Welcome to another episode of “The Violin Chronicles” podcast that delves into the lives and legacies of the world's most renowned artisans and craftsmen. In today's episode, we journey back in time to explore the extraordinary craftsmanship of Nicolo Amati, a name synonymous with the art of violin making.

In this Episode we look at a major turning point in this history of Cremonese violin making that you simply cannot miss.

After the great plague of 1630 Nicolo is picking up the pieces of his life and moving on. Tracing the footsteps of this master luthier we will uncover the secrets behind Nicolo Amati's enduring legacy, a legacy marked by precision, passion, and innovation. From his early years in Cremona, Italy, to the workshop where he meticulously crafted some of the most exquisite violins in history.

We'll also explore his influence on subsequent generations of violin makers, including the revered Stradivari and Guarneri families and how they were so greatly influenced by this master luthier.

Through interviews with experts in the field and insights from contemporary violin makers inspired by Amati's genius, this episode offers a deep dive into the world of stringed instrument craftsmanship. Whether you're a seasoned musician, a lover of fine arts, or simply curious about the magic behind the music, Nicolo Amati's story is sure to captivate your imagination.

So, tune in as we unravel the enchanting tale of Nicolo Amati, the craftsman who transformed wood and strings into timeless works of art that continue to resonate with the world's most discerning musicians and collectors. Get ready for an enriching and harmonious journey through the life and work of this true master of the craft.

Transcript

In the last episode of the Violin Chronicles, something kind of crazy happened. The bubonic plague that swept through northern Italy basically killed every violin maker. Except one, Nicolo Amati, which made him, I suppose, the best violin maker in Italy, right?  But all that aside, he was still a very talented craftsman, thankfully.

So just imagine about half the people you know and don't know in your life dying in a very short space of time. There's war, famine, crazy inflation, and pandemic ever looming on the horizon.  This is Nicolo's life right now.

Hello and welcome to the Violin Chronicles, a podcast in which I, Linda Lespets, will attempt to bring to life the story surrounding famous, infamous, or just not very well known, but interesting violin makers of history.  I'm a violin maker and restorer. I graduated from the French Violin Making School some years ago now, and I currently live and work in Sydney with my husband Antoine, who is also a violin maker and graduate of the French school, l'Ecole Nationale de Luthierie in Mircourt. As well as being a luthier, I've always been intrigued with the history of instruments I work with. And in particular, the lives of those who made them.  So often when we look back at history, I know that I have a tendency to look at just one aspect, but here my aim is to join up the puzzle pieces and have a look at an altogether fascinating picture. So join me as I wade through tales, not only of fame, famine, and war, but also of love, artistic genius, Revolutionary craftsmanship, determination, cunning, and bravery that all have their part to play in the history of the violin. 

Before I start the show today, I would like to say a really big thank you to some Patreon members, Joe F.,Charlotte F., and Nicoree K. Thank you for keeping the show happening. And if you'd like to join them, head over to patreon.com.

So far in this series on the Amatis, we have seen Andrea Amati, the first big name to come from Cremona, making his mark by crafting a stunning set of instruments for the French court of Charles IX.  Then the Amarti brothers, who were Andrea's two sons, carry on the family workshop amidst tumultuous times. They have a fight and split the workshop. The older brother, Antonio, moves down the street and the younger brother, Girolamo, stayed on in the family workshop.  His son, Niccolo, managed to survive the plague and now here we are in the 1630s at the third generation of the family. This week, we find Nicolo Amati in his workshop making, making, making violins, and then he starts to change what he is doing, and the decisions Nicolo makes will start to transform the landscape of the violin forever. So stay with me as we work out what these changes were and how they rocked the violin world.

I speak to Benjamin Hebbert, expert dealer and author in Oxford.  Normally when we talk about Amati, often people are actually referring to Nicolo Amati.

Why do you think he's so important and why, and  how is he different from the others?

 Well, I think the amazing thing about all of the Amatis is how things change. And you would have thought that once, once you've sort of set upon something like this, at least, you know, decade to decade, you'd have, you know, very, very little change. But when you look at Cremonese instruments, you know, even two instruments made in the same year have got some level of fundamental difference to them and you know, this,  this idea, almost like a painter, uh, you know, the canvas might be restricted to making a violin, but,  you know, a painter who has to paint  a hundred portraits of the same king never stops being creative about each portrait, and that's sort of, that's sort of where you seem to be with violinists. Just through the late 16th century, 17th century, builds up ideas. But Nicolo Amati in about 1630, in fact the earliest Nicolos where he does this are, uh, you know, possibly late, late 1620s,  are actually ones where he's still using his, his father and his uncle's label. But he produces a grand pattern of violin. This might not seem unfamiliar  to us now, because that's what becomes the pattern of violin. You know, that's eventually what Stradivari adopts. It's what the violin in your case is.  But that's, that's Nicolo's improvement.

Nicolo Amati is making his grand pattern violin. But what is so special about the grand pattern?  So much is happening in his life and musically at this time. And up until this point, Nicolo Amati is still using his father's and uncle's labels, the Amati brothers label. And this is somehow very symbolic. He is still carrying on the tradition of his family, of his uncle and brother. He's not yet using his very own label, but this is about to change.

I talk about difference, but with Andrea Amati, I know we're talking about Nicolo here. Uh,  Andrea Amati, everything is mathematical. He figures out the inside of the instrument as based on this geometry on, on, uh, what we call catenary curves, the arching, and he figures out the outside as curtate cycloids, which fit around that. The scrolls are absolutely perfect Fibonacci sequence.  Scrolls like an ammonite, you know, everything's perfection. And I think as that travels through until the 1620s,  everything is fixed.  On the idea of the violin, the Cremonese violin, being an orchestral violin.  And therefore you can't, you can't get away from that design which becomes bigger or smaller.

So Niccolo's Grand Pattern.  To start with, if you can remember back to the episodes on Andrea Amati, we spoke about his order of instruments for Charles IX.  In this order, there were 1st and 2nd violins, violas and cellos.  The 1st violins are smaller than what we would today consider a full sized instrument, and the 2nd violins are what Nicolò Amati based his grand pattern on, and today is what we call a cello.

A standard full sized violin. There are still some of these smaller sized Amatis that we come across in the workshop from time to time. These are lent to very talented children and are considered seven eighths or three quarters. But it is interesting to note that these were not children's instruments,  So the sizes of these violins, I'll start with the first violins, the little one, their body, their back length is 342 millimeters. That's 13. 5 inches for the, for my lovely American listeners. And for the larger violins, they're 355 millimeters. So 14 inches. And that's your standard violin today.  So I just want to say that I realized that a lot of you listeners are actually American, and I've been using meters and millimeters and kilometers. So I'm sorry, I'm going to try and put in some imperial measurements for you.  So why did Nicolo Amati make his grand pattern violin? What was wrong with the model Andrea Amati had developed and had been working perfectly well up until now? 

sonatas, which the solo sonatas, which are appearing in In Venice, and Rome in particular, in the 1620s, the idea of having a more solo voice for the, for the violin emerges, and really what Nicolò Amati does is he says, well, this isn't so important. Sometimes we can make a violin wider.  And that will have a miraculous effect on how the bridge is supported by, by the arching and that will create something which actually has a much, a much broader voice, something which is profoundly different. He's working with all the same ideas which, you know, which is inherited from 50 years beforehand. And by, but he's actually, The first person he's able to, and I suspect because the musicians are asking him to,  to make the modern violin,  the modern full size violin, which is wider and more Based on the second violin, because they seem to prefer second violins to first violins. We all do.  Sure, Ben. So here we have it.

The modern violin. The grand patterns are the things which are absolutely absolutely wonderful, which happened from the 1620s right the way through to his death in 1684 and with increasing interest. So by the 1660s,  that's almost all that he's making.

For some reason, Nicolo Amati survived the plague, but now being the head of the