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Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona

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Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona
A luthier workshop in Cremona
CountryItaly
Reference00719
RegionEurope and North America
Inscription history
Inscription2012 (7th session)
ListRepresentative

The Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona (official name in Italian: Saperi e saper fare liutario della tradizione cremonese) was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2012, during the 7th session of the Intergovernmental Committee in Paris.[1][2] The Cremona's traditional violin making is an ancient form of handicraft typical of Cremona (Italy) where bowed string instruments like violins, violas, cellos and double basses have been made since the 16th century.

Technique

The "treasure box" at the Violin Museum in Cremona

String instruments can be made with different methods, but Cremona's luthiers developed a technique considered as unique in the world.[3]

Each instrument is handmade and assembled with more than 70 different molded pieces of wood. Every part of a new violin requires a particular technique, continuously adapted according to the different acoustic response of each piece of wood: for this reason, it is impossible to get two violins exactly identical. Every part of the violin should be made with a particular kind of wood, carefully selected and naturally seasoned, so that its preparation can be neither forced or artificial.[4]

A violin maker shop in Cremona

Realizing the Cremona's traditional violin, it is not possible to use any industrial or semi-industrial part, and spray painting is prohibited. Many of the elements of the musical instrument are apparently only ornamental, but in reality they are highly functional in order to get the force and the sound amplification, or to protect the instrument from accidental breaks: this is a double characteristic of the first violin's creation.[4]

The violin construction process is personally followed by the violin maker in every phase, from the tree to the finished instrument: for this reason a Cremona's violin maker can make only 3–6 violins per year.[4]

The traditional violin making requires a perfect knowledge of all the natural materials and the know-how techniques passed down from generation to generation through words, gestures and habits shared since the 16th century, when the Cremona's violin making became popular, thanks to the skills of the house of Amati, then improved and refined by Stradivari, Guarneri, Francesco Rugeri, Vincenzo Rugeri, and Bergonzi.[4]

Protection

Museo del violino

The ancient tradition of Cremona's violin making is protected by two supervisory bodies: the Stradivari Violin Makers Consortium and the Violin Making Italian Association, which represents more than 140 craftsmen.[4] In addition, the Cremona International Violin Making School (Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria di Cremona) was founded in Cremona on 12 September 1938.[5]

After the UNESCO recognition, it was opened in 2013 the new Museo del violino (Violin Museum) at the Palazzo dell'Arte in Cremona, full renovated and with a new auditorium to listen music played with old and new instruments made in Cremona. [6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona". UNESCO (in English, French, and Spanish). Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  2. ^ "Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 7.COM 11.18". UNESCO.
  3. ^ "La liuteria di Cremona iscritta nella Lista UNESCO del Patrimonio Immateriale". Ministero dei Beni Culturali (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Nomination file no. 00719". 2012.
  5. ^ "Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria". Archived from the original on 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  6. ^ "Museo del violino".
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