=18

James is right, the sound of the La Pucelle Strad is breathtaking. My God, the sound is incredible, simply incredible with phenomenal purity of tone. Is the La Pucelle similar in form to the Viotti of the same year (for which I have a Strad poster, and the reason I ask)?

Tim McTigue

Andres Sender · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject:

At a glance the outline seems not unlike, but the arching of the top is very flat, so a different concept is at work. Unfortunately I don't know of a published source for this flat type of Strad arching.

If the dimensions can be dug up, more can be said about how the La Pucelle's outline relates to that of the Viotti '09.

CT Dolan · Member Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 143

As I watch the video again, the form of the La Pucelle violin looks like a long pattern Strad, more akin to the Betts than the Viotti (however, I am going from memory here as I do not have my book on Stradivari by the Hill brothers in hand). It certainly does not share the same outline as the later, G form, violins (although it may share something similar in terms of arching).

I have to be honest and say that I really do not have a lot of information on Stradivari's instruments, apart from Hill's book and Sacconi's reference, that and a few Strad posters. I have much more information on the work of Guarneri, the younger and most respected of the clan. I'd like one really good reference piece on the work of Stradivari, other than what I have now, but the only other one of which I am aware is the book by Charles Beare, and it is quite out of my reach at the moment. Maybe I'll see if I can obtain a copy via an inter-library loan. That is how I was at long last able to study Peter Biddulph's 2-volume set on the work of del Gesu...no kidding! For those of you (those of us) who cannot afford some of the standard reference works, obtaining a copy on loan from a library may just be the next best opportunity. For $10 (the cost of transport to and from my small, local county library), I had the complete 2-volume Biddulph publication in my home with me for a few weeks. It was a great treasure to be able to study the books in depth and in the comfort of my own home, alone with my thoughts as I dived into the life and work of this most fascinating and curious of Cremona's sons.

CT Dolan · Member Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 143

You know, it is violins like this one (the La Pucelle Strad), that really make me want to give myself over to the craft, just knowing what is possible, the beauty of it and the hope of making it happen once again. I remember a place in the book "The Violin Maker" by John Marchese, where John writes about Sam's recollection of having heard his first (I presume) Stradivari while at Peter Prier's school of violinmaking, and Sam mentioning that the sound of the instrument, the tone, was something he will never forget. This I can believe.

It is a noble craft, a noble craft indeed and I believe that for those of us whose labor is borne of love, we will be rewarded with many generations of gratitude, as our instruments are passed from the hands of one to the hands of another in a long procession of players, of those who will not forget that we once stood in this place as well, and endeavored to leave behind something of value, something to cherish as much for what it is as what has been, what once was, the link between our past age and their present day.

Andres Sender · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:46 am Post subject:

Looking more closely I see we are the victims of some distortion of the video sample!

It looks very like a long Strad (indeed rather like an 'extra-long Strad' Wink

) because the picture is squeezed a bit side to side.

Incidentally long Strads are noticeably narrower than the Betts as well as longer. The Viotti 1709 is of similar widths to the Betts except in the c-bout where it is very slightly wider. The Viotti is a bit longer than the Betts in the lower bout, FWIW.

actonern · Super Member Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 444

My heart was swept away by the Peter Guarneri...

CT Dolan · Member Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 143

Yeah, the form looks quite long in the video, and from what I can recall 1709 post-dates the period during which the long form was in use by a decade or so. I guess we're too accustomed to assuming what we're seeing is an accurate representation of what really exists, as opposed to a gross distortion. Well, as long as the sound is an accurate representation...

CT Dolan · Member Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 143

Yeah, the form looks quite long in the video, and from what I can recall 1709 post-dates the period during which the long form was in use by a decade or so. I guess we're too accustomed to assuming what we're seeing is an accurate representation of what really exists, as opposed to a gross distortion. Well, as long as the sound is an accurate representation...

CT Dolan · Member Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 143

Yeah, the form looks quite long in the video, and from what I can recall 1709 post-dates the period during which the long form was in use by a decade or so. I guess we're too accustomed to assuming what we're seeing is an accurate representation of what really exists, as opposed to a gross distortion. Well, as long as the sound is an accurate representation...