PROFESSOR JOSEPH NAGYVARY with one of his custom violins.
Image: MARK BEAL
Joseph Nagyvary set the world of violinmaking afire in 1977 with his research into the legendary Stradivarius violins. The instruments made by Antonio Stradivari in the 17th and 18th century, along with other instruments made in the northern Italian city of Cremona, are widely recognized by violinists as superior to any made since. Controversially, Nagyvary suggested that the chemistry of the instruments is as¿or more¿important than their craftsmanship.
A native of Hungary, Nagyvary fought briefly as a guerrilla in an unsuccessful student movement against the Communists in 1956 and afterward fled to Zurich. There he studied chemistry under Nobel laureate Paul Karrer and had his first formal violin lessons on a violin that once belonged to Albert Einstein, which sparked his infatuation with the violin and helped to turn his attention toward the science behind music. "I remember that taking out the violin from its glass cabinet was almost a religious experience for me," Nagyvary says. "I often wondered if he [Einstein] was considering at all what made its sound so pleasing and sonorous, or whether he was thinking about the waves of the universe."
It has been 25 years since Nagyvary, 68, announced his theory to the American Violin Society. Scientific American recently interviewed the professor of biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University, who believes that "the holy grail of violinmaking is now within our reach." For an alternative view, see "The Acoustics of Violin Plates," by Carleen Maley Hutchins; Scientific American, October 1981, and "The Physics of Violins," by Carleen Mayley Hutchins; Scientific American, November 1962. --Charles Choi
SA: When a person first hears a Stradivarius, what about its sound makes it so valuable to the trained or the untrained ear?
JN: A Stradivari sound is very lively. It flickers, it constantly trembles, it moves like candlelight. There are some 600 Stradivaris around, so tone is not uniform--some have a fat sound with a big woof note, and others are more lean. But on average, a Stradivari is a good combination of darkness and also brilliance, a very pure tone.
Most concert audiences really cannot tell the difference between a Stradivari and another fine violin, and many critics can't either. Only the very few experts who are really trained and have special talent for discriminating between sounds can appreciate the beauty of the Stradivari tone.
SA: What scientifically is so special about a Stradivarius? If you tried to figure out the sonic fingerprint of one, is there something unique?
JN: Most experiments involve hooking up a sound generator to the bridge of the violin, shaking the instrument and measuring the vibration of output from different parts of the violin. These are called frequency response curves and have been done for over 50 years. They give some valuable information, but they can all be criticized because they have nothing to do with the real sound as the violin is being played.
Even from these tests, it appears Stradivari violins and all Cremona-made violins in good condition have a very strong sound emission in a certain high-frequency range, between 2,000 and 4,000 hertz. This is the range where human hearing is the most sensitive. The larger the room, the more audible these frequencies become. That means a Stradivari, even if it's not very loud in a small room because the walls promptly absorb [the frequencies], projects very well in a concert hall.
Actual, direct analysis of the sound of the violins as they are played is possible by anyone nowadays because you can buy high-speed sound analyzers for very low cost or even get free analysis off the Web. Then you find the great violins also have a significant low-frequency component that defines the sonority and adds darkness. Like the voice of Pavarotti, a beautiful sound needs a low, dark component in addition to several high frequency components that tickle the ear and brain with their flickering, transient change.
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6 Comments
Add CommentMy late grandfather owns a violin. my sister said its a stradi copy. we havent establish yet what kind of violin really was that.But i remember my grandfather told me that a foreigner ones offered a great sum of money to buy it but he refused because it is very rare and the wood used then when the violin was made was soaked in a sand or was it in sea water. something close to that i cant , by detail , remember because i was still in grade school then. Now i am 27 years old...my mother is the caretaker but it has no strings already plus part of the wood has chipped off. My sister had it repaired by a priest . I was just curious.that's all. thank you. Peachy, Phil..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe physics of the resonating chamber from the Gourd to the wood instr. to todays modern or electric. Having invented the families of strings and percussion instruments indigenous to the western hemisphere for all countries,(all by myself,oh yes!!) I would like have more than Aristotles writings on Physics, Metaphysics and Sound in order to design an almost perfect acoustic chamber for my instruments before moving into the electronic age. Chronologically I started with gourds for both the melodic and dissidant instruments i.e. violins, chinesepo-po's, sitar's. Am now moving forward but would rather not skip the almost perfect resonating chamber for the develoment of less instruments from the gourd instruments(were instruments come to gether to combine more universal instruments before moving past these to the electric or other possibilities. For clarity or more info email address; Crocidilefalls@hotmail.com Thank you for your time, Jerry Brunetti(Musician and inventor)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy name is John Bayne and I am sympathetic with Joseph Nagyvary, and believe that there is a kind of blindness coupled with the same problem of the "Emperor's new clothes."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor example, the BBC put on a production in which the fast sound analyser clearly showed the Stradivarius to simply have (i) many more harmonics in its tone and (ii) a more symmetrical distribution of those harmonics, end of story.
20 yrs ago I to a estate sale in the west coast of florida. The house was filled with antiques and the dealers were going crazy snatching up everything from the elderly couples daughter and son in law after the crowd disappeared I talked to the daughter. She explained that parents had collected antiques and collectables all their lives. by this time everything had been pretty much picked over. while roaming through the house I entered the garage to see if I could find some old tools. There was an old workbench cabinet against the wall so I opened it to see if I could find something worth while but just to find nothing but junk. Then I noticed there was a loose panel so when I pushed it opened up to reveal a very old violin case and inside violin that looked like it had seen its days from an old time fiddler. When I Revealed it to the daughter she had never seen in the house before and gladly sold it to me for practically nothing. later when I got it home I noticed the wood o the back and sides to be a beautiful color like a tiger eye effect. I know who ever made this violin took great pride in their workmanship not like those produced by sears and roebuck in the 1800s. In side this violin reads Antonius Stradiuvarius Cremonentis Facibar Ann 1724. About 20 yrs ago I Located a well Known violin maker in the fort lauderdale area that claimed to have done some work on a famous violinist Stradiuvarius once every year when he's in town in concert. Then he assured me I didn't even need to open the case because all the Stradiuvarius in existence have been found. But to satisfy my curiosity he opened the case and slowly examined it he could only shake his head back and forth while saying it can't be it just can't be they found them all. Then almost getting angry with me for having such an instrument in my possession. He then suggested a very popular violinist he new that has played several famous violin including the stradiuvarius that would be a better expert in the authentication of this violin. After locating this gentleman at a concert hall in fort lauderdale his reply was almost the same that it can't be real. After looking at the violin workmanship from inside and out he knew it was a brilliant instrument. He indicated that all the famous stradiuvarius have been located but in fact he had given away to regular town folk and fiddlers for trade for work or good of some sort. He suggested I bring it to New York to a specialist. So here it sit 20 yrs later so if you need some varnish off the violin ill be glad to send some.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this20 yrs ago I to a estate sale in the west coast of florida. The house was filled with antiques and the dealers were going crazy snatching up everything from the elderly couples daughter and son in law after the crowd disappeared I talked to the daughter. She explained that parents had collected antiques and collectables all their lives. by this time everything had been pretty much picked over. while roaming through the house I entered the garage to see if I could find some old tools. There was an old workbench cabinet against the wall so I opened it to see if I could find something worth while but just to find nothing but junk. Then I noticed there was a loose panel so when I pushed it opened up to reveal a very old violin case and inside violin that looked like it had seen its days from an old time fiddler. When I Revealed it to the daughter she had never seen in the house before and gladly sold it to me for practically nothing. later when I got it home I noticed the wood o the back and sides to be a beautiful color like a tiger eye effect. I know who ever made this violin took great pride in their workmanship not like those produced by sears and roebuck in the 1800s. In side this violin reads Antonius Stradiuvarius Cremonentis Facibar Ann 1724. About 20 yrs ago I Located a well Known violin maker in the fort lauderdale area that claimed to have done some work on a famous violinist Stradiuvarius once every year when he's in town in concert. Then he assured me I didn't even need to open the case because all the Stradiuvarius in existence have been found. But to satisfy my curiosity he opened the case and slowly examined it he could only shake his head back and forth while saying it can't be it just can't be they found them all. Then almost getting angry with me for having such an instrument in my possession. He then suggested a very popular violinist he new that has played several famous violin including the stradiuvarius that would be a better expert in the authentication of this violin. After locating this gentleman at a concert hall in fort lauderdale his reply was almost the same that it can't be real. After looking at the violin workmanship from inside and out he knew it was a brilliant instrument. He indicated that all the famous stradiuvarius have been located but in fact he had given away to regular town folk and fiddlers for trade for work or good of some sort. He suggested I bring it to New York to a specialist. So here it sit 20 yrs later so if you need some varnish off the violin ill be glad to send some.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI also have one of these copies mentioned by Peachy. Apparently there were only for of them, and I'd love more info about it (Who made it, what it it worth, when was it made, etc).
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