SOUNDPOST

LETTER of the MONTH

A TALE OF TWO VILLAGES

Reading The Strad ’s wedding disaster stories (bit.ly/32Jq39i) reminded me of my younger years as a student in Cremona, when I did wedding gigs to make ends meet. I was lucky to be friends with an organist who was always happy to call me as a violinist for these occasions, and the extra cash was more than welcome.

One day I was called upon to perform a wedding gig in a village outside a town called Scandolara. The problem was there were two Scandolaras: Scandolara Ravara and Scandolara Ripa d’Oglio, and they were not even close to one another. So I made sure I got directions to the right one.

The wedding was scheduled for 11am so half an hour earlier I showed up with the organist. There was no one in sight and the church was closed. Finally, at about 10.50am, the priest came out and started sweeping the entrance.

Perturbed by the lack of people, we asked him when the wedding was scheduled and he said: ‘What wedding?’

By then things were clear: despite precise instructions we were at the wrong Scandolara. So we drove through the countryside until we entered the right Scandolara, just in time to see the bride and groom exit the church in the midst of the crowd and rice-throwing. Imagining the silent, music-less ceremony, I turned my Lancia around and we got out of there. Incredibly, we were still paid.

DIMITRI MUSAFIA

Cremona, Italy

HISTORICAL DIFFERENCES

In his article ‘The magic touch’ (December 2021), Hwan-Ching Tai presents a daring hypothesis. High amounts of inorganic substances found in wood samples from instruments by Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ indicate wood treatments, which he concludes were done ‘to achieve acoustic tuning, not merely for wood preservation’. He goes one step further and looks into the history of alchemical concepts in different writings to support his hypothesis, and asks if such knowledge was accessible in Cremona during the working time of Stradivari and ‘del Gesù’.

Because he finds, in his view, enough evidence for this, he indirectly proposes the question: ‘Could it be that those two makers became famed for the sound of their instruments because they used material treatments nobody else applied?’ But Stradivari changed, modified and refined many existing concepts in the tradition of Cremonese violin making that affected sound quality and loudness.

No matter how we see it, in Stradivari’s time, science as we know it today didn’t exist. The science in his days was the wisdom of alchemists. Therefore, scientific terms almost every violin maker uses today to explain sound were certainly not used by violin makers in Cremona. In this respect the article opens a different view on the mindset of violin makers in the golden age.

It also makes clear that many things are up to individual speculation, and often speculation becomes the inspiration for new and better ideas. Wood treatment did come into the focus of many modern makers and time will show if those treatments result in better instruments for modern performers. My hope is that Dr Tai continues to examine wood treatments to find out how they can influence the properties of wood, and spruce in particular.

ANDREAS PREUSS

Tokyo, Japan

VIOLINIST PHOTO ELMA AQUINO

A GUT FEELING

As an amateur cellist, I found the latest issue’s feature article on the wonderful Steven Isserlis very interesting (‘Instinctive performer’, January 2021). I was particularly struck by his thoughts on the use of steel versus gut strings when playing Bach. I have never paid much attention to accessories such as strings, partly owing to my life being so busy. But Isserlis’s thoughts (right) have pushed me to give it a try. I visited my local luthier and bought some gut strings. He was kind enough to set them up for me, as well as to tell me a short history about the development of strings. I had no idea how extensive it was. Although far from Isserlis’s level, I’m looking forward to seeing how my Bach sounds with the new strings!

LAURA MÜLLER

Freiburg, Germany

NOT SO NEW

I was pleased to read the article ‘Making an invisible neck graft’ (Trade Secrets, December 2021). Although the author stated they ‘came up with the idea’, this method has been used since the 19th century. For example, the method was explained by the British author Horace Petherick in his 1903 work The Repairing and Restoration of Violins (see below).

More recently this neck graft technique was described in detail by German restorer Jörg Andreas Franke, in the second volume of Tom Wilder’s books on violin restoration. This is the method I’ve followed in my own work when needed. It seems to be a good technique that just keeps popping up from time to time!

GUY HARRISON

Ottawa, Canada

CONUNOVA PHOTO CONUNOVA.COM. ISSERLIS PHOTO ALEXEI MOLCHANOVSKY

ONLINE COMMENT

A blog by Taubman Approach specialists Edna Golandsky and Sophie Till on alignment in the right arm, and tension and fluidity while playing, proved controversial bit.ly/3pQtkMp DAVID WHITAKER There are enough recognised alternatives to the prescriptive option offered here.

STEFFEN ZEICHNER Curling the thumb seems quite useful and effective when in the lower half of the bow, and having the pinkie slightly spaced out from the ring finger is not something that creates arm tension in my experience.

GERRY MENON Ignoring an individual’s anatomy, muscle build, relative size of palm and finger length, age, flexibility, and coming up with ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ pictures can cause unnecessary stress and mental anguish for players.

ORSON YANG I prefer any bow hold that can produce a beautiful or suitable sound, and let music and life guide us!

Editorial note

The picture at the bottom of page 54 of the November 2021 issue shows James L. Josephs, not his father Pierre as stated in the caption. Apologies.