Stradivarius Palatinos

Last updated
One of the violins PalacioReal Stradivarius1.jpg
One of the violins

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, [1] as it refers to their belonging to the Spanish royal collection.

Contents

Four of the five are decorated instruments known as the Royal Quartet (also referred to in Spanish as Palatino or Coral): they comprise 2 violins, a viola and a cello. There is also another (non-decorated) cello.

The Royal Quartet

Decorated instruments are rare in Stradivari' output, and so are sets of instruments. A few of his clients are known to have acquired sets, for example, Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany (son of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany). In the case of the Palatinos, Stradivari intended to present them to the king of Spain but was not able to do so during his lifetime.

An ensemble of 2 violins, a viola and a cello is what is referred to in classical music as a string quartet, and many works have been written for this combination since the 18th century. For example, the Spanish royal family was the patron of Boccherini, who wrote over a hundred works in this genre. [2] However, Stradivari never heard the type of composition known as a "string quartet", the format emerged after his death. The project to provide instruments for the Spanish court evidently envisaged a different ensemble, as instead of having only one viola, the set originally included two.

Violas

There were originally two violas of different size in the set (tenor and alto). Both of the violas went missing at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. [1] Only the alto was retrieved. The loss of the tenor viola has made a limited difference to the ensemble in the sense that the alto voicing has become the normal one for violas.

Alto viola

The alto viola is dated 1696. It returned to Madrid in the 20th century after having come into the possession of the dealer W.E. Hill & Sons of London. It is one of thirteen known extant violas by Stradivari. [3] It is unusual in being decorated, although a tenor viola in Florence (discussed below) is adorned with the Medici crest on the fingerboard.

Tenor viola

The missing viola was larger and is believed to have been a tenor. The "Medici" tenor viola by Stradivari in the Musical Instruments Museum in Florence also had an alto pair: they were both part of a set belonging to the Medici court. [4] The role of tenors would have been to play the lower register viola lines or second viola in five-part harmony depending on instrumentation.

Violins

The two violins are of different sizes. They have labels bearing a date of 1709. This dating is accepted by some authorities, [5] although it has been suggested that the instruments are slightly older.

Cello

The cello is not in its original playing condition, having been modernised. It is reported to be in a good state of conservation after the repair of damage sustained during a photographic session. [6]

Conservation

The instruments are in the care of the Spanish heritage organisation Patrimonio Nacional, which restricts their use. In 2024 it was reported by El País that years had gone by without the instruments being played together. However, they are allowed to be played on occasion. [7] Musicians who have played them in the 21st century include the Quatuor Mosaïques (an Austrian group which specialises in period instruments) and Spain's Cuarteto Quiroga, which was granted a "residency" with the instruments. [8]

Recordings

The Quatuor Mosaïques recorded the instruments in 2006, releasing a CD of works by Arriaga. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cello</span> Bowed string instrument

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.

In music, a quartet is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Stradivari</span> Italian luthier (1644–1737)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stradivarius</span> String instruments built by Stradivari family, particularly Antonio

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 Kopelman Quartet is a Russian string quartet founded in 2002 by Mikhail Kopelman (violin), Boris Kuschnir (violin), Igor Sulyga (viola) and Mikhail Milman (cello). They studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the 1970s, but pursued individual careers for twenty-five years before founding the quartet.

The Quatuor Mosaïques is an Austrian string quartet, founded in 1987 by Erich Höbarth, Andrea Bischof, Anita Mitterer, and Christophe Coin, four members of the Concentus Musicus Wien who play on historical musical instruments. The name of the quartet refers to mosaics and is intended to reference the way details impact on the complete work of art. They specialize in music of the 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenor violin</span> Musical Instrument

A tenor violin (or tenor viola) is an instrument with a range between those of the cello and the viola. An earlier development of the evolution of the violin family of instruments, the instrument is not standard in the modern symphony orchestra. Its tuning, typically G2-D3-A3-E4 (an octave below the regular violin) places the range between the cello and viola and thus is sometimes confused with the modern baritone violin which has the same tuning on the standard violin body.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axelrod quartet</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola Amati</span> Italian master luthier (1596–1684)

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.

Ivan Fedele is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christophe Coin</span>

Christophe Coin is a French cellist, viola da gamba player and conductor active in the field of historically informed performance. He is the cellist of the Quatuor Mosaïques and is the director of the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges.

Juan Antonio Ruiz-Casaux y Lopez de Carvajal, V. marqués de Atalaya Bermeja, usually known as Juan Ruiz Casaux was a noted Spanish cellist and teacher. Along with Pablo Casals and Gaspar Cassadó, he was a member of the "Three Cs" of the Spanish cello.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greffuhle Stradivarius</span> 18th Century violin made by Antonio Stradivari

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini</span> Conservatory in Florence, Italy

The Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini is located in piazza delle Belle Arti in Florence. The conservatory, among the most important in Italy, is named after the Florentine composer Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842).

Brice Pauset is a French composer living in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museo del Violino</span> Museum in Cremona, Italy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medici tenor viola</span>

The Medici tenor viola is a notable tenor viola by Antonio Stradivari. It is part of a set of instruments by this luthier which belonged to the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

References

  1. 1 2 "Spanish court (viola 40261)". Cozio Archive. (subscription required)
  2. Marín, Miguel Ángel (2017). “Haydn, Boccherini and the rise of the string quartet in late eighteenth-century Madrid”, in Christiane Heine and Juan Miguel González Martínez (eds.), The String Quartet in Spain.
  3. Small, Lawrence M. (December 2002). "Fanciful and Sublime". Smithsonian . Archived from the original on 2002-12-24. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  4. "Medici, Tuscan (viola 41401)". Cozio Archive.
  5. "Royal Palace in Madrid". Cozio Archive. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  6. "El Stradivarius accidentado del Palacio Real". ABC (in Spanish). September 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  7. Sanchez; Lopez (April 2024). "Vídeo: Así suenan los cinco 'stradivarius' de Palacio Real por primera vez en siete años" (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  8. "Música de cámara". Patrimonio Nacional (in Spanish). 2017.
  9. OCLC   430971632