Word: varnishers
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...sleep soundly. “I’m not concerned that I will suddenly murder my roommate or be murdered by her,” says future resident Sarah B. Rosenberg-Wohl ’12. Indeed, undergraduate residents need not fear finding dried bloodstains underneath the varnish of their floorboards; H-21 is now a proctor’s suite. Adams’ reputation for being a theatrical and dramatic house might have lead to the recent rumors about vampires residing in the the house’s underground tunnels. While students have yet to start hanging cloves...
...varnish. That's the theory of Joseph Nagyvary, a professor emeritus of biochemistry at Texas A & M University. In a study published last week in the scientific journal Public Library of Science ONE, Nagyvary argues that Stradivari probably had no idea what made his instruments special because the crucial factor, an externally applied varnish on the wood, was beyond his apprehension or control. (See pictures of things money can buy, including a violin...
...violins made by Stradivari and a contemporary Cremonese maker Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, whose violins are thought to be near equals to Strads. The ashes of the Strad's wood contained numerous chemicals - most notably borax and chromium - that suggest it had been aggressively treated with a varnish designed to protect against infestation. The analysis also found that the organic matrix of Stradivari's wood was damaged and weakened, almost certainly by the application of the mineral preservative, leading Nagyvary to speculate that the wood's porous quality allows Stradivari instruments to resonate with a rich, powerful tone...
...problem with the Little Ice Age Theory," he says, "is that the same wood was available to French, German and other violin makers in Europe, but only instruments made in Cremona were any good. I believe that's because of the special, preservative varnish used there...
...Perhaps. But American concert violinist James Ehnes says that while varnish may be one of the keys to Stradivari's greatness, it can't be the only one, for the simple reason that not all Strads sound the same. Ehnes recently released a DVD, Homage, in which he performed on 12 instruments in the Fulton Collection in Seattle - probably the greatest collection of Stradivari and Guarneri violins in the world. Each Strad had its own voice, he says, although there also existed a "family resemblance" throughout the collection. "When I played these instruments I got the feeling that there were...