VIOLIN (diminutive from viol), the smallest but most important of the stringed musical instruments played with the bow. Like other bow instruments now in use, it consists of a wooden sonorous chest, formed of two slightly arched surfaces, known as the back and belly, united by sides or ribs, and with a curve or hollow on each side in the middle of the length; a neck or finger board attached to the chest; and strings fastened at one end to the belly by a tail piece or projection of wood, and at the other by turning pins at the head or ex tremity of the neck, by which they can be tightened or loosened at pleasure. The strings thus passing over the belly are raised up from it by a bridge, which is supported in the interior by the sound post; and on the belly there are two sound-holes opposite each other, of a form resembling the letter f, or rather the long f. The sounds are produced by drawing a bow across the strings, the upper surface of the bridge being con vexly curved, so as to enable the bow to be drawn along each string separately, without coming in contact with the rest.
The modern violin has four strings of gut, the lowest covered with fine silvered copper wire, or sometimes, in the best instruments, with silver or even gold wire. These strings are tuned in fifths, the highest or first string sounding E on the fourth space of the treble clef, and the other three the A, D, and G in succession below. The bow, made of horsehair, is held in the right hand, and the sounds of each string, other than the open notes, are obtained by stop ping—i. e., pressing it with the finger against the fingerboard at certain dis tances, thus shortening the vibrating por tion, and raising the pitch of the sound. Very high notes are produced by the harmonics of the string, which, instead of being pressed against the fingerboard, is touched lightly, the sound resulting from the vibration being not, as in ordi nary cases, of the part of the string between the point of stopping and the bridge, but of a harmonic section of it. A peculiar modification of tone is pro duced by the application of the mute, or sordino, a little instrument placed on the bridge. A violin or other bow instru ment is occasionally played pizzicato— e., with the fingers, as a harp or guitar. The compass of the violin is about three octaves and a half, from G below the treble clef to C above the fifth Leger line above it, with all the intermediate chro matic intervals; but the highest notes are apt to be harsh and squeaking. Great players command a few notes higher, chiefly by harmonics. Though chiefly an instrument of melody, it is to a lim ited extent capable of harmony by double stops—two notes may be struck together, and three or four notes may be played in arpeggio. No instrument can compare with the violin in power of expression and execution. It has an unlimited com
mand over a very wide range of sounds, to which any degree of piano and forte, of staccato and legato, can be imparted. In orchestral music there are always two different violin parts known as first, and second violin (see ORCHESTRA) ; and the same is generally the case when the violin is used in concerted music, the usual arrangement of stringed quartet music being for two violins, viola, and violoncello.
The origin of the violin has been vari ously traced. The generally accepted view derives it from the one-stringed ravanastron, the simplest of the numer ous Oriental stringed instruments played with a bow, which is traditionally the in vention of Ravana, King of Ceylon, 5000 13. c., and is still played by Buddhist beg ging monks. From India these instru ments of varied form found their way, through Persia, Arabia, and Spain, to the rest of Europe about the close of the 11th century. The French rebeck, re sembling the Oriental rebab, is the type of them, and from it sprang the viol, the immediate precursor of the violin. Another account derives the violin from the classic lyre, as well as the crwth of the Welsh, which was latterly played with a bow. It is not impossible that both theories may be correct. The bow has not been conclusively accounted for, being variously supposed to have been primarily a military bow, a plectrum, and a second monochord lute applied to the first. The earliest violins seem to have been those of Gasparo di Salo in Lombardy (1560-1610), one of whose violins at one time belonged to Ole Bull. Those of Maggini, probably his pupil, are still highly prized. During the 17th century the family of the Amati, at Cre mona, including Andrew, his sons Jerome and Antonio, and Nicole, son to Jerome, produced violins the wonder of succeed ing times, whose tone and quality more recent makers have in vain sought to equal. Antonio Stradivari (1649-1737), also of Cremona, pupil of Nicole, if pos sible surpassed the Amati, and for a time the repute of Cremona was kept up by the families of the Guarnieri and Ruggieri. Next to the Cremonese vio lins, in the estimation of connoisseurs, stand those of the Tyrolese makers, Jakob Stainer (1621-1683), and Mat thias Klotz and his sons. Villaume of Paris and Gemunde (father and son) of New York City were the most celebrated modern makers. Experience has shown that the minutest details of form and proportion, and the material of which each separate part is made, are matters of vital importance to the quality of the violin. The great makers seem by a suc cession of delicate experiments and ob servations to have attained to acoustical qualities of high perfection, which their careful workmanship and extreme dex terity enabled them in all cases unfail ingly to reproduce.