V.com weekend vote: Where was your violin or stringed instrument made?
I find it amazing to think about the long journey my instruments made, from where they were created, into my hands.
Illustration by Violinist.com.
Under my roof in California, I have violins made in Italy, Germany and Japan. I used to have one made in Montana, in the United States. If I add my students' instruments to this mix, I'm sure I could also include China, Romania, more United States and Japan...probably more!
I thought about this even more, when looking at the list of award-winning instruments from the Violin Society of America's International Competition last month in Indianapolis. The instruments and their makers were from all over the world! The top medal for violin went to Akop Azoyan, a luthier based in Cremona Italy; viola - a team from Spain and Japan - Elià Fabré and Aogu Shimasaki; cello - luthier Benjamin Molinaro from Paris; bass - two luthiers, Christian Pedersen & Paul Hart, one from England and the other American, now both based in New Mexico. Wow!
Of course, the origin of your violin is not the same thing as where you bought it; to find its real origin, look inside the instrument, on the label, which usually will tell you where it was made. If it doesn't, then you can ask the person from whom you bought it. The best luthiers are able to recognize an instrument's origins simply from looking at it!
For the poll, please tell us where your violin was made. If you have more than one, tell us about your main violin, the one you use most often, and then tell us about the others in the comments below. Also, if your answer is "somewhere else," tell us where it is from in the comments below!
You might also like:
- Top Modern Violin Makers Honored in the 2024 Violin Society of America Competition
- Christopher Germain talks about The American Violin, then and now
- Interview with Violin Maker Andrew Carruthers: Inspiration and the Turtle Fiddle
* * *
Enjoying Violinist.com? Click here to sign up for our free, bi-weekly email newsletter. And if you've already signed up, please invite your friends! Thank you.
Replies
In my garage!
My violin was made in the mid 90s by a no-name maker in Canada who supposedly lived 30-40 minutes away from my home. My viola was made by the Hiroshi Kono workshop in Japan.
My violin was made in Germany. Than imported to the United States unvarnished. The varnish was put on in the United States. I have always loved the varnish my violin. I put German on the poll but the label actually says United States. It was made in 1976.
I mention the year because strangely enough my viola was also made in 1976. It was made in Salt Lake City. I have never cared for the varnish on it. I heard the maker later changed what varnish he used.
Liechtenstein,
My main fiddle was made in Germany. The second, a Guarneri copy, is also from Germany. The third is from France. The main instrument comes nearest to sounding like a viola in the low tones, with a string combo of A-D-G Thomastik Infeld Red or Warchal Amber; while it also gives a bright sheen in the high tones with a steel E string like Optima Goldbrokat. I split up my daily practice/play time among these three instruments, depending on the sound I’m aiming for on a given rep.
England and Germany.
England deserves a category of its own, distinct from "Europe (misc)".
I voted United States based on my viola rather than my violin, because the viola is my main instrument. I play a modern American viola made in Phoenix, AZ in 1979. My violin was made in West Germany in the early 1950s.
My only violin was made in Mittenwald, Germany by Michael Boller, in 1803. I was very lucky to get it, through my teacher in England, where I grew up. I chose it over two others for it's warm tone. It does have great low tones, and I use bright-sounding strings, especially a Goldbrokat E.
I've always loved it best, and never thought to buy another.
My violin (2006) was made in Zakopane, which is a town in southern Poland near the Slovak border. My older daughter's violin was made in Germany (1893). It is a Reichert workshop violin so probably made in either Markneukirchen or Dresden. My younger daughter's cello (2013) was made in Belgium. Her teacher at Oberlin thinks she got lucky when she bought it (i.e., a better cello than its price would suggest). A local pro told me that he thinks Belgium is becoming a mecca of the violin trade. Finally I have two violas, one made in China (Ming-Jiang Zhu) and one that I just purchased a month ago, which was made in my own town of Blacksburg, Virginia, by Daniel Foster, (2006).
"Europe-other". My main violin is from Prague when it was Bohemia, my second is from Vienna (Wien) and then I have a cheap one for travel that was probably built in China but was finished in Tennessee USA.
My current violin was made in 2021, by a younger Italian maker, Andrea Varazzani, it is a Guarneri model.
I also have a 1943, James R. Carlisle, made in Cincinnati, also a Guarneri model. Both fiddles have different attributes, darker and brighter.
My violin was made in Fermo, Italy. (1820-1830.) I like this violin for its warm and full voice.
Playing this violin has been an adventure. I liked it when we first purchased it at a substantial price reduction. But, it later became evident that it needed work. So my luthier made subsequent repairs. Firstly, the bottom was not properly glued onto the rib just to the right pf the button, and it had separated. Then, we noticed we that the top was not properly glued onto the rib just to the left of the button, and it had separated as well. The third problem was the most frustrating. The sound post kept traveling, making the violin sound terrible. It had to frequently be adjusted. Turns out, it was too short in a high arched violin. So, my luthier did a general set up, changing the strings, installing in a boxwood (versus Pernumbuco) tail piece, adding a Kevlar tail-gut, and fabricating a new and longer sound post from low density wood.
After all this was completed, he commented that it takes a couple of years to finally get a violin properly adjusted. He was right. But, it was well worth all the frustration and effort, because ie sounds really nice, now..
My viola was made in Bulgaria. The brand is Kremona and my luthier thought they were trying to trick naive people into thinking it was made in Cremona,
but the label clearly says Bulgaria. It's 14" so doesn't have a big sound but I've had it for nearly 10 years and still enjoy it very much.
Hi, my violin was made in Mirecourt about 1820 by Petitjean l’aine. It has a lovely warm tone. I think Petitjean was more of a guitar maker, but he made violins and violas as well.
Wow, so many origin stories, I love it!
My main violin was made in Canada by a known maker.
https://www.violinist.com/discussion/archive/11065/
The other 2 are JTL French violins.
My viola was made in England in the mid-18th century by a talented, anonymous luthier who was probably French. My violin's origin has been the subject of a total of roughly 12 opinions from 10 luthiers (two changed there mind subsequent to their first opinion).
My main violin was made in Cremona, Italy 2006. I will say that I was "raised" musically to aspire to a fine Italian, French, or possibly German fiddle. Though I love my violin if I were shopping today, there are so many contemporary American Makers that I would love to try. I am a big advocate of musicians buying and performing on contemporary instruments. As I've grown older, the violin's age and country of origin have less influence over what I would choose.
My first violin was a Starling, made in China. My second was a no-name, also made in China. I then bought a Hofner, made in Germany. It has the sweetest tone of them all. Then lastly I bought an acoustic-electric, a Stagg, made in China I suspect, but with the electronics fitted in Belgium - it's got a quiet, pleasant acoustic tone, but can sound quite raw through an amp (I think Vanessa Mae would like it.). That's the violins. I've got a viola, 16 1/2", made I think in China. And a no-name cello, made also I think, in China. (My cello teacher was pleasantly surprised by the tone of my cello when I first met her - she'd been trained in the Netherlands, which should come as no surprise since that is where she was born, and was clearly expecting no-name instruments to be utterly useless.)
My viola is German. I know nothing else other than that. My violin is French, late 19th Century. I only about them since they've been away for repair
Schilbach, Germany (made by Johann Friedrich Straube, whoever he was, in 1914). It's a pretty nice violin.
In Canada. Made in Ottawa by well-known luthier Guy Harrison in 2011. It's a copy of the 1742 Lord Wilton Guarneri Del Gesu. I was privileged to take photographs of each stage of construction, from 2 slabs of European maple and spruce to the finished instrument.
I have another fiddle, 1880s, German but no label. Perhaps Mittenwald. My first full-sized instrument, from when I was a kid. It belonged to a music teacher from Nova Scotia, who may have been the first or second owner. (My parents acquired it after her death in the mid 1950s.) It was always a beautiful looking and sounding instrument, but needed some major repairs, which were performed skilfully about 14 years ago by an outstanding luthier, Charline Dequincey. Looks and sounds as good as ever. The words to me after it was handed back were: "good for another hundred years. . ."
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Violinist.com is made possible by...
Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition
Dimitri Musafia, Master Maker of Violin and Viola Cases
Johnson String Instrument/Carriage House Violins
Subscribe
Laurie's Books
Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews.
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine
December 8, 2024 at 07:13 PM · My violin was built in Bern, Switzerland, the label says:
"Gustav Lütschg fecit Bernae 1918". It's a great instrument. I got it though a stroke of luck: When I was bout 17 an acquaintance of my father had heard that this son played the violin and brought him a rather decrepit case with a violin in it which obviously had not been played for years. The man who owned it had died a few years earlier and nobody in the family played.
I put strings on and right off the bat it sounded about as good as my own violin. As I kept playing and got to know the instrument I began to like it more and more. When I took it to my lesson the teacher said: "If you want something better than this you have to get an Italian". I never did. And I think I really didn't need to.
My parents were generous and they bought it for me from the owner family. We sold my "old" violin (I was not going to play it again; it was not bad but compared to the new one it sounded harsh).