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The origin of the violin family is unclear. [1] [2] Some say that the bow was introduced to Europe from the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world, [3] [4] [5] while others say the bow was not introduced from the Middle East but the other way around, and that the bow may have originated from more frequent contact between Northern and Western Europe.
[1] [2] Amati is credited with making the first instruments of the violin family that are in the form we use today. [3] Several of his instruments survive to the present day, and some of them can still be played. [3] [4] [5] Many of the surviving instruments were among a consignment of 38 instruments delivered to Charles IX of France in 1574. [6]
A claim that Andrea Amati received the first order for a violin from Lorenzo de' Medici in 1555 is invalid as Lorenzo de' Medici died in 1492. A number of Andrea Amati's instruments survived for some time, dating between 1538 (Amati made the first Cello called "The King" in 1538) and 1574.
The violin was first known in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries to give the instrument a more powerful sound and projection. In Europe, it served as the basis for the development of other stringed instruments used in Western classical music, such as the viola. [1] [2] [3]
A violin is a "little viola", a violone is a "big viola" or a bass violin, and a violoncello (often abbreviated cello) is a "small violone" (or literally, a "small big viola"). (The violone is not part of the modern violin family; its place is taken by the modern double bass, an instrument with a mix of violin and viol characteristics.)
Antonio Stradivari, by Edgar Bundy, 1893: a romanticized image of a craftsman-hero. A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. [1] It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and ...
Probably the most important event in Cristofori's life is the first one of which we have any record: in 1688, at age 33, he was recruited to work for Prince Ferdinando de Medici. Ferdinando, a lover and patron of music, was the son and heir of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Tuscany was at the time still a small independent state.