Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/A/Amati
Amati. An Italian composer ; he was engaged in 1790 at the opera at St. Petersburg.
AMATI. There were four persons of this name, natives of Cremona, and celebrated makers of violins ; that is to say, Andrew, Jerome and Antony, his sons, and Nicholas, the son of the latter. Andrew flourished about the year 1600. Beside 12 these there were two persons of the name of Stradivarius, of Cremona, admirable artisans ; the latter was living at the beginning of this century; his signature was "Antonius Stradivarius, Cremonensis, faciebat, Anno -." Andrew Guarnier, also of Cremona, signed thus : "Andreas Guarnerius, feed Cremonae sub titulo Santoe Teresoe, 1680." The violins of Cremona are exceeded only by those of Steiner, a German, whose instruments are remarkable for a full and penetrating tone ; his signature is as follows : "Jacobus Steiner, in Absom prope Aenipontem, 1647." Aenipons is the Latin name of Inspruck, in Germany, the chief city of the Tyrol. Matthew Albani, also a Tyrolese, signed thus : "Matthias Albanus fecit in Tyrol Bulsani, 1651."
The first violin ever made was constructed in Italy, about the year 1600 ; but those which are esteemed by musical men as most valuable, were manufactured by the family of A. and J. Amati, at Cremona, in the year 1650. The violin was first introduced into concerts about two hundred years ago, and when first played upon, it was pronounced a failure, never capable of being used with any success.
"Nicholas Amati was the head of this family of Amatis, so celebrated among violinists and instrument makers. It was he who, assisted by his brother, Andre Amati, made for the chapel of Charles IX. those superb instruments, chefd'oeuvres of the art, which yet ornament it by their color. Their number was twenty-four, and consisted of six treble violins, six alto violins, six tenor violins, and six violoncellos. The elegant simplicity of the form, united with an exquisite quality of tone, distinguished the works of the two artists. It is only to be regretted that their most common patterns were small or medium, as their violins constructed upon the large model are rare and very choice. Their tone is admirable, and the only fault that can be brought against them would be, that the fourth string has a slight degree of dryness.
Jerome Amati, eldest son of Andre, worked equally upon the two models, of which the largest are likewise the most esteemed. His violins differ a little from those of Nicholas and Andre, and the changes that he introduced in his construction make the tone of the first string often too fine, and always too clear.
"Antoine Amati followed the principles adopted by his brother ; his instruments have the same quality and the same faults with the preceding.
Nicholas Amati, son of Jerome, who has been often confounded with the old Nicholas, has made some very choice violins, and worthy of being so - particularly of the large patterns, in which he especially excelled. His seconds are sometimes nasal, owing to the thinness of the bottom. The artist Koliker owns the finest Nicholas Amati that is known. The preservation, the form, the material, the color, the tone, all are admirable.
Jacques or Jacobus Steiner, native of Absom, a small village of Tyrol, near Inspruck, was pupil of Antoine Amati, and worked in the same line with his master. Wishing to have a model of his own, he began to shorten that which is in common use. His numerous counterfeiters, without suspecting it, have all missed this mark, in restoring to their imitations the accustomed width. The brilliancy of the tone of the instruments of Steiner makes amends for what thew lack in volume; likewise his violins are better adaptec the music of a chamber than to that of a conc.
"Antoine Stradivarius, of Cremona, was the most perfect of all the manufacturers of Italy. Pupil of nature more than of art, he only left the school of the Amatis to be their equal, and soon to excel them. It was about the year 1700 that he reformed the faults that he had acquired under his masters, and that he discovered the sleep combinations that we trace in each of his productions. In working for the ear, Stradivarius has equally labored for the eye ; thus the elegant form of his violins, and the superb color with which they are adorned, make them the mode's of perfection
"Among the distinguished artists who emerged from this school ought to be noticed Joseph and Pierre Guarnerius. The former was pupil of Stradivarius, and the latter of Jerome Amati. Wishing, in their turn, to be original, and not reflecting that the true principles of making violins were established, they made some alterations in the principles they had received, in flattening the tops, increasing the thickness, and diminishing the model. They have given a great celebrity to their works, but it is to be regretted that their fourth string should possess an excessive dryness, and that it should be, so to speak, sacrificed to their others. The violins of Pierre Guarnerius are much superior to those of his brother, with whom he is often confounded, but the works of the latter have a much finer tone. Joseph Guarnerius had for a pupil Francois Supot, maker to the Duke of Wurtemberg, and came into France in the year 1769.
Nicholas Supot, who has been surnamed the Stradivarius of the age, was son of the preceding. He was born at Stuttgart, the 4th of December, 1758, and received from his father the first elements of the art which he pushed to so high a degree. After having long worked under the best masters of Germany, he set himself to study the models of the celebrated artists of whom we have just spoken. By dint of care, of patience, and of multiplied efforts, he succeeded in discovering a second time the varnish used by the Amatis, the Stradivarii, and the Guarnerii. The violins that he made after the patterns of the great masters have deceived connoisseurs, and especially a renowned manufacturer who had obtained one of his violins, believing it to be a Guarnerius. M. Supot is one of those who have m effected deeply upon the art which he practised with success. He is the author of a little work entitled 'La Chelonomie,' or the complete Musical Instrument Maker, one vol. 12mo. pp. 300, Paris, 1806, which has been compiled by M. l'Abb� Sibire, st well known for his love for fine instruments.
"M. Supot came to France in 1704, and when it was decreed that the Conservatory of Music should give a violin as the grand prize for this instrument, Gavinies petitioned, and gained his request, that Supot should be charged with its construction. This artist owns a superb bass spoken by Charles IX.
"The maker to the court, Mr. Zacharie Fischer, to whom the art is already much indebted for the perfecting of stringed instruments, has, notwithstanding his advanced age, invented a peculiar machine to strengthen, and at the same time to sweeten the tone of the violin. The instruments which he makes after this new process are above those of the greatest masters. A violin thus perfected may be procured of him for 100 louis. It is possible that what Mr. Fischer has done for the violin will be applied to other stringed instruments. His invention would thus be of so much greater importance." -Magazine Encyclopedique.