Performing Arts Research Assignment: The History Of Violin

History of ViolinNameInstitutional AffiliationDate
History of Violin
Violin is a descendant of the Viol family of instruments. The viol family of instruments includes any of the stringed instruments that are fretted or bowed. Some of the common predecessors of the violin music instruments include the fiddle, rebec and lira da Bracco CITATION Che91 \l 1033 Invalid source specified.. A common assumption that is made is that the three string violin was in existence by at least 1520. This is due to the paintings that are available from that era that shows the three-stringed violin. In fact, by the year 1550, one of the top E string had been added, and the Viola and Cello had emerged as part of the family of the bowed instruments that are used up to date.
It is also thought that many of the violins went through their greatest transformation in Italy from the year 1520-1650. Some of the famous violin makers such as the Amati family were pivotal in establishing the basic proportions of the violin, viola, and the cello. The contribution of the family to the art of making violin was evident not only in the improvement of the instrument itself but also in the apprenticeships of the subsequently gifted makers that include Andrea Guarneri, Francesco Ruggeri and Antonio Stradivari.
One of the greatest makers of violin in history was Stradivari. He is the one who went on to finalize and at the same time refine the form and symmetry and violin. The makers of the violin instrument such as Stradivari continued with the experiment on the instruments through the 19th century with the arching’s, overall length, the angle of the neck and the bridge height. The instrument had to evolve so that it can be able to meet the requirements of the soloist and the larger concert hall as the violin repertoire became more demanding. The various types of changing styles in the music played off in the advancement of the way through which the instrument was played and vice versa.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the modern violin became established. The modern bow was invented by Francois Tourte between the year 1747 and 1835. The weight, balance, and length made it more balanced, and it allowed the player to produce power and brilliance in the higher ranges. The invention of Louis Spohr of the chin rest at around 1820 made it possible for the player to hold the violin comfortably and play it in the higher positions. The invention of the chinrest by Spohr also lead to the significant advancement of the playing technique, and it also allowed the violin repertoire to reach its virtuoso level. The advent of the shoulder rest was also an important contribution that eased the way in which violin was played.
The Tourte bow rendered the older bows to become obsolete, and there had no commercial value, and as a result, they do not exist today. However, the older violins were carefully preserved even though apart from the rare exceptions, they usually opened and it was easier to alter the modern fittings and adjust the neck, fingerboard, bridge, bass-bar, sound post, strings, chinrest, and the E- tuner. Due to the lower extension, the old bar bass was shorter and also lighter while the sound post was thinner. The early convex bows varied greatly regarding ...