A RARE STRADIVARIUS! "The
Harrison" - by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona (1693). Rawlins
Fund 1984
One of only 6 Strad violins still with the original "neck,"
it is said to be the greatest concert violin built before 1700
and was one of 44 instruments chosen for an exhibition commemorating
the 250th anniversary of Stradivari's death.
Today's most noted violinists own a Strad.
(Click Image to view detail in pop-up window. Close window when
done.)
CHANOT Violins
Arne
B. Larson Collection
These guitar-shaped violins were first built by Francois
Chanot in 1817. Later, J.G. Staufer of Vienna used the same
concept to invent the arpegionne, a cello-shaped instrument
which Schubert used to write a sonata in 1824.
Where
in the orchestra are the STRING INSTRUMENTS?
Click HERE (Close pop-up window when done).
And
this is a BRANDSTÄTTER Violin.
Rawlins
Fund 1997
It was built by Matthäus Ignatz Brandstätter in Vienna
in 1824, the same year that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was first
produced. At the time, Viennese musicians played mostly Austrian,
not Italian, instruments.
The
KING
An AMATI violoncello (ca 1564-71)
Witten-Rawlins
Collection
Built
by the other famous violin maker from Cremona, Andrea Amati,
thiswas
one of 38 instruments commissionedfor
the French court of King Charles IX. In 1801 the instrument
was made smaller and "modernized" by the Parisian
lutier Renault, hence the seam along the middle. (Click
image to view detail in pop-up window. Close window when done.)
Photos courtesy of the Philharmonic Society of Orange
County
And
this is a BRANDSTÄTTER Violin. 
UK
