When most people think of stringed instruments, most of them think of the violin. The violin family of instruments includes the viola and the cello, with the violin being the highest-pitched (able to make the highest notes).
The word "violin" comes from the Middle Latin word vitula, which literally means 'stringed instrument'. It is widely speculated that the German word "fiddle" came from this word also.
We do not know exactly when the first stringed instrument was made, or when the violin came to be the way it is today. Most ancient instrumentalists made their own instruments, and it is possible that a violin-like instrument existed before the turn of the millenium. However, the violin first emerged in its modern form between 1520 to 1550 in Italy, from makers such as Giovan Giacomo Dalla Corna (ca. 1484-1530) and Zanetto de Michelis da Montechiaro (ca. 1488-1562), who worked in the school of Brescia.
The first dated, four-stringed violin is by the renowned Andrea Amati, which dates back to 1555. The Amati family established the school of Cremona; after the decline of the Brescia school, Cremona held uncontested first place as the best instrument making school.
The Cremona school taught the most famous of history's great luthiers (violin makers): Antonio Stradivari and the Guarneri family, of whom Andrea Guarneri was a pupil. Stradivari, better known as Stradivarius, is obviously one of the greatest violinmakers of all time, and his preserved works, known as "Strads", are some of the most prized violins today.
Andrea Guarneri, on the other hand, struggled to follow Amati's sophistication, and his son, Giusuppe Giovanni, did not fare well against Stradivari. However, Giusuppe's son, Bartolomeo (known as Guarneri del Gesu or "of the Cross" due to the cross that always accompanied his signature), is a different story.
Guarneri del Gesu is widely regarded as history's greatest violinmaker, and is the only member of the Guarneri family to ever rival Stradivari. Some argue that his violins are even superior to Strads.
In terms of violinists, many of those regarded as the best violinists of all time have lived in the 20th century, such as Joseph Joachim, Eugène Ysaÿe, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, Izthak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Midori, and Sarah Chang. |
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