The Amatis were a family of celebrated violin makers of Cremona in the 16th and 17th centuries. Andrea Amati, who lived about 1540 until 1600, was the founder of the business, which was carried on by his sons Geronimo and Antonio, and by Niccolo the son of Geronimo. Most of the violins made by them are of comparatively small size and flat model, and the tone produced by the fourth or G string is somewhat thin and sharp. Many of Niccolo Amati's violins are, however, of a larger size and have all the fulness and intensity of tone characteristic of those manufactured by Stradivario and Guarnerio. Research Amati
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian maker of violins. He was born at Cremona in 1644 and died in 1737. Apprenticed to Nicholas Amati, he first modelled his violins upon those made by his master, but around 1684 he adopted larger proportions and became more independent in his methods. He seems to have experimented for many years, but around 1700 he settled upon a design he was happy with, a set of proportions that produce a truly fine violin. His violins are the finest ever made, but he also made fine violas and violoncellos, and some of his early instruments were made with poor materials and are not of the same quality as his later instruments. Research Antonio Stradivari
Francois Joseph Fetis was a Flemish musical theorist and composer. He was born in 1784 and died in 1871. He was educated at the Paris Conservatoire; was professor there from 1818 to 1833, when he was appointed director of the Conservatoire at Brussels. Among his works may be mentioned Traite de la Fugue (1825); Biographie Universelle des Musiciens (1835-1844); Traite Complet de la Theorie et de la Pratique de l'Harmonie. His musical compositions include operas, sacred music, and instrumental pieces for the piano and the violin and he founded the Revue Musicale. Research Francois Fetis
George Friderick Handel (properly Haendel) was a German composer. He was born in 1685 at Halle and died in 1759.
The strong passion which he showed early in life for the art of music overcame his father's opposition to training him as a musician, and at the age of seven he was placed under the tuition of Zachau, organist of HalleCathedral, and was soon so far advanced in the practical part of the science as to be able to officiate occasionally as deputy to his instructor.
In 1696 he was sent to Berlin, where he heard the music of Bononcini and Ariosti, then at the head of the BerlinOpera House. He returned to Halle, was appointed organist of the cathedral in 1702, but soon left to visit Hanover and Hamburg, where Steffani and Reinhard Keiser, the latter the greatest German operatic composer of his day, resided. At Hamburg he played second violin in the orchestra, and in 1794 brought out his first work, an oratorio on the Passion, and his first opera, Almira, followed in February by his Nero, and subsequently by his Florinda and Daphne.
He visited England twice, and ultimately, having received a pension from Queen Anne, settled down there. For some years his popularity was very great. He
was placed at the head of the newly-founded Royal Academy of Music, and accumulated a large fortune in spite of the heavy losses which he incurred by setting up an opera company in 1735 in opposition to that supported by the leading nobility and the principal Italian singers.
Amongst the operas which he had composed up to this date are: Radamisto, Ottone, Giulio Cesare, Flavio, Tamerlano, Scipio, Ricardo I, Orlando, Ariadne, etc. His last opera was performed in 1740. By this time he had begun to devote himself chiefly to music of a serious nature, especially the oratorio. The approval which his first works of this kind (Esther, 1731; Deborah, 1732; Athalia, 1733) had met with encouraged him to new efforts; and he produced in succession Israel in Egypt, L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, Saul, and The Messiah. The last-mentioned, which is his chief work, was brought out in 1741, for the benefit of the Foundling Hospital. It was not much appreciated at the first representation, but increased in reputation every year.
In 1742 the Samson appeared, in 1746 the Judas Maccabseus, in 1748 the Solomon, and in 1752 the Jephthah. In 1752 he became blind, but did not lose his spirits, continuing to perform in public and even to compose.
After his death he was buried in Westminster Abbey. Handel was of large and ungainly person. His manners were rough and his temper violent, but his disposition was humane and liberal. As a musician his characteristics are boldness and strength of style and combination of vigour, spirit, and invention in his instrumental compositions. Research George Frederick Handel
Giuseppe Tartini was an Italian violinist and composer. He was born in 1692 at Pirano, near Trieste and died in 1770. He took up music as a profession in 1721 when he settled in Padua and soon acquired a reputation as a performer and a teacher and did much to develop the art of violin playing. He composed many pieces, including 'Il Trillo del Diavolo'. Research Giuseppe Tartini
Jacob Stainer (also known as Jakob Stainer) was an Austrian violin maker. He was born in 1621 at Absam and died in 1683. He became a protégé of the archduke Ferdinand Charles from 1648 onwards. He was a highly successful maker of the violin, viol, viola da gamba, and other instruments and was the founder of the Tyrolese school of violin-making. Through pecuniary disputes he died penniless and allegedly insane. Research Jacob Stainer
Leopold Auer was an American violinist. He was born in 1845 at Veszprem, Hungary and died in 1930. He studied in Budapest and Vienna and with the celebrated Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim in Germany. Through a friendship with the pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein, then director of the Conservatory of SaintPetersburg, Auer was appointed professor of violin at that institution in 1868. In 1883 he became a Russian subject. He was soloist to the tsar's court and founded the first important string quartet in Russia. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Auer gave concerts abroad. His first American recital was in 1924. In 1926 he became an American citizen. He was particularly known as a great violin teacher; his pupils included the American violinists Mischa Elman and Jascha Heifetz. Research Leopold Auer
Ludwig Spohr was a German violin virtuoso and composer. He was born in 1784 at Brunswick and died in 1859. He was musical director at Gotha in 1805, Vienna in 1813, Frankfort-on-Main in 1817 until 1819 and at Kassel from 1822 to 1857. He was the first conductor to use a baton in Britain when he conducted the London Philharmonic in 1820. Research Ludwig Spohr
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
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