A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Guarnieri

by Edward John Payne

GUARNIERI or GUARNERIUS, a celebrated family of violin-makers of Cremona. Their pedigree is as follows:—

1. Andreas, worked 1650–1695

Giam-Battista, not a violin-maker.

2. Joseph, 'filius Andreaæ,' worked 1690–1730.

3. Peter of Cremona, worked 1690–1725.

5. Joseph 'del Gesu,' b. 1683, d. 1745.

4. Peter of Venice, worked 1730–1755.

1. Andreas Guarnieri, the first of the family worked with Stradivari in the workshop of Nicholas Amati, and like Stradivari develops out of his master's model an entirely origina style. Excellent instruments of his make, no very highly finished, but covered with fine orange varnish, are dated from the sign of 'St. Theresa,' in Cremona, where he was succeeded by his son,

2. Joseph, 'filius Andreæ,' who so described himself to distinguish himself from his cousin. At first he followed his father's pattern; but he soon developed a style of his own, in which the narrow and rapidly-widening waist, the peculiar set of the soundholes, and a more brilliant varnish, are prominent features. Good specimens command prices varying from £30 to £80. Some points first traceable in his work were adopted by his cousin. His brother,

3. Peter Guarnieri, commonly called 'Peter of Cremona'—from his describing himself in his tickets as 'Cremonensis,' i.e. from Cremona—emigrated from Cremona to Mantua, where he also worked 'sub signo Sanctæ Teresæ.' The originality of the Guarnieri knew no limits: Peter of Cremona has scarcely a point in common with his father or brother. 'There is,' says Mr. Hart, in his work on the violin, 'increased breadth between the sound-holes: the sound-hole is rounder and more perpendicular; the middle bouts are more contracted, and the model is more raised.' His varnish is often equal to that of his brother. The instruments of Peter of Cremona are valued by connoisseurs, but in a less degree than those of his nephew,

4. Peter Op Venice, son of Joseph filius Andreæ, who adopted his uncle's method, and carried the 'Petrine' make to perfection. Unlike the rest of his family, Peter of Venice had the advantage of that splendid Venetian varnish which astonishes the beholder in the work of Montagnana. His violins, though of high model, have a fine rich tone, and are in their way complete masterpieces. But all the Guarnieri family yield in fame to the celebrated

5. Joseph del Geso, so called from the I.H.S. which is added to his name on his tickets. Sometimes erroneously said to have been a pupil of Stradivari, with whom his work has nothing in common, he was probably a pupil of his cousin and namesake. His attention seems to have been early diverted from the school of the Amati, in which all his relatives, and Stradivari himself, imbibed their first ideas. He fixed on the works which the early Brescian makers had produced before the Amati family brought into fashion geometrical curves, extreme fineness of finish, and softness of tone. Whoever may have been the instructor of Joseph Guarnerius, his real master was Gaspar di Salo. He revived the bold and rugged outline, and the masterly carelessness, and with it the massive build and powerful tone, of the earlier school. Perfection of form and style had been attained by others: tone was the main quality sought by Joseph, and the endless variety of his work, in size, in model, and in cutting of sound-holes, probably merely indicates the many ways in which he sought it. He was sedulous in the selection of sonorous wood. He is supposed to have obtained a piece of pine of vast size, possessing extraordinary acoustic properties, from which he made most of his bellies. The bellies made from this wood have a stain or sap-mark running parallel with the finger-board on either side. This great block of wood, says Mr. Hart, 'he regarded as a mine of wealth.' He often finished an instrument more carefully, perhaps to special order: the finer examples are well characterised by Mr. Hart as 'a strange mixture of grace and boldness.' These finer examples predominate in what has been termed the 'second epoch' of his life: but the truth is that throughout his career he worked with no uniformity as to design, size, appearance, or degree of finish, and without any guide but his own genius, and the scientific principles he had wrought out by experiment. The story of Joseph Guarnerius making rude instruments while in prison out of chance pieces of wood provided by the daughter of his gaoler, who 'sold them for what they would fetch, in order to alleviate the misery of his confinement,' rests upon no satisfactory evidence. Joseph Guarnerius made instruments often of very rude appearance, and he may or may not have been at some time imprisoned: but the story of the 'prison Josephs' has probably been invented to explain the hosts of spurious instruments which have found their way all over Europe since the middle of the last century. The great tone-producing powers of the 'Joseph' were thus early very well known; but the softer quality of the Amati and the Stradivarius violin was usually preferred by amateurs until the present century, when Paganini's extraordinary performances on an unusally fine 'Joseph' sent them up at once three-fold in the market. The value of a good 'Joseph' now varies from £150 to £400, according to size, power of tone, finish, and condition. Only extraordinary specimens fetch higher prices.

No contemporary copyist imitated Joseph Guarnerius with much success. Landolfi was the best: the productions of the Testores and of Lorenzo Storioni could never be mistaken for their original. No violoncello of Joseph Guarnerius has ever been known to exist.

[ E. J. P. ]