five violins and one cello

The story of five violins and one cello is in the book, Stradivari's Genius by Toby Faber. The book has an extensive Bibliography, a list of Sources, a glossary and a price conversion section. Its a well written book and a delightful read.

Stradivari made more than a thousand instruments, but only about six hundred are known to exist.

Even after more than 250 years, his violins and cellos remain the best in the world, but exactly what the quality is that makes them so is a mystery. All the instruments that Stradivari made have names, and those that are written about in the book are: Messiah, Viotti, Khevenhuller, Paganini, Lipinski and Davidov. They are not the most celebrated instruments, but they frame the mystery of Stradivari's genius.

Violins were not invented. They evolved from very primitive instruments made for dance music. Andrea Amati is credited for experimenting and designing the basic frame and process for assembly. He made the first violin in 1564. Stradivari's earliest know violin was made in 1666. Stradivari's birth date is not known, but knowing the dates of his violins, its believed that his birth date is 1644, which means he started making violins at the age of 22.

Who taught him how to make stringed instruments is unknown. He had been working as wood carver and in-layer, decorating instruments with beautiful artistry. He may have decorated Amati's instruments and decided to try making some of his own.

The oldest violin in the world, made by Andrea Amati in 1564 as a set for Charles IX of France, along with another for the same set in 1566, is housed in Oxford's Ashmolean Museum in Britain.¹ But the highlight of the collection is shown in a special cabinet by itself. It hangs suspended in its case, visible from all angles. Pristine and flawless as it was when the last touches of varnish were applied by Stradivari's hand in 1716. Its the most famous violin in the world called Messiah²

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_violin
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_Stradivarius

Dog update

The dog we adopted from the pound isn't really our dog yet; we are just fostering it for the time being. The dog will belong to us after she has the neutering surgery which has been delayed due to her being sick with a bug of some kind. The vet says its not kennel cough but she has been coughing and sneezing, so the vet ordered pills which we were to give her every 12 hours.

A few days after the vet visit we discovered 3 of the 4 pills we had given her had been spit out and not swallowed. That meant another visit to the vet who suggested the medicine be given as a shot, avoiding pills altogether. As the last few days passed, she became more and more active and at this point she has not met a person she doesn't like, nor a bed she doesn't like, nor a mud puddle she doesn't like.

Her personality is shining thru and she is very affectionate. She follows us around, always wanting to be with one of us. It took a few days before we realized that she obviously has a herding instinct, and without something to heard, she is actually herding us. As soon as any of us are in our usual places at various times of the day, she leaves one to check on the others. Keeping to her circuit until she's sure all is well, then she will lie down and cat nap for a minute then start again. She acts as if that's her job.

When the vet gives the ok, and after the surgery, lessons with the dog trainer will start. We have had many dogs in our life so we know how smart they can be. Like horses, they read out emotions, but in my opinion, this dog is the smartest one I've ever seen. We are constantly amazed at how she reads our minds, and how she has chosen to listen in to certain phone calls. We can tell who and what she likes by the little docked tail wagging a mile a minute. She even knows who is on the other side of a closed door. If its one of her favorite people she just lies down, sniffing under the door and wagging that tail. No barking just wagging her tail.

She doesn't bark much. She's not going to be much of a guard dog, but hey.... it's early days. If she ever catches a burglar, I'll post it.



Bingo