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Secrets Of Stradivarius' Unique Violin Sound Revealed

by patgarcia | February 2, 2009 at 09:30 am

1891 views | 20 Recommendations | 5 comments

The excellency of Stradivarious violins is undeniable, knowing what chemicals were used to treat the wood is a great finding indeed but it probably wont make it possible to reproduce the craftsmanship geniality of Antonio Stradivari. His violins are and will be always unique.
Joseph Nagyvary, a biochemistry professor first theorized in 1976 that chemicals used on the instruments besides the excellent craftsmanship were responsable for the distinctive sound of these violins.

“All of my research over the years was based on the assumption that the wood of the great masters underwent an aggressive chemical treatment and this had a direct role in creating the great sound of the Stradivarius and the Guarneri,” Nagyvary explains.

Nagyvary obtained minute wood samples from restorers working on Stradivarius and Guarneri instruments (“no easy trick and it took a lot of begging to get them,” he adds). The results of the preliminary analysis of these samples, published in “Nature” in 2006, suggested that the wood was brutally treated by some unidentified chemicals. For the present study, the researchers burned the wood slivers to ash, the only way to obtain accurate readings for the chemical elements.

They found numerous chemicals in the wood, among them borax, fluorides, chromium and iron salts.

“Borax has a long history as a preservative, going back to the ancient Egyptians, who used it in mummification and later as an insecticide,” Nagyvary adds.

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stefanelf

at 10:33 on February 2nd, 2009

My violin is a 19th century German Stradivarius copy. It's dated inside 1722 along with the name "Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis", but this is false. Still, it's a beautiful instrument and it sounds great!

stefanelf has contributed a photo to this story.

robertoarleo

at 10:54 on February 2nd, 2009

Some people say that Antonio Stradivari personally went in search of the suitable trunk for the creation of his violins and also cured the drying... he used to break down its trees in a given day of the year...

robertoarleo has contributed a photo to this story.

patgarcia

at 18:29 on February 2nd, 2009

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

TheLustyWench

at 11:08 on February 2nd, 2009

Photo taken in the palace in Madrid, which has the only surviving string quartet of Stradivarius instruments (two violins, a viola, and a cello).

TheLustyWench has contributed a photo to this story.

ricardo.hdz

at 14:31 on February 7th, 2009

This Stradivarius violin is one of many located at Palacio Real, in Madrid, Spain.

I was freaked out when all the people (most tourist) came across the room where are exhibited and no one was paying attention to these treasures. I thought all of them believe is just a "simple violin", but you know is not.

This is one of the items that made my visit to Palacio Real very interesting and enjoyable.

Discover it by yourself.

ricardo.hdz has contributed a photo to this story.