The origin of the violin is legendary. It was created as a gift for Ravanon the king of Ceylon which he lived 5000 years ago. The kings son appeared in Europe during the Crusades from India. The supporter of the Scandinavian system hold that the instrument existed in Europe before the Crusades. The original violin is called “The Crouth Trithant”. Its name came from a poem by Venantius Fortunatus. A picture of the Crouth Trithant was given to the great violin makers Andrea Amati, Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Nicolo Amati, Antonio Stradavari, and Giuseppe Bartolomeo Guarneri del Gesu. The violin was brought to present by the great violin makers from 1600-1750. The most famous violin makers were the Amati and Guarneri families. The secrets of the craft were passed on father to son. The master builder of the five violin makers was Antonio. Andrea Amati was the one who set the basic proportions of the violin. Andrea Amati’s sons, Antonio and Gromilo continued business after his fathers death. Instead of Gromilo, his son Nicolo was none as one of the most prominent of the violin makers in Italy. Nicolo taught both Stradavari and Guareni. Stradavari’s instruments are the best none today, Guareni’s instrument is still played by modern virtuosi. Over the last 300 years the violin has hardly changed. Only the size and shape have changed by making the violin more louder and more comfortable to play.
Older violin
Newer violin
(Guareni Violin)
(Stradavari Violin)
2.Give a brief explanation of the construction of the instrument. What is it made out of? What are the names of it's parts? Give the names of some famous manufacturers of the instrument.
In order to play the violin you must have a bow and a violin. Top to bottom of the body for a classical violin would be 32.4cm. A violin contains a bow with horse hair which you can on the bottom either tighten or loosen the hairs to make a better sound. Also on the bow there is a finger rest you rest your finger on when you play. Another feature of the violin is the chin rest where you rest your chin on, so you don’t hurt your chin on the hard wood. Strings are turned a fifth apart so that when the bow runs across it the strings vibrate to create a noise. Holding these strings up is a bridge which is made out of wood. The two holes on either sides of the strings are to let the sound escape from the body of the violin. The thicker the string the lower the sound, so the thinner the string the higher the sound. The last part of the violin would be the tuning pegs which are located at the top of the violin. The violin is made out of maple, fir, sycamore, spruce, and willow. The back end sides are maple, the necks made out of Sycamore, and the body is made out of Spruce or pine. Some famous violin makers are Walter Luff, Peter Guarnerius, John Lott, Antonio Stradavari. My Opa (grandpa) makes each of his grandsons including me a violin which is really cool!
3.What sort of ensembles feature the instrument and you have chosen; both full-size ensembles or chamber groups?
The two full size violin ensembles are the symphony Orchestra and the String Orchestra. And the two chamber ensembles are the quartet (two violins, violas and cello’s) and the piano trio with the piano, violin and cello.
4.Include at least two drawings and/or pictures of your instrument, one of which must be a diagram labelling its parts.
(more high tech)
5.Give the names of at least five works which prominently feature your instrument.
Five pieces of violin music could be La Caccia (the hunt) by Antonio Vivaldi, Santa 1 by J.S Bach, Brandenburg Concerto 6 by J.S. Bach, Canon and Gitue by J. Pachelbeel, and Violin Concerto by Beethoven.
6.Give the names of at least five famous performers of your instrument.
Five famous performers of this instrument are Niger Kennedy, Niccolo Paganini, Ignaz Schuppanzigh, Maxim Vengerov, and Isaac Stern.
7.If your instrument is actually a family of instruments, briefly discuss it's other members. For example, the saxophone family has four main members; the soprano, the alto, the tenor and the baritone.
The soprano of the string instruments is the Violin, the alto of the string instruments is the viola, the tenor of the string instruments is the cello, and finally the bass of the string instruments is the double bass. The viola is larger than the violin and the strings are heavier to make a change of sound. The cello is kind of the same as the viola but serving the violin. The only difference from the viola is that it is played as a bas in barque music. The double bass is known as the contrabass or the bass viol, which this instrument plays in the lower bass part of a piece of music.
