A luthier is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be used already in French for makers of most bowed and plucked stringed instruments such as members of the violin family and guitars. Luthiers, however, do not make harps or pianos; these require different skills and construction methods because their strings are secured to a frame.
Jacob Stainer was the earliest and best known Austrian and Germanic luthier. His violins were sought after by famous 17th- and 18th-century musicians and composers including Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and George Simon-Lohein.
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.
Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and for many prominent players and collectors his instruments are the most coveted of all. Instruments made by Guarneri are often referred to as Del Gesùs.
Gagliano is the name of a famous family of Italian luthiers from Naples, dating back to the early 18th century. The Gagliano dynasty – particularly Alessandro, Nicolò I and Gennaro – are considered the high point of Neapolitan violin making. There are as many as eighteen Gagliano violin makers known worldwide today. Below is a family tree of a few of its most recognizable luthiers.
Matteo Goffriller (1659–1742) was a Venetian luthier, particularly noted for the quality of his cellos. He was active between 1685–1735 and was the founder of the "Venetian School" of luthiers, during a time when Venice was one of the most important centers of musical activity in the world.
Mittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria.
Igino (Iginius) Sderci was a violin maker who studied under master maker Leandro Bisiach. Making more than 700 instruments including many large violas, he won gold medals at the prestigious Stradivarius Exhibition at Cremona in 1937 marking the bicentenary of Stradivari's death.
Klotz as a surname can refer to:
Walter Hamma was a German violin maker.
Eduard Melkus is an Austrian violinist and violist.
John Juzek(néJanek Jůzek, akaJan, akaJohann;1892, Písek – c. 1965, Luby) was a Czech merchant, widely known in North America as an exporter of violins, violas, cellos, and double basses made and labeled under his anglicized name, "John Juzek," crafted mostly by guilds and various independent makers in the Bohemia region of the Czechoslovakia and Germany border.
The County of Werdenfels in the present-day Werdenfelser Land in South Germany was a county that enjoyed imperial immediacy that belonged to the Bishopric of Freising from the late 13th century until the secularisation of the Bishopric in 1803.
Elise Aulinger was a German stage, radio and film actress.
Sebastian Klotz was an influential German violin maker, one of three sons of Mathias Klotz.
Matthias Klotz (1653–1743) was German luthier, a member of the Klotz family of violin makers that flourished in Mittenwald, Germany as early as 1683.
The Cheb Violin Making School is a public school in Cheb in the Czech Republic. It is the outgrowth of the Imperial-Royal Music School, a one hundred and forty-nine-year-old institution, located — from inception on 1 August 1873 until 2005 — in Luby. In 2005, the school moved to Cheb. It is the only surviving violin-making school in the country, and one of five in all of Europe. Luby had been, and still is a town rich in tradition of generations of violin-making dating back to the sixteenth century.
Guillaume Max Möller(akaMax Jr.; 1915–1985 Amsterdam) was a Dutch master luthier from Amsterdam who authored a seminal reference book, The violin-makers of the Low Countries (1955) OCLC 251291325 Möller also provided the illustrations.
Benning Violins is a California-based luthier business, crafting, restoring and repairing violins, violas and cellos since its opening in 1950 as Studio City Music. In 1953, it moved to its current location on Ventura Boulevard. Learning the craft from his brother-in-law, Carl Becker Sr., Paul Toenniges worked in William Lewis & Son in Chicago, and later under Rudolf Wurlitzer, finally opening his first studio in Los Angeles. Crafting up to five instruments a year, they sell for approximately 30-42 thousand dollars.
Georg Rauer was a Viennese violin maker.
