The Axelrod quartet is a set of four decorated Stradivarius string instruments named after the collector Herbert R. Axelrod who donated them to the Smithsonian Institution in 1998.
The Axelrod quartet is a set of four decorated Stradivarius string instruments named after the collector Herbert R. Axelrod who donated them to the Smithsonian Institution in 1998.
The Axelrod quartet consists of:
A remarkable feature of these four instruments is that they are all decorated: [5]
The ornaments on the cello were added in the 20th century [4] but the two violins and the viola were decorated by Stradivari, placing them among the small group of eleven surviving Stradivarius string instruments decorated by the great luthier. [6] Four other decorated Stradivarius instruments belong to the Royal Quartet in Madrid.
In 1998, Axelrod donated these four instruments to the Smithsonian Institution. Their value at the time was estimated at $50 million. [7] The donation led to the foundation of the Axelrod String Quartet in 1998. [8]
Another Stradivarius cello, the Servais, is also in the Smithsonian's collection. The Axelrod quartet and the Servais cello were on display in the National Museum of American History until 2012. [6]
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 cello ( CHEL-oh), or violoncello ( VY-ə-lən-CHEL-oh, Italian pronunciation:[vjolonˈtʃɛllo]), is a 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, with tenor 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.
A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari, during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are considered some of the finest instruments ever made, and are extremely valuable collector's items.
The Servais Stradivarius is an antique cello crafted in 1701 by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona (1644–1737). One of only sixty-three extant cellos attributed to Stradivari, it was crafted from exceptional wood reserved by the luthier for large instruments. Its varnish has been described as "unusually rich" and the color a reddish-orange with golden transparency. The cello takes its name from the nineteenth-century Belgian cellist, Adrien Francois Servais (1807–1866), who played this cello.
The Royal Academy of Music Museum is a museum of musical instruments and artefacts and a research centre of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
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.
A violin consists of a body or corpus, a neck, a finger board, a bridge, a soundpost, four strings, and various fittings. The fittings are the tuning pegs, tailpiece and tailgut, endpin, possibly one or more fine tuners on the tailpiece, and in the modern style of playing, usually a chinrest, either attached with the cup directly over the tailpiece or to the left of it. There are many variations of chinrests: center-mount types such as Flesch or Guarneri, clamped to the body on both sides of the tailpiece, and side-mount types clamped to the lower bout to the left of the tailpiece.
Domenico Montagnana was an Italian master luthier based in Venice, Italy. He is regarded as one of the finest violin and cello makers of his time.
Steven Dann is a Canadian violist.
Herbert Richard Axelrod was an American tropical fish expert, a publisher of pet books, and an entrepreneur. In 2005 he was sentenced in U.S. court to 18 months in prison for tax fraud.
The Hellier Stradivarius of c. 1679 is a violin made by Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, Italy. It derives its name from the Hellier family, who might well have bought it directly from the luthier himself.
Kenneth Slowik is an American cellist, viol player, and conductor. Curator of Musical Instrument Collection at the National Museum of American History and Artistic Director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society. He took an interest in music and organology from an early age. He studied at the University of Chicago, the Chicago Musical College, the Peabody Conservatory, the Salzburg Mozarteum and, as a Fulbright Scholar, the Vienna Hochschule für Musik, guided by Howard Mayer Brown, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Antonio Janigro, Edward Lowinsky, and Frederik Prausnitz.
Arthur Edward Smith, known as A. E. Smith, was an English-born Australian violin and viola maker whose violins and violas are prized for their 'excellence of tone' and 'decorative elements'. According to some musicians, "it is his violas that have the greatest reputation, being easily counted amongst the greatest ever created, regardless of era or nationality."
Ivan Fedele is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory.
The Greffuhle Stradivarius is a violin made by Antonio Stradivari of Cremona, Italy, around the year 1709. It derives its name from a French nobleman who once owned it. The Greffuhle is one of the eleven Stradivarius instruments that are decorated.
Robert Brewer Young is a contemporary cello, viola and violin maker. He received traditional French training in the violinmaking studios above Carnegie Hall, closely studying and listening to the instruments of Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati, Gofriller, Guadagnini and other classical Italian luthiers. Young is now devoted to creating signature instruments in the spirit of these visionaries. As a part of a select group of makers, museum specialists and acousticians he is at the forefront of using 21st-century science to practice and advance 17th-century methods of violinmaking. He uses traditional techniques and Renaissance geometrical methods to recreate the elemental harmonic properties of classical Italian instruments.
Alessandro Solbiati is an Italian composer of classical music, who has composed instrumental music for chamber ensembles and orchestra, art songs and operas. He received international commissions and awards, and many of his works are recorded. He is also an academic, teaching in Italy and France.
The Stradivarius Palatinos are a set of five string instruments made by Antonio Stradivari around 1700. They are kept in Madrid's Royal Palace. The term "Palatino" can in this case be translated as "court" instruments, as it refers to their belonging to the Spanish royal collection.
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