Amati is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nicolò Amati are valued at around $600,000. Because of their age and rarity, Amati instruments are mostly kept in museum or private collections and are seldom played in public.
The violoncello ( VY-ə-lən-CHEL-oh, Italian pronunciation:[vjolonˈtʃɛllo]), normally simply abbreviated as cello ( CHEL-oh), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 and A3. The viola's four strings are each an octave higher. Music for the cello is generally written in the bass clef, tenor clef, alto clef and treble clef used for higher-range passages.
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial Strad are terms often used to refer to his instruments. It is estimated that Stradivari produced 1,116 instruments, of which 960 were violins. Around 650 instruments survive, including 450 to 512 violins. His instruments are considered some of the finest ever made, and are extremely valuable collector's items.
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the Pianura Padana. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city and province governments. The city of Cremona is especially noted for its musical history and traditions, including some of the earliest and most renowned luthiers, such as Giuseppe Guarneri, Antonio Stradivari, Francesco Rugeri, Vincenzo Rugeri, and several members of the Amati family.
A luthier is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments.
The violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the 16th century. At the time the name of this family of instruments was viole da braccio which was used to distinguish them from the viol family. The standard modern violin family consists of the violin, viola, cello, and (possibly) double bass.
The violin, viola and cello were first built in the early 16th century, in Italy. The earliest evidence for their existence is in paintings by Gaudenzio Ferrari from the 1530s, though Ferrari's instruments had only three strings. The Académie musicale, a treatise written in 1556 by Philibert Jambe de Fer, gives a clear description of the violin family much as we know it today.
Gasparo da Salò is the name given to Gasparo Bertolotti, one of the earliest violin makers and an expert double bass player. Around 80 of his instruments are known to have survived to the present day: violins, alto and tenor violas, viols, violones and double basses, violas designed with only a pair of corners, and ceteras.
Giovanni Grancino (1637–1709), son of Andrea Grancino, was one of the early Milanese luthiers, and may have worked with his brother, Francesco.
Francesco Rugeri, also known as Ruger, Rugier, Rugeri, Ruggeri, Ruggieri, Ruggerius, was the first of an important family of luthiers, the Casa Rugeri in Cremona, Italy. His instruments are masterfully constructed. His violins are inspired by Nicolò Amati's "Grand Amati" pattern. Francesco was the first to develop a smaller cello design, which has become the standard for modern cello dimensions. Today, Rugeri's instruments are nearly as renowned as Nicolò Amati's instruments.
Giovanni Battista Rogeri was an Italian luthier, who for much of his mature life worked in Brescia. Together with Gasparo da Salò and Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Rogeri was one of the major makers of the Brescian school.
Andrea Guarneri was an Italian luthier, musician and founder of the Casa Guarneri. He is the most important student of Nicola Amati and grandfather of one of the best luthiers, Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri, del Gesù.
Bass violin is the modern term for various 16th- and 17th-century bass instruments of the violin family. They were the direct ancestor of the modern cello. Bass violins were usually somewhat larger than the modern cello, but tuned to the same nominal pitches or sometimes one step lower. Contemporaneous names for these instruments include "basso de viola da braccio," "basso da braccio," or the generic term "violone," which simply meant "large fiddle." The instrument differed from the violone of the viol, or "viola da gamba" family in that like the other violins it had at first three, and later usually four strings, as opposed to five, six, or seven strings, it was tuned in fifths, and it had no frets. With its F-holes and stylized C-bouts it also more closely resembled the viola da braccio.
Nicola Amati, Nicolò Amati or Nicolao Amati was an Italian master luthier from Cremona, Italy. Amati is one of the most well-known luthiers from the Casa Amati. He was the teacher of illustrious Cremonese School luthiers such as Andrea Guarneri and Giovanni Battista Rogeri. While no clear documentation exists for their being apprentices in his shop, Amati may also have apprenticed Antonio Stradivari, Francesco Rugeri, and Jacob Stainer, as their work is heavily influenced by Amati.
David L. Fulton is a private collector of Cremonese instruments. Born in 1944, he grew up in Eugene, Oregon, playing the violin from an early age. He studied mathematics at the University of Chicago, and was concertmaster of the University of Chicago Orchestra while he was there.
Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2012, during the 7th session of the Intergovernmental Committee in Paris. The Cremona's traditional violin making is an ancient form of handicraft typical of Cremona, where bowed string instruments like violins, violas, cellos and double basses have been made since the 16th century.
The Violin Museum, formerly the Stradivarius Museum, is a musical instrument museum located in Cremona. The museum is best known for its collection of stringed instruments that includes violins, violas, cellos, and double basses crafted by renowned luthiers, including Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù.
Vincenzo Rugeri, was an Italian luthier of string instruments such as violins, cellos, and, violas in Cremona, Italy. His instruments are noted for their craftsmanship and tone quality. Vincenzo came from a distinguished family of luthiers, the first of whom was his father, Francesco Rugeri. Despite the local tradition of artisan families laboring together through generations, Vincenzo left the family shop and set up a successful shop of his own in the center of Cremona. Vincenzo was the third son of luthier Francesco Rugeri. Vincenzo's work, like Francesco's, is influenced by Nicolò Amati's Grand Pattern model, however Vincenzo's work was distinguished from his father's by utilizing a lower arch inspired by Antonio Stradivari. An analysis of the body of his work reveals that the quality of Vincenzo's instruments is remarkable, perhaps even more so than his father's. Vincenzo's instruments, though less numerous, are valued at least equal to those of his father. A violin by Vincenzo Rugeri realized $502,320 on October 3, 2011 at Brompton's Auctions in London. Carlo Bergonzi was a distinguished apprentice of Vincenzo Rugeri.
Bein & Fushi, Inc. is a stringed instrument dealership and repair shop in Chicago founded in 1976, known internationally for its dealership of antique string instruments such as those made by luthiers Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri. Bein & Fushi includes the Stradivari Society, known for lending rare violins to young aspiring artists.
