The great master of string making, Antonio Stradivari, has not been with us for almost three centuries. Secret greatest master never managed to figure it out. Only his violins sing like angels. Modern science And the latest technologies failed to achieve what for the Cremonese genius was just a craft...
What is the secret of Antonio Stradivari, did he exist at all, and why did the master not pass on the secret to the successors of his family?
“From some kind of wood...”
As a child, Antonio Stradivari simply went crazy at the sound of music. But when he tried to express by singing what was in his heart, it turned out so badly that everyone around him laughed. The boy had another passion: he constantly carried a small pocket knife with him, with which he sharpened numerous pieces of wood that came to hand.
Antonio's parents envisioned a career as a cabinetmaker, for which he was famous hometown Cremona in Northern Italy. But one day an 11-year-old boy heard that Nicolo Amati, the best violin maker in all of Italy, also lives in their city!
The news could not help but inspire the boy: after all, no less than the sounds of the human voice, Antonio loved listening to the violin... And he became a student of the great master.
Years later, this Italian boy would become famous as the manufacturer of the most expensive violins in the world. His products, which were sold in the 17th century for 166 Cremonese lire (about 700 modern dollars), 300 years later would go under the hammer for 4-5 million dollars each!
However, back then, in 1655, Antonio was just one of the many students of Signor Amati who worked for free for the master in exchange for knowledge. Stradivarius began his career as... an errand boy. He rushed like the wind around sunny Cremona, delivering numerous notes from Amati to wood suppliers, a butcher or a milkman.
On the way to the workshop, Antonio was perplexed: why did his master need such old, seemingly worthless pieces of wood? And why does the butcher, in response to the signor’s note, often wrap vile blood-red intestines instead of deliciously smelling garlic sausages? Of course, the teacher shared most of his knowledge with his students, who always listened to him with their mouths open in amazement.
Most - but not all... Some of the tricks, thanks to which the violin suddenly acquired its unique voice, unlike anyone else, Amati taught only to his eldest son. This was the tradition of the old masters: the most important secrets were to remain in the family.
The first serious task that Stradivarius began to entrust was the manufacture of strings. In the house of master Amati they were made from... the entrails of lambs. Antonio carefully soaked the intestines in some strange-smelling water (the boy later learned that this solution was alkaline, based on soap), dried them and then twisted them. So Stradivarius began to slowly learn the first secrets of his craft.
For example, it turned out that not all veins are suitable for transformation into noble strings. Most best material, Antonio learned, these are the sinews of 7-8 month old lambs raised in Central and Southern Italy. It turned out that the quality of the strings depends on the pasture area, the time of slaughter, the properties of the water and a host of other factors...
The boy’s head was spinning, but this was just the beginning! Then it was the tree's turn. Then Stradivarius understood why Signor Amati sometimes preferred unattractive-looking pieces of wood: it doesn’t matter what the wood looks like, the main thing is how it sounds!
Nicolo Amati had already shown the boy several times how a tree could sing. He lightly touched a piece of wood with his fingernail, and it suddenly gave off a barely audible ringing sound!
All varieties of wood, Amati told the already grown Stradivarius, and even parts of the same trunk differ in sound from each other. Therefore, the upper part of the soundboard (the surface of the violin) must be made of spruce, and the lower part must be made of maple. Moreover, the most “gently singing” ones were those that grew up in Swiss Alps. It was these trees that all Cremonese craftsmen preferred to use.
As a teacher, nothing more
The boy turned into a teenager, and then became a grown man... However, during all this time there was not a day that he did not hone his skills. Friends were only amazed at such patience and laughed: they say, Stradivarius will die in someone else’s workshop, forever remaining another unknown apprentice of the great Nicolo Amati...
However, Stradivari himself remained calm: the number of his violins, the first of which he created at the age of 22, had already reached dozens. And even though everyone had the mark “Made by Nicolo Amati in Cremona,” Antonio felt that his skill was growing and he would finally be able to receive the honorary title of master himself.
True, by the time he opened his own workshop, Stradivarius was 40. At the same time, Antonio married Francesca Ferraboci, the daughter of a wealthy shopkeeper. He became a respected violin maker. Although Antonio never surpassed his teacher, orders for his small, yellow-varnished violins (exactly the same as Nicolo Amati's) came from all over Italy.
And the first students have already appeared in Stradivarius’s workshop, ready, like he himself once was, to hang on to every word of the teacher. The goddess of love Venus also blessed the union of Antonio and Francesca: one after another, five black-haired children, healthy and lively, were born.
Stradivari had already begun to dream of a calm old age, when a nightmare came to Cremona - the plague. That year, the epidemic claimed thousands of lives, sparing neither the poor nor the rich, neither women nor children. The old woman with a scythe did not pass by the Stradivari family: his beloved wife Francesca and all five children died from a terrible disease.
Stradivari plunged into the abyss of despair. His hands gave up, he could not even look at the violins, which he treated as his own children. Sometimes he took one of them in his hands, held the bow, listened for a long time to the piercingly sad sound and put it back, exhausted.
Golden period
Antonio Stradivari was saved from despair by one of his students. After the epidemic, the boy was not in the workshop for a long time, and when he appeared, he cried bitterly and said that he could no longer be a student of the great Signor Stradivarius: his parents died and now he himself must earn his own living...
Stradivari took pity on the boy and took him into his house, and a few years later he even adopted him. Having become a father again, Antonio suddenly felt a new taste for life. He began studying the violin with redoubled zeal, feeling a strong desire to create something extraordinary, and not copies, even excellent ones, of his teacher’s violins.
These dreams were not destined to come true soon: only at the age of 60, when most people were already retiring, Antonio developed new model violin, which brought him immortal fame.
From that time on, Stradivarius began his “golden period”: he created the best instruments for concert performance and received the nickname “super-Stradivarius”. The flying unearthly sound of his creations has not yet been reproduced by anyone...
The violins he created sounded so unusual that it immediately gave rise to many rumors: they said that the old man had sold his soul to the devil! After all a common person, even if he has golden hands, cannot make a piece of wood make sounds like the singing of angels.
Some people have seriously argued that the wood from which several of the most famous violins are made is the remains of Noah's Ark.
Modern scientists simply state a fact: the master managed to give his violins, violas and cellos a rich timbre, a higher tone than that of Amati, and also amplified the sound.
Along with the fame that spread far beyond the borders of Italy, Antonio also gained new love. He married - and again happily - the widow Maria Zambelli. Maria gave birth to five children, two of whom - Francesco and Omobone - also became violin makers, but they could not only surpass their father, but also repeat them.
Not much information has been preserved about the life of the great master, because at first he was of little interest to chroniclers - Stradivarius did not stand out in any way among other Cremonese masters. And he was a reserved person.
Only later, when he became famous as a “super-Stradivarius,” did his life begin to become overgrown with legends. But we know for sure: the genius was an incredible workaholic. He made instruments until his death at age 93.
It is believed that Antonio Stradivari created about 1,100 instruments in total, including violins. The maestro was amazingly productive: he produced 25 violins a year.
For comparison: a modern actively working violin maker who makes violins by hand produces only 3-4 instruments annually. But only 630 or 650 instruments of the great master have survived to this day; the exact number is unknown. Most of them are violins.
Miracle parameters
Modern violins are created using the most advanced technologies and achievements of physics - but the sound is still not the same! For three hundred years, there has been debate about the mysterious “secret of Stradivarius,” and each time scientists put forward more and more fantastic versions.
According to one theory, Stradivari's know-how lies in the fact that he possessed a certain magical secret of violin varnish, which gave his products a special sound. They said that the master learned this secret in one of the pharmacies and improved the recipe by adding insect wings and dust from the floor of his own workshop to the varnish.
Another legend says that the Cremonese master prepared his mixtures from the resins of trees that grew in those days in the Tyrolean forests and were soon completely cut down. However, scientists have found that the varnish used by Stradivari was no different from what furniture makers used in that era.
Many violins were generally re-varnished during restoration in the 19th century. There was even a madman who decided to undertake a sacrilegious experiment - completely removing the varnish from one of the Stradivarius violins. And what? The violin did not sound any worse.
Some scientists suggest that Stradivari used high-altitude spruce trees that grew in unusually cold weather. The wood had an increased density, which, according to researchers, gave his instruments a distinctive sound. Others believe that Stradivari's secret is in the shape of the instrument.
They say the whole point is that none of the masters put as much work and soul into their work as Stradivari. An aura of mystery gives the creations of the Cremonese master an additional charm
But pragmatic scientists do not believe in the illusions of lyricists and have long dreamed of dividing the magic of enchanting violin sounds into physical parameters. In any case, there is definitely no shortage of enthusiasts. We can only wait for the moment when physicists achieve the wisdom of lyricists. Or vice versa…
Antonio Stradivarius or Stradivarius
(1644 - December 18, 1737) - famous master string instruments, student of Nicolo Amati. About 650 instruments of his work have survived.
Having tried many professions, he experienced failure everywhere. He wanted to become a sculptor, like Michelangelo; the lines of his statues were elegant, but their faces were not expressive. He abandoned this craft, earned his living by carving wood, making wooden decorations for rich furniture, and became addicted to drawing; With greatest suffering He studied the ornamentation of doors and wall paintings of cathedrals and drawings of great masters. Then he was attracted to music and decided to become a musician. He studied violin hard; but the fingers lacked fluency and lightness, and the sound of the violin was dull and harsh. They said about him: " Musician's ear, carver's hands". And he gave up the craft of a musician. But he did not forget it.
Biography
Antonio Stradivari was born around 1644 in a small settlement near Cremona in the family of Alexandro Stradivari and Anna Moroni. His parents were from Cremona. But at this time, a terrible plague was raging in the southern part of Italy, which reached their city. People fled wherever they could. So the Stradivarius family settled near Cremona, and they never returned there again. The future great master spent his childhood there. For a long time, young Antonio could not decide what to do. He tried to be a sculptor, painter, woodcarver, and violinist. But in order to seriously engage in music, he lacked the mobility of his fingers, despite the fact that his ear for music was perfect. Violins interested him, and at the age of 18 Antonio became a free student of the well-known violin maker Nicolo Amati in Italy. At the first stage of his stay with Amati, Stradivari performed only the most menial work and was, as they say, at the beck and call of a recognized master. But one day Nicolo Amati saw Antonio carving f-holes on a useless piece of wood. And from that moment on, Antonio began to comprehend Amati’s skill, to learn how to choose wood, how to make maple or spruce sing, how thick the soundboards should be, what the purpose of the spring inside the instrument is, and what role the varnish covering it has in the sound of the violin. With persistence, Stradivarius achieved perfection in the sound of the violin. And when he heard that his violin sang the same way as Master Nicolo’s, he was overcome by the desire to make it different. Stradivari wanted to hear the sounds of women's and children's voices in it. But for a long time He failed to implement his idea. In 1680, Stradivarius began working independently.
In addition to the perfection of sound, his instruments were distinguished by their unusual design, as they would say today. All the violins were different, some he made narrower, others wider, some were shorter, some longer. Stradivarius decorated his instruments with pieces of mother-of-pearl, ebony, ivory, and images of flowers or cupids. They had a special sound; contemporaries compared the sound of his violins with the voice of a girl in a Cremona square. All this spoke of his own style of work, and therefore distinguished it from many others. By the age of forty, Stradivarius was very rich and famous. The Italians said: “Rich as Stradivarius.”
It was difficult to call his personal life happy. He was widowed early and lost two adult sons, whom he hoped to make the support of his own old age, to reveal to them the secret of his skill and to pass on everything that he had achieved throughout his life. long life. However, he still has four more sons. Francesco and Omobono, although they worked with him, did not have his instincts, much less his talent. They just tried to copy him. The third son, Paolo, did not understand his craft at all, he was carried away by trade, and he was extremely far from art. The fourth son, Giuseppe, became a monk. Stradivarius was 76 years old. He lived to a ripe old age and achieved great respect and wealth. But thinking about his family, Antonio became increasingly gloomy. The violins understood and obeyed him much more than their own sons, and he knew how to feel them, which could not be said about his children. Stradivari left them all his acquired property, they will acquire good houses; but there was no one to leave the secret of his mastery to Stradivarius. For only a true master can pass on his experience and part of his talent; he did not feel even a grain of such abilities in his sons. He did not want to share with them the subtle ways of composing varnishes, recording the unevenness of the decks. Believing that all the nuances that he meticulously collected and learned over 70 years can only help, teach him to be a master and feel the tree as if it were alive, never. Calm does not leave Stradivarius. He will make tools until last days life, getting up early, sitting for hours in the laboratory and at the workbench. Despite the fact that every month it becomes more and more difficult for him to finish the violin he started. He stopped thinking about everything that had previously prevented him from sleeping peacefully. The master finally decided that he would take his secrets with him to the grave. It is better that they remain forever undiscovered than to pass on knowledge to those who have neither talent, nor love, nor courage. He already gave a lot to his family, they are rich, they still have his noble name and his good reputation. Over his long life, he made just over a thousand instruments, which were sold all over the world. In addition to violins, Stradivari made violas, guitars, cellos, and even made a harp. He was satisfied with the outcome of his journey, and therefore left calmly. 
On December 18, 1737, Stradivari's heart stopped. Dressed in black robes with hoods, belted with ropes, and wearing rough wooden sandals, the monks of the Dominican order walked behind the hearse, in whose church the master bought a crypt for the burial of himself and his family during his lifetime. The sons walked solemnly and importantly behind the coffin, followed by the disciples. None of them ever learned the secret of the great master Antonio Stradivari.
The Mystery of Antonio Stradivari
The violin is in the hands of a wonderful musician, responding to his inspiration with a clear, deep voice. Like a living being, she told us about grief and joy, about tragedy and happiness, and everyone understood her in their own way, and she found her own response in everyone’s soul. Light golden, elegant, it sparkled with all its facets, and only a few knew that in fact its age was measured in centuries and that it was given to the musician from the State Collection only for this tour. This violin had no price: like any masterpiece, it was priceless. After two and a half centuries, it has retained all the nuances of its extraordinary sound. She brought to us the “soul of Stradivarius”... He was not loved for his stinginess and aloofness. They envied him - his wealth and fame. When he remarried at 55, a year after his wife's death, he was maligned. Not all of his eleven children survived, but when one of them died, they did not rush to him with words of consolation and sympathy. And they were also afraid of him, because he was terrible in his obsession: no one had ever seen him do nothing, not once in all nine decades of his life. Along with the first rays of the gentle Italian sun, he appeared on the roof of his three-story house in St. Domenic Square and hung up his tools; at sunset he went out to take them off. The students have long gone home, the sons helping with their work have gone to bed, and in the window of the workshop on the first floor there is a light shining, and every now and then the tall, thin figure of the great master flashes.
For almost two centuries, the Cremona school of violin makers accumulated experience in creating instruments that the European stage had never seen before. How many generations of masters had to change, passing on the secrets of their craft to each other, so that he, Stradivarius, could finally appear, who could not only absorb their knowledge, but also bring the common work to perfection!
80 years of intense, never-ending work. When my hands got tired, my brain continued to work. Antonio dreamed that he had to make a violin unsurpassed in its sound qualities, and he made it, although it took his whole life. At the age of 13, he glued his first instrument with the brilliant Nicolo Amati, but another 10 long years passed until, having opened his own workshop, he allowed himself not to be called a student on violin etiquette, and another 20 years, when he first made an instrument different from those what his teacher did. 
What did he change then? Yes, he made the model longer, but a little narrower. The sound timbre became lower. And then he began to weigh the parts of the violin. It seemed to him that he was about to find in this flat instrument the best proportion between the upper soundboard and the lower one. Then the idea appeared that the sound depended on the thickness of the decks. Dozens of prototypes were made, and it turned out that the thinner the deck, the lower the tone. But can the thickness be the same throughout? What should it be like then? Long years calculations, experiments: somewhere, in some place a little thicker, somewhere a little thinner, just a fraction of a millimeter - and a different sound. Was it really necessary to live 93 years to finally establish a system by which the thickness of the decks in different places is determined, the change from the center to the edges? Hundreds and thousands of options and, finally, the conclusion - the top part should be made of spruce, and not from Saxon, which has a lot of resin, but from Tyrolean or Italian. And for interior decoration, alder and linden will be suitable. How good maple works! He has one beautiful drawing cut: the tool must be elegant. Italian maple has a special shine, the surface of its cuts is silky, but you only need to take the trunk that was cut down in January, otherwise there will be a lot of juice in it - this will ruin everything.
Antonio is convinced that his violins should last for centuries. Stradivarius learned to choose wood accurately. But good tree He rarely came across one; he sometimes used one barrel for a whole decade, carefully selecting piece by piece. It’s better to glue it, take a chance with the design - as long as it sounds. And only he knew which tree to choose: young, old, or even with wormholes. When did he create his final model? In 1704? Decades of work and searches before a problem with many unknowns was solved. Yes, he found the main unknown when he was already 60 years old: he proved that its “voice” depends on the composition of the varnish with which the instrument is coated. And not only from the varnish, but also from the primer that needs to be used to cover the wood so that the varnish is not absorbed into it. And who can suggest their composition - scientists, alchemists? How much do they know about this? About one and a half thousand 
The instruments came from the workshop of the great Antonio Stradivari, and he made every single one of them with his own hands. And how much did he then reject in the process of endless searches?! This is what took 80 years, spent like one day, alone with the singing tree. He achieved fame and glory. He is commissioned for instruments - and not only violins, but also violas and viols - by kings and nobles. His creations are the best of all that was created in Europe; it was they who confirmed the superiority of the “Italian timbre” inherent only to them...
So what is the master dissatisfied with, what makes him suffer?
Centuries of craftsmanship musical instruments passed on by inheritance: from grandfather to father, from father to son, grandson. In Northern Italy, in Brescia, there was a dynasty of violin makers, originating from Gasparo Bertolotti. Here in Cremona, a dynasty has existed for 200 years, founded by Andrea Amati, whose grandson Nicola, who lived 88 years, taught Stradivarius this craft. Nikola's son, violin maker Girolami Amati, is still alive; he is only five years younger than Stradivari. Even Andrea Guarneri, with whom Antonio studied with Amati, became the founder of a dynasty of masters, and his grandson Giuseppe, nicknamed del Gesu, seems to eclipse the glory of Stradivari himself. And only Signor Antonio himself does not leave behind heirs to his talent. Both of his sons, Francesco and Omobono, did not go further than apprentices. Why did he work so hard, to whom will he leave the secrets of his mastery? To whom will he reveal the great meaning of deck thickness tables, the system of measuring points - its points, the composition of the primer and varnish, the methods of their preparation? Take them with you to the grave? He spent 80 years trying to achieve perfection in his craft. Can anyone else do this? So, is he destined to remain unsurpassed for centuries?
Almost two and a half centuries have passed since the death of the great master Antonio Stradivari. His careless sons outlived their father by only 5-6 years. Until his last days, 93-year-old Stradivarius worked on violins. Blanks of instruments have been preserved, on the label of which, next to the traditional Maltese cross, is the name of the creator and the date - 1737, the year of his death. There are about 800 instruments in the world now, which are known for sure to have been made by the hand of the great Stradivarius. Among them is the famous cello called “Bass of Spain” and tiny “pochettes” - violins for dance teachers, the most magnificent creation The masters are the “Messiah” violin and the “Münz” violin, from the inscription on which it was determined that the master was born in 1644. But the secrets of creativity, which suddenly disappeared with his death, have not yet been solved. Everything that can be measured has been measured, everything that can be copied has been copied, but no one can make a violin made according to these measurements “sing” the way it did with the great Stradivarius. To this day it is not possible to determine the chemical composition of the primer and varnish applied to his instruments. That is why the legend about the “soul of Stradivari”, imprisoned in his violins and talking to his descendants, is passed down from generation to generation. 
The secret of Antonio Stradivari's violins
Scientists around the world are trying to unravel the mystery of Stradivarius violins. Even during his lifetime, the masters said that he sold his soul to the devil - but they also said that several violins were made from the wreckage of Noah's Ark. Stradivari made his first violin in 1666, but for more than 30 years he searched for his own model. Only in the early 1700s did the master construct his own, still unsurpassed, violin. It was elongated in shape and had kinks and irregularities inside the body, due to which the sound was enriched due to the appearance of a large number of high overtones. From that time on, Antonio no longer made fundamental deviations from the developed model, but experimented until the end of his long life. Stradivari died in 1737, but his violins are still highly valued; they practically do not age and do not change their “voice.” During his life, Antonio Stradivari made about 2,500 instruments, of which 732 are undoubtedly authentic. In addition to bowed ones, he also made one harp and two guitars. It is generally accepted that his best instruments were made from 1698 to 1725 (and the best in 1715). They are especially rare and therefore highly prized by both musicians and collectors. Many Stradivarius instruments are in rich private collections. There are about two dozen Stradivarius violins in Russia: several violins are in the State Collection of Musical Instruments, one in the Glinka Museum and several more in private ownership. Scientists and musicians around the world are trying to unravel the mystery of how Stradivarius violins were created. Even during his lifetime, the masters said that he sold his soul to the devil, they even said that the wood from which several of the most famous violins were made were the fragments of Noah's Ark. There is an opinion that Stradivarius violins are so good because a real instrument begins to sound truly good only after two or three hundred years. Many scientists have conducted hundreds of studies on violins using the latest technologies, but they have not yet been able to unravel the secret of Stradivarius violins. It is known that the master soaked the wood in sea water and exposed it to complex chemical compounds of plant origin.
At one time it was believed that Stradivari's secret was in the form of the instrument, later great importance they began to use a material that is constant for Stradivarius violins: spruce for the top soundboard, maple for the bottom soundboard. They even believed that it was all about the varnishes; The elastic varnish covering Stradivarius violins allows the soundboards to resonate and “breathe.” This gives the timbre a characteristic “big” sound.
According to legend, Cremonese craftsmen prepared their mixtures from the resins of some trees that grew in those days in the Tyrolean forests and were soon completely cut down. The exact composition of those varnishes has not been established to this day - even the most sophisticated chemical analysis was powerless here. In 2001, biochemist Joseph Nigiware of the University of Texas announced that he had unraveled the secret of Stradivarius. The scientist came to the conclusion that the special sound of the bowed strings was the result of the master’s efforts to protect them from the woodworm. Nigiwara found out that when the master created violins, wooden blanks were often affected by woodworm, and Stradivari resorted to borax to protect the unique musical instruments. This substance seemed to solder the molecules of the wood, changing the overall sound of the violin. When Stradivarius died, the victory over the woodworm in Northern Italy had already been won, and subsequently the borax was no longer used to protect the tree. Thus, according to Nigiwara, the master took the secret with him to the grave.
On December 18, 1737, Antonio Stradivari, a master who left behind an immortal legacy, died in his native Cremona at the age of 93. About 650 musical instruments delight the ears of sophisticated fans of classical sound even today. For almost three centuries, musical instrument manufacturers have been haunted by the question: why does the sound of Stradivarius violins resemble the ringing and gentle voice of a woman?
Strings from veins
In 1655, Antonio was just one of many students of the best violin maker in Italy, Nicolo Amati.
Being at that time just an errand boy for the famous master, Stradivari sincerely did not understand why the butcher, in response to the signor’s note, sent him intestines.
Amati revealed the first of the secrets of instrument making to his student: the strings are made from the entrails of lambs. The technology of that time was to soak them in an alkaline soap-based solution, dry them and then curl them. It was believed that not all cores were suitable for strings. The best material is the sinews of 7-8 month old lambs raised in Central and Southern Italy. Amati taught his students that the quality of strings depends on pasture, time of slaughter, water and many other factors.
Tyrolean tree
At the age of 60, when most people are already retiring, Antonio developed a violin model that brought him immortal fame.
His violins sang so uniquely that some seriously argued that the wood from which the instruments were made were the remains of Noah's Ark.
Scientists suggest that Stradivari used high-altitude spruce trees that grew in unusually cold weather. This wood had an increased density, which gave a distinctive sound to the instruments made from it.
Stradivari, undoubtedly, chose wood only for his instruments highest quality: well dried, aged. Special spruce was used to make the soundboard, and maple was used for the bottom. In addition, he cut the lumps not into boards, but into sectors: the result was “orange slices.” The researchers came to this conclusion based on the location of the annual layers.
Furniture varnish
They said that Stradivari learned the secret of the varnish in one of the pharmacies and improved the recipe by adding “insect wings and dust from the floor of his own workshop.”
Another legend says that the Cremonese master prepared his mixtures from the resins of trees that grew in those days in the Tyrolean forests, and were later completely cut down.
In fact, everything is quite prosaic: scientists have found that the varnish that Stradivari used to cover his famous violins was no different from what furniture makers used in that era.
Moreover, many instruments were generally “repainted” during restoration in the 19th century. There was even a risky experiment: the varnish was washed off from one of the violins with caustic mixtures. The instrument became dull and peeling, but did not sound any worse.
Ideal shape
Stradivarius had a special way of hollowing out the soundboards, a unique pattern of holes, and a characteristic outline of the outer lines. Historians claim that among the violins known today, no two are exactly the same in relief and sound.
In an attempt to repeat the success of Stradivarius, the masters went to extreme measures: they opened up an old violin and made ten new ones from it, up to the smallest detail reproducing the form. Thus, in the USSR in the 1930-1950s, scientific research was carried out on Stradivarius violins in order to establish the production of similar instruments on automatic lines. The most successful experimental instruments turned out to be quite comparable in sound to Stradivarius instruments.
The most successful imitations, experts believe, are credited to Simon Fernando Sacconi. This Italian master bowed instruments, who worked in the first half of the 20th century, used the model of Antonio Stradivari when creating instruments and achieved excellent results.
Talent of a scientist and carver
Stradivari had the intuition of a scientist, the deft hands of a cabinetmaker, the keen eye of an artist, and the keen ear of a musician. And all this, multiplied a thousandfold by inexhaustible hard work, he put into his creations. Perhaps the secret of the sound of his instruments is hidden in the master’s talent?
The master did not try to imitate anyone; he strove to achieve beauty and power of sound at any cost. His work became the work of a researcher. His violins are acoustic experiments, some more successful than others. Sometimes the subtlest changes in the properties of wood forced him to adjust the configuration of the decks, their thickness, and convexity. The master's ear told him how to do this.
And, of course, one should not discount the value of the “brand”: it is believed that about 20 percent of his musical instruments brought Stradivari fame. The rest, less outstanding, were perceived as works of art only because their author was “that same Cremonese genius.”
Antonio Stradivari's violins contain various combinations aluminum, copper and zinc. Probably, the master dipped the wood in some kind of solution that helped the tools pass through the centuries. This is evidenced by a study by Hwang Ching Tai, a professor of chemistry at Taiwan University.
“The use of these types of chemical alloys was an unusual practice; they remained unknown to subsequent generations of violin makers,” says the scientist.
Experts examined the violins at the molecular level. However, they could not determine how much the special coating affects the timbre and sound quality. Only one thing was clear: in the 17th century, Stradivari had extraordinary knowledge of chemistry for that time. It was established that the instruments were treated with a complex mineral composition. Moreover, the preservative was used to soak the wood for a long time.
A comparative analysis shows that chemical treatment of wood was not resorted to in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, when creating violins, the raw materials are air-dried for several years. Stradivarius was one of the few craftsmen in Cremona who used special solutions. This technique has most likely been lost. Reproducing a unique composition would allow you to breathe new life into modern musical instruments.
The version of Taiwanese researchers is confirmed by Joseph Najiyari from the University of Texas. He believes that the wood of Stradivarius violins was coated with a protective composition against wood pests, containing various chemical elements, including borax, used by the Egyptians to embalm mummies.
The great master Antonio Stradivari devoted his entire life to the manufacture and improvement of musical instruments that would forever glorify his name. Experts note the master’s constant desire to endow his instruments with powerful sound and rich timbre. Enterprising businessmen, knowing about high price Stradivarius violins, with enviable regularity they offer to buy fakes from them...
Stradivari marked all his violins the same way. His brand is the initials A.S. and a Maltese cross placed in a double circle. The authenticity of the violins can only be confirmed by a very experienced expert.
Some facts from the biography of Stradivari
Place and exact date The birth of the well-known Italian violinist-master Antonio Stradivari has not been precisely established. Estimated years his life - from 1644 to 1737. The mark “1666, Cremona” on one of the master’s violins gives reason to say that in this year he lived in Cremona and was a student of Nicolo Amati.
The heart of the genius Antonio Stradivari stopped on December 18, 1737. It is estimated that he could have lived from 89 to 94 years, creating about 1,100 violins, cellos, double basses, guitars and violas. Once he even made a harp.
Why is the exact year of birth of the master unknown? The point is that in Europe XVII plague reigned for centuries. The danger of infection forced Antonio's parents to take refuge in their family village. This saved the family. It is also unknown why, at the age of 18, Stradivari turned to Nicolo Amati, a violin maker. Perhaps your heart told you? Amati immediately saw him as a brilliant student and took him as his apprentice.
Antonio began his working life as a laborer. Then he was entrusted with the work of filigree wood processing, working with varnish and glue. This is how the student gradually learned the secrets of mastery.
Not much information has been preserved about the life of the great master, because at first he was of little interest to chroniclers - Stradivarius did not stand out in any way among other Cremonese masters. And he was a reserved person. Only later, when he became famous as a “super-Stradivarius,” did his life begin to become overgrown with legends. But we know for sure: the genius was an incredible workaholic. He made instruments until his death at over 90 years old...
It is believed that Antonio Stradivari created about 1,100 instruments in total, including violins. The maestro was amazingly productive: he produced 25 violins a year. For comparison: a modern actively working violin maker who makes violins by hand produces only 3-4 instruments annually. But only 630 or 650 instruments of the great master have survived to this day; the exact number is unknown. Most of them are violins.
What is the secret of Stradivarius violins?
Modern violins are created using the most advanced technologies and achievements of physics - but the sound is still not the same! For three hundred years, there has been debate about the mysterious “secret of Stradivarius,” and each time scientists put forward more and more fantastic versions. According to one theory, Stradivari's know-how lies in the fact that he possessed a certain magical secret of violin varnish, which gave his products a special sound. Legends say that the master learned this secret in one of the pharmacies and improved the recipe by adding insect wings and dust from the floor of his own workshop to the varnish.
Another legend says that the Cremonese master prepared his mixtures from the resins of trees that grew in those days in the Tyrolean forests and were soon completely cut down.
Scientists continue to try to understand what causes the pure, unique sonority of Stradivarius’ violins. Professor Joseph Nagivari (USA) claims that to preserve the wood, the maple used by famous violin makers of the 18th century was chemically treated. This influenced the strength and warmth of the instruments' sound. He wondered: could treatment against fungi and insects be responsible for such purity and brightness of the sound of the unique Cremonese instruments?
Using nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy, he analyzed wood samples from five instruments. Nagivari states that if the effects of the chemical process are proven, change will be possible modern technology making violins. The violins will sound like a million dollars, and restorers will ensure the best preservation of ancient instruments.
The varnish that covered Stradivarius instruments was once analyzed. It turned out that its composition contains nanoscale structures. It turns out that three centuries ago the creators of violins relied on nanotechnology? An interesting experiment was conducted. The sound of a Stradivarius violin and a violin made by Professor Nagivari were compared. 600 listeners, including 160 musicians, assessed the tone and strength of sound on a 10-point scale. As a result, Nagivari's violin received higher scores.
However, there were other studies that found that the varnish used by Stradivarius was no different from what furniture makers used in that era. Many violins were generally re-varnished during restoration in the 19th century. There was even a madman who decided to undertake a sacrilegious experiment - to completely remove the varnish from one of the Stradivarius violins. And what? The violin did not sound any worse.
In turn, violin makers and musicians also do not recognize that the magic sound of their instruments is due to chemistry. And as proof of their opinion, the results of another scientific research. Thus, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology proved that the special “powerful” sound of Antonio Stradivari’s violins was caused by an accidental error during the production of these instruments.
As reported by The Daily Mail, the researchers realized that such an unusual deep sound of the violins of the world-famous Italian master is caused by F-shaped holes - the f-holes. Through analysis of many other Stradivarius instruments, scientists concluded that this shape was originally reproduced in error. One of the researchers, Nicholas Makris, shared his own opinion: “You are cutting thin wood and you cannot avoid imperfections. The shape of the holes in Stradivarius violins deviates from the traditional one for the 17th–18th centuries by 2%, but this does not seem like a mistake, but like evolution.”
There is also an opinion that none of the masters put as much work and soul into their work as Stradivari. An aura of mystery gives the creations of the Cremonese master additional charm. But pragmatic scientists do not believe in the illusions of lyricists and have long dreamed of dividing the magic of enchanting violin sounds into physical parameters. In any case, there is definitely no shortage of enthusiasts. We can only wait for the moment when physicists achieve the wisdom of lyricists. Or vice versa…
They say that every two weeks in the world someone “discovers” the secret of Antonio Stradivari. But in fact, for 300 years, the secret of the greatest master has not been unraveled. Only his violins sing like angels. Modern science and the latest technology have failed to achieve what for the Cremonese genius was just a craft.
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The greatest master of bowed instruments of all time was born in Italy in 1644 in a village near Cremona. The Stradivarius family moved here from Cremona when the plague was raging there. The future violin maker spent his childhood here. In his youth, Antonio tried to become a sculptor, artist, and woodcarver, which would later help him accurately select materials for his masterpieces. Later he became interested in playing the violin. Unfortunately, disappointment awaited him here too - despite the presence of an ideal musical ear his fingers lacked mobility. Fascinated by violins, he got a job in the workshop of Nicolo Amati, the grandson of the founder of the famous dynasty of Italian violin makers - Andrea Amati.
Antonio worked in the workshop for free, in exchange for the knowledge gained here. Niccolo Amati turned out to be not only an excellent violin maker, but also good teacher both for A. Stradivari and for another student - A. Guarneri, who over time also became a famous master. 
In 1666, Stradivari made his first violin, the sounds of which were reminiscent of his teacher's violins. He wanted to make her different. With each newly created instrument, its sound improves and its quality improves. In 1680 he begins to work independently. Looking for own style he is trying to move away from Amati's design, using new materials, a different processing method. At his violins different shape: he makes some narrower, others wider, some of them were shorter, others longer. His instruments were decorated with pieces of mother-of-pearl, ivory, images of cupids or flowers. But the main difference between his violins and others was their extraordinary, special sound.
For many years the master searched for his own model, improving and perfecting his violins, until finally, in 1700, he designed his unsurpassed violin. Until the end of his days, the master continued to experiment, but no longer made fundamental deviations from the already created model. 
For many years, the master persistently and painstakingly perfected the technique of wood processing, combining different types of wood, obtaining a consistent sound of different parts of the violin. Stradivari used spruce for the top soundboard and maple for the bottom. The master was one of the first to notice that the sound of a violin largely depends on the properties of the varnish that was used to cover the instrument and the wood used for it. Buy matte varnish for wood from different types of wood at an affordable price. Thanks to the elasticity of the varnish, the soundboards could resonate and “breathe,” which gave the timbre a special “volumetric” sound. It is believed that the mixtures were prepared from the resins of trees that grew in the Tyrolean forests, however, the exact composition of the varnishes was never established. Each violin made by the great master, like a living creature, had its own name and an incomparable unique voice. No master in the world has been able to achieve such perfection.
During his long, 93-year life, Stradivari gave the world more than a thousand violins, each of which is beautiful and unique. The best of them are considered to be the instruments created by the master from 1698 to 1725. Unfortunately, there are about 600 genuine instruments in the world today. Attempts by violin makers to create a resemblance to a Stradivarius violin were unsuccessful. Antonio Stradivari was married twice. From his first marriage he left three children. They lived in a spacious house where the master had his own workshop. Unfortunately, the wife died from one of the epidemics that happened often in those days and claimed the lives of many people. Stradivari married for the second time. In this marriage he had six children. His two children, Francesco and Omobono, when they grew up, began to work with their father, where they learned the secrets of his craft. They learned to make magnificent instruments, but none of them achieved the perfection of form and beauty of sound of their father's violin. The master himself continued to make instruments when he was already a venerable old man. Stradivari died at the age of 94, in 1737. The last violin genius master was born when he was 93 years old.
