What is the Range of the Cello? The cello’s full range of more than four octaves gives it one of the most expansive ranges of any instrument you can play. At the bottom, the deep bass tones of its C string sit two octaves below middle C. The middle two strings of the cello, …
Cello Range – one of the most expansive ranges of any instrument Read More »
Santo Serafin was born in 1699 in Udine, Friuli, close to Venice and may have received his initial training there with Francessco Goffriler before moving to Venice in 1721. His earliest labels date from 1725, although he had not yet established his own workshop, thus suggesting that he was working in other Venetian workshops. In …
Annibale Fagnola, considered one of the finest Italian violin makers of the early 20th century, was born in 1865 in Montiglio Monferrato, near Turin. Starting out his career as a self-taught guitar maker in his hometown, he eventually moved to Turin in 1893 and apprenticed under the guidance of violin maker Romano Rimaldi. In 1899, …
Charles François Gand (known as Gand Pere) was born in 1787 in Versailles and was both the son and pupil of violin maker Charles Michel Gand, who lived in Mirecourt before relocating to Versailles in 1780. At the age of 15, the young Gand moved to Paris to apprentice with Nicolas Lupot, where he remained until …
Charles François Gand – Violin Maker (1787 – 1845) Read More »
Ansaldo Poggi was born 9 June 1893 in Villafontana di Medicina (Bologna) and, with encouragement from his father (who was a musician and amateur violin maker), began to develop his talent for making string instruments at an early age. After the conclusion of World War I, he graduated from the Philharmonic Academy of Bologna and …
Considered one of the finest makers of the modern Milanese school, Giuseppe Ornati, born in Milan in 1887, began his career at a very young age, making plucked instruments such as mandolins and guitars before making his first violin at the age of 13. He studied with Carlo Moneta prior to joining the workshop of …
Giovanni Paolo Maggini was born in Botticino, Italy in 1580 and, at while quite young, moved to Brescia to train with master violin maker Gasparo da Salò. Both are widely acclaimed as the most important instrument makers of the Brescian school. Maggini worked for da Salò for twenty years before going his own way and …
Giovanni Paolo Maggini – Violin Maker (1580 – c. 1630) Read More »
In 1856, at the age of fourteen, Pierre Joseph Hel (known as Joseph Hel) began his 5-year apprenticeship as a violin maker in Mirecourt under the direction of Francois Salzard and then proceeded to work in Paris for Sébastien Vuillaume in Paris and Nicolas Darche. Between 1861-1865, he worked in numerous workshops in Mirecourt. In …
Pierre Hel, son of world-renowned violin maker Pierre Joseph Hel, inherited his father’s studio in Lille after his passing in 1902. His approach to violin-making began to take shape at the conservatory in Lille and then at the Conservatoire Royal de La Haye (Den Haag). It is reported that Pierre apprenticed under Gustave Bazin (1871-1920) …
Why is Pernambuco wood the best choice for fine bows? As Vienna Philharmonic violinist Günter Seifert said, “Some people think a bow is only wood and hair, but the bow can be more essential to expressing the soul of the music than the violin is.” The slightest change in a bow’s weight or balance will …
