The Conservation, Restoration, and Repair of Stringed Instruments and Their Bows ed. by Tom Wilder (review)

Abstract

The Conservation, Restoration, and Repair of Stringed Instruments and Their Bows. Edited by Tom Wilder. Montreal: IPCI-Canada; London: Archetype Publications, 2010. 3 vols. [1,587 p. ISBN 9781904982418. $1,395.] Illustrations, CD-ROM, diagrams, bibliography, index. By the year 1800, recent major physical changes to the violin and bow became predominant: the positioning of the neck at an angle, the increase in the height of the bridge, the consequent increase in string tension, the insertion of larger bass bars, and thicker sound posts combined to allow for the use of a bow designed for greater force and sound projection. That violin-family instruments could accommodate such technological adaptations of the instrument design has fostered their prevalence up to the present. Indeed, this adaptability allowed for the violin to figure prominently in the musical canon coalescing at that very time, around 1800. Concurrent with those seeking to acknowledge a museum of musical masterpieces, figures such as Cozio di Salabue (1755-1840) strove to amass the finest examples of violin making of the receding golden age of the Amatis, Guarneris, and Stradivaris. Yet. not unlike Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy who made drastic revisions to the St. Matthew Passion in an effort to make it relevant to his contemporaries, Cozio also instigated not just the refitting of necks, bridges, and bass bars, but also the thinning of the plates of instruments to modify their tonal characteristics. The remaking of historical objects reflected the enthusiasm for the march of progress signaled by the quickening pace of European life in the spreading wake of the industrial revolution. Of course, the early nineteenth century also witnessed the great upheavals of revolutionary politics and engendered, in possibly equal measure, a nostalgia for a simpler time embodied in historical objects. In this spirit a growing public sought and gained access to princely art collections. They also championed the collecting of folk songs (cf. Herder), fairy tales (cf. the Grimm brothers), and the completion of monuments (e.g., the Cologne Cathedral). The emergence of history as an academic discipline, along with philology, and eventually musicology, coincided with the emergence of great libraries and museums. The loss of a sense of connection with a continuous past engendered a surging effort to preserve its relics. The concept of historical preservation developed during the nineteenth century and assumed the mantle of scientific procedure in the twentieth century. The application of these ideas to musical instruments, however, has only recently begun to find form in a body of substantive literature. The fact that musical instruments assume their most obvious significance through use in performance has compelled many individuals to ensure that prized historic instruments remain active tools for musicians. But, in doing so, the historical or artistic significance of the objects may become imperiled. Moreover, the rapidly increasing monetary value of high-quality violin-family instruments in playing condition has compelled many people to sublimate concerns for historic preservation in favor of financial gain. Few, if any, instruments by the great violin makers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries survive in anything like their original state. Finally, violin making has long perpetuated the preservation of the trade secrets of its craft tradition. The balance of utility over history, the lack of pristine historic models, and the protection of expert knowledge has impeded the development of a strong body of literature and practice in the conservation and restoration of string instruments. One volume, by Hans Weisshaar and Margaret Shipman Violin Restoration: A Manual for Violin Makers [Los Angeles: Weisshaar-Shipman, 19881), has long served as the standard text on matters relating to violin restoration. Tom Wilder's project seeks to complement, rather than duplicate, the content or this earlier manual. …