Music Trade Review
Issue: 1901 Vol. 32 N. 24 - Page 32
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
34
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
IS NAPOLEON TO BLAME?
"When he crossed the Alps and led his
conquering hosts down into Italy Napoleon
killed the art of violin making. He did it
by building a wagon road. Before that date
all of the grand instruments of the world
were made. Since then not one worthy to
be compared with those of old Stradivarius,
Amati, Bergonzi or Stainer. Ask any man
wise in the lore of the king of instruments
and he will assure you, with a sigh, that
violin making is a lost art; though 'fiddles'
are still made by the thousand—all but one
man. He will tell you :—'Lost—yes—once,
but rediscovered. Napoleon took the vio-
lin from the world—yes. I give it back to
the world. A thousand artisans have sought
the secret, but for precisely a hundred years
the Sphinx has not spoken. For thirty-
five years I have studied, dreamed, tried
experiments. Now I have overthrown Na-
poleon. I have discovered the lost art of
making the Stradivarius violin.' "
"The man who boasts of this most inter-
esting discovery is a San Franciscan. In
a tiny basement shop in a back yard of Ellis
street he has been quietly working out his
problem. If he has succeeded, the musical
world will have reason to make obeisance to
grizzled, clear-eyed Orazio Raffa. If he has
failed the small army of violin cranks in
San Francisco who have heard of this new
product will need to take refuge behind the
somewhat equivocal statement that 'the old
fellow's fiddle is not as good as it sounds.'
"Inquiry among various violin makers re-
veals the fact that they regard prediction as
to the tone qualities before the instrument
is completed as impossible. And yet this
man is said to have accurately predicted
the exact quality of every violin has has
made as he shaped it. 'This one will be
adapted to strong orchestral work; that one
for solos; that will be sweet and mellow,
another a clear soprano,' and so on."
Raffa's secret lies in the treatment of the
wood. He says: "The Alpine pine which
has been soaked for six months in water
immediately after being cut in the forest,
becomes intensely hard. It loses most of
its resin. It undergoes other chemical
changes, due, it may be, to some mineral
in the mountain streams. But it does pine
wood no good to be soaked after it has been
seasoned. It must be green. See these pine
chips and shavings. They are hard as hick-
ory and practically unbreakable. They are
from, the Po River, whence I get all my
Wood, This, then, is a portion of the secret.
"Where does Napoleon come in? Why,
after he built his military roads down the
Alps all the logs used in violin making were
hauled to the market over these roads. They
were no longer floated down the river, and
hence received no soaking. The result was
inferior instruments."
Nextt
The more you pay for advertising, the
cheaper it is. A good advertisement in a
good paper like The Review will always pay.
STARR PIANOS
Embody generous artistic values and have
been found most desirable instruments for
the dealers to handle^
•*
•*
Factories: RICHMOND, IND.
Simplex flMano
(TRADK MARK]
THEODORE P. BROWN, WORCESTER
The easiest to play.
The Simplest.
MASS.
The best in every way.
You want an easy seller
THEN
SECURE THE. AGENCY
FOR T H E
BAUER
cA Leader and a Seller as
338-340 EAST 31st STREET
NEW YORK
Smttb & JBarnee flManoe
Most
Profitable for th<
Dealer
to
Handle
Factory, 4TT to 481 Clybourn Avenue,
j& A
CHICAGO, ILL
HALAXT
DAVIS
Endorsed by Leading Artists
for more than Half a Century
...BOSTON, MASS.
THE HAGEN & RUEFER PIANOS
RE MADE to satisfy the desire of
the buying public. Honest in
construction, tasteful in design;
touch, light and elastic, and
musical quality unsurpassed. The
prices are low, making them just the right
instrument for dealers who wish to make
money, while building up a good reputation.
WRITE FOR PARTICULARS AND
TERRITORY TO THE FACTORY AT
PETERBORO,
(7hrisiman Pianos
CHRISTMAN & SON,
The Apaches have three different kinds of
violins, each having but one string and played
with a small bow.
•*
N. H.
A PIANO MADE FOR
MUSICAL PEOPLE.
RICH IN VALUE
FOR THE DEALER.
Office and Warerooms: 21 East 14th St., New York.
Factory: 6 6 5 - 6 6 7 Hudson Street, New York.
RADLE
PIANOS
are built to wear, of the best
material and sold at a remark-
ably low price. A money-making
instrument for the dealer.
Factory, 611 & 613 West 36th Street, NEW YORK.
34
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
IS NAPOLEON TO BLAME?
"When he crossed the Alps and led his
conquering hosts down into Italy Napoleon
killed the art of violin making. He did it
by building a wagon road. Before that date
all of the grand instruments of the world
were made. Since then not one worthy to
be compared with those of old Stradivarius,
Amati, Bergonzi or Stainer. Ask any man
wise in the lore of the king of instruments
and he will assure you, with a sigh, that
violin making is a lost art; though 'fiddles'
are still made by the thousand—all but one
man. He will tell you :—'Lost—yes—once,
but rediscovered. Napoleon took the vio-
lin from the world—yes. I give it back to
the world. A thousand artisans have sought
the secret, but for precisely a hundred years
the Sphinx has not spoken. For thirty-
five years I have studied, dreamed, tried
experiments. Now I have overthrown Na-
poleon. I have discovered the lost art of
making the Stradivarius violin.' "
"The man who boasts of this most inter-
esting discovery is a San Franciscan. In
a tiny basement shop in a back yard of Ellis
street he has been quietly working out his
problem. If he has succeeded, the musical
world will have reason to make obeisance to
grizzled, clear-eyed Orazio Raffa. If he has
failed the small army of violin cranks in
San Francisco who have heard of this new
product will need to take refuge behind the
somewhat equivocal statement that 'the old
fellow's fiddle is not as good as it sounds.'
"Inquiry among various violin makers re-
veals the fact that they regard prediction as
to the tone qualities before the instrument
is completed as impossible. And yet this
man is said to have accurately predicted
the exact quality of every violin has has
made as he shaped it. 'This one will be
adapted to strong orchestral work; that one
for solos; that will be sweet and mellow,
another a clear soprano,' and so on."
Raffa's secret lies in the treatment of the
wood. He says: "The Alpine pine which
has been soaked for six months in water
immediately after being cut in the forest,
becomes intensely hard. It loses most of
its resin. It undergoes other chemical
changes, due, it may be, to some mineral
in the mountain streams. But it does pine
wood no good to be soaked after it has been
seasoned. It must be green. See these pine
chips and shavings. They are hard as hick-
ory and practically unbreakable. They are
from, the Po River, whence I get all my
Wood, This, then, is a portion of the secret.
"Where does Napoleon come in? Why,
after he built his military roads down the
Alps all the logs used in violin making were
hauled to the market over these roads. They
were no longer floated down the river, and
hence received no soaking. The result was
inferior instruments."
Nextt
The more you pay for advertising, the
cheaper it is. A good advertisement in a
good paper like The Review will always pay.
STARR PIANOS
Embody generous artistic values and have
been found most desirable instruments for
the dealers to handle^
•*
•*
Factories: RICHMOND, IND.
Simplex flMano
(TRADK MARK]
THEODORE P. BROWN, WORCESTER
The easiest to play.
The Simplest.
MASS.
The best in every way.
You want an easy seller
THEN
SECURE THE. AGENCY
FOR T H E
BAUER
cA Leader and a Seller as
338-340 EAST 31st STREET
NEW YORK
Smttb & JBarnee flManoe
Most
Profitable for th<
Dealer
to
Handle
Factory, 4TT to 481 Clybourn Avenue,
j& A
CHICAGO, ILL
HALAXT
DAVIS
Endorsed by Leading Artists
for more than Half a Century
...BOSTON, MASS.
THE HAGEN & RUEFER PIANOS
RE MADE to satisfy the desire of
the buying public. Honest in
construction, tasteful in design;
touch, light and elastic, and
musical quality unsurpassed. The
prices are low, making them just the right
instrument for dealers who wish to make
money, while building up a good reputation.
WRITE FOR PARTICULARS AND
TERRITORY TO THE FACTORY AT
PETERBORO,
(7hrisiman Pianos
CHRISTMAN & SON,
The Apaches have three different kinds of
violins, each having but one string and played
with a small bow.
•*
N. H.
A PIANO MADE FOR
MUSICAL PEOPLE.
RICH IN VALUE
FOR THE DEALER.
Office and Warerooms: 21 East 14th St., New York.
Factory: 6 6 5 - 6 6 7 Hudson Street, New York.
RADLE
PIANOS
are built to wear, of the best
material and sold at a remark-
ably low price. A money-making
instrument for the dealer.
Factory, 611 & 613 West 36th Street, NEW YORK.
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