VIOLIN (Iidiato, It., a small viol), a musical instrument known, in some shape, as used with a bow, in nearly all parts of the world, is by many antiquaries believed to have existed in very remote times. Be that as it may, the Abb45 le Beuf has produced a strong proof that the violin—or perhaps rebec [Rzszc]—acted on by a bow, was known in France during the 8th century, and thus has left little if any doubt of the use of the instrument from that period, however uncertain we may be as to its previous existence. The Welsh cruth, or crwth, or crowd, which pretends to great antiquity, seems originally to have partaken more of the form and character of the harp than of the violin. The cruth of a later period was, however, certainly a violin, with gut strings, and played on by a bow. (See Hudibras,' I. ii. 105.) The modern violin has four gut strings, the last, or lowest, covered with silver-wire. These are tuned in 5ths, E, A, n, G; or, M. Baillot, one of the finest modern performers, in his' M4thode ' for the violin, adopted by the Conservatoire de Musique, says that the compass of the violin exceeds three octaves. Supposing this to signify three octaves and a half, the legitimate extent of tho instrument will be from o, the fourth space in the base, to the octave above the second added line in the treble. But we cannot refrain from expressing our wish that violinists would confine themselves within a more limited compass. The highest sounds of the instrument are disagreeable to most ears; are often harsh, and almost always squeaking; and though they display a kind of mechanical skill in the performer, they, in most instances, betray his vanity and want of true taste.
When complete, says M. Otto (instrument-maker to the court of Weimar), in his Treatise on the Construction, &c. of the Violin,' this instrument consists of fifty-eight different parts, or pieces : but such small divisions are not indispensably necessary, for in many instru ments of a cheap description the parts are not so minutely divided. " The wood is generally of three sorts. The back, neck, sides, and circles are of sycamore : the belly, bass-bar, sound-post, and six blocks, of deal : the finger-board and tail-piece of ebony." The finest violins now in use were made by one family, living in Cremona. The oldest came from the hands of Hieronymus Amati, at the commencement of the 17th century. He was followed by Antonius Amati, about the
middle of that century ; and succeeded by Nicolas Amati, towards the end of the same. To these is to be added Antonius Straduarius, of Cremona also, who was contemporary with the two latter of the Amatis. And last, Joseph Guarnerius, at the beginning of the 18th entury. "All their instruments," M. Otto adds, "were constructed after the simplest rules of mathematics (7), and the six which came into my possession unspoilt, were made after the following proportions : —The belly was thickest where the bridge rests; then it diminished about a third at that part where the f holes are cut ; and, where the belly rests on the sides, it was half as thick as in the middle. The same proportion is observed in the length. The thickness is equally maintained all along that part on which the bass bar is fixed :. thence to the upper and under end blocks the thickness decreases to one-half, so that the cheeks are three-fourths the thickness of the breast, and the edges all round only one-half. These propor tions are best adapted for imparting a full, powerful, and sonorous tone. The back is worked out much in the same proportion as the belly." Steiner, of Apsam, is also celebrated for his violins. "They differ," M. Otto tells us, "from the Cremonese, both in shape and tone. They are higher modelled, and their proportions of strength are calculated quite differently. A Cremonese has a strong reedy tone, something like that of a clarionot, while a Steiner approaches that of a flute." The same author also gives the names of many German violin-makers ; but as they are not generally known out of their own country, we cannot afford any space to them, but refer our readers to the transla tion of M. Otto's work, by Mr. Fardeley of Leeds.
Many years ago, M. Savart constructed a violin with straight sides, and differing in several other particulars from the ordinary instrument. It was tested by musicians, and reported on most favourably by M. Biot Annales de Chimie et de Physique,' tom. xii.). It would appear from this report, that a first-rate violin may be constructed for a few shillings, provided the parts be selected and put together on the acoustic principles therein described. We are unable to say what is the cause of failure, but it seems that out of Savart's own skilful hands the experiment has not succeeded.