:: Historical Notes ::

CHIN RESTS

“And while we are discussing the physical aspects of the instrument there is the ‘chin rest.’ None of the great violin makers ever made a ‘chin rest.’ Increasing technical demands, sudden pyrotechnical flights into the higher octaves brought the ‘chin rest’ into being. The ‘chin rest’ was meant to give the player a better grasp of his instrument. I absolutely disapprove, in theory, of chin rest, cushion or pad. Technical reasons may be adduced to justify their use, never artistic ones. I admit that progress in violin study is infinitely slower without the use of the pad; but the more close and direct a contact with his instrument the player can develop, the more intimately expressive his playing becomes. Students with long necks and thin bodies claim they have to use a ‘chin rest,’ but the study of physical adjustments could bring about a better coördination between them and the instrument. A thin pad may be used without much danger, yet I feel that the thicker and higher the ‘chin rest’ the greater the loss in expressive rendering. The more we accustom ourselves to mechanical aids, the more we will come to rely on them…. But the question you ask anent ‘Violin Mastery’ leads altogether away from the material!

Violin Mastery
Talks with Master Violinists and Teachers
by Frederick H. Martens
Published 1919

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GUT VERSUS WIRE STRINGS

“My own violin, a Maggini of more than the usual size, dates from the year 1600. It formerly belonged to Dr. Leopold Damrosch. Which strings do I use on it? The whole question as to whether gut or wire strings are to be preferred may, in my opinion, be referred to the violin itself for decision. What I mean is that if Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Amati, Maggini and others of the old-master builders of violins had ever had wire strings in view, they would have built their fiddles in accordance, and they would not be the same we now possess. First of all there are scientific reasons against using the wire strings. They change the tone of the instrument. The rigidity of tension of the wire E string where it crosses the bridge tightens up the sound of the lower strings. Their advantages are: reliability under adverse climatic conditions and the incontestable fact that they make things easier technically. They facilitate purity of intonation. Yet I am willing to forgo these advantages when I consider the wonderful pliability of the gut strings for which Stradivarius built his violins. I can see the artistic retrogression of those who are using the wire E, for when materially things are made easier, spiritually there is a loss.

Violin Mastery
Talks with Master Violinists and Teachers
by Frederick H. Martens
Published 1919

Click here to see Select Violins complete selection of violins.