A Mysterious Instrument, and an Even Better Story

The Red Violin story is just as interesting as the film of that name. In fact, while the Red Violin movie did indeed take a lot of poetic license, there are some parallels to what happened in real life.

The Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius

The violin’s history does contain a lot of gaps. But we do know that it was created by Antonio Stradivari in 1720 in Italy. It’s there that the true story of the Red Violin becomes a little more complicated.

The relatively new violin then disappeared for two hundred years. Theories abound about what happened to it, but no one knows for sure until it turned up in Germany in the 1930s.

It was bought by one of the descendants of Felix Mendelssohn before being sold again in 1956 to an American industrialist. During a Christie’s auction in 1990, it came onto the market again, only to end up in the hands of Elizabeth Pitcairn as a gift from her grandfather.

She was only16 at the time and did not advertise the fact that she owned the violin.

It was only thirty year’s later, once she had become one of the best violinist’s in the world, that her ownership of the violin became public knowledge.

Is “The Red Violin” a True Story?

What is the story of the Red Violin? Is the movie based on fact? Most of it is speculation on the part of the writers. The writer’s introduced fictitious violin maker, but it was easy to see that this character was based on Stradivari.

Because the full history of the violin is unknown, and, at the time, it was not known that Elizabeth Pitcairn, the current owner, had bought the violin.

The movie is not considered based on fact. Still, true or not, we’re sure that any of the world’s greatest violinists would be very interested in owning such an instrument.

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

The Red Violin Movie

For starters, The Red Violin Movie explains that the violin is red from the maker’s wife’s blood. This is not true. There are still parts of this original varnish in place, even after almost three hundred years so it would be easy to put it paid to the notion in the movie about blood being used to stain it.

The Truth in Color

It is a testament to the craftsmanship of the piece and the exquisite care that has been taken with the violin over the years, that it still carries traces of the original varnish. One thing is clear, it was a well-loved instrument and clearly valued highly by its different owners.

When newly finished, it would have been a very light wood, close to white in color. The violin would then have been left in the sun for a few days to weeks to allow it to dry completely.

This would darken it naturally. Once completely dry, the violin would be coated in a mineral-rich varnish that helps to harden the wood and to bring out the natural color of it and to stain it slightly.

The red color of the violin is due to the application of this varnish. It was one way to help differentiate instruments from different makers. The theory is that red was also a highly popular color amongst the aristocracy at the time and this could also have influenced his choice.

That the violin ended up in the hands of a prodigy living in America in the movie was a spooky coincidence in real life.

Pitcairn used the violin to practice over the course of many decades when she was at home in Pennsylvania.

She wanted to become truly accomplished before revealing the origins of the violin and so it was a long time before the world actually knew that she was using a very historically important violin.

Drawing Conclusions

Pitcairn released the facts about the violin when she played a solo in 2003 at the Lincoln Center with the New York String Orchestra. Needless to say, parallels to the movie were immediately drawn, and there was quite a buzz about her and her violin.

So, as far as sorting fact from fiction, who knows, perhaps the writers were inspired by the spirit of Stradivari himself.

The movie is based on supposition, but it is still worth a watch and is one possible way things could have gone with the instrument. It is a richly imagined piece of film history and the fact that the violin actually exists, and that the real ending was so similar to that in the movie does add an extra air of mystery.

The Stradivarius in Culture

There’s no doubt the instrument has has captured the imagination of anyone who appreciates finer things, and a good story.

What the real story is, we might never find out – but do we really want to know all about it? Isn’t the mystery part of the overall appeal of the violin? Would finding out make any difference to our enjoyment of it? Sometimes entertaining the mystery is more enjoyable than uncovering truth.

Nonetheless, if you can’t own the real thing, you can at least enjoy the thought of it – which can be just as rewarding:

Stradivarius Violin Necklace

Stradivarius Violin Pin

Stradivarius Violin Key Chain

Therefore, when you’re thinking about the violin and its history, it’s best if you think about it as an instrument that has evolved over time, instead of a perfect product that was invented.

Stringed instruments in the Middle Ages

Looking back in history, we find records of stringed instruments that existed in Europe during the Middle Ages. However, it is believed that the very first stringed instruments played with a bow originated in Central Asia with instruments like the morin khuur in Mongolia.

These instruments originating in Central Asia then traveled via the trade routes to the rest of the world. Once European instrument craftsmen learned of these instruments and how they were made, they designed their own take on them with traditional wood crafting techniques from Europe.

Evolution of the violin

In 16th century Europe, there was a variety of stringed instruments that were played with a bow that began to evolve. This is where the contention regarding specific aspects of violin family history arose. There are some that believe Andrea Amati invented the violin, but there are others who do not believe he created the first violin, but that it was created earlier in the 16th century in Brescia.

One thing that is certain is that there were many different stringed instruments during this time and the modern violin family evolved from a stringed instrument that was played with a bow and was extremely popular during this time.

The oldest surviving violin was made by Andrea Amati in 1564 and is named the Charles IX. This supports the idea that Andrea Amati did, indeed, create the very first standard modern violin; at the very least, it can be agreed that it does offer some physical evidence to justify/prove this thought.

Popularity of the violin

Due to the facts that the violin was small, versatile, and had a very sweet, melodic tone, it became quite popular in Europe among all classes of people.

Eventually, the family of instruments known as the violins became much more admired than the viols, which are close rivals, because the violin family of instruments had much better sound projection, which was better for larger concert venues.

In the late 18th and into the early 19th centuries, the violin went through some pretty serious technical changes. The length of the fingerboard was increased and it was set at an angle so that it could better support the increase in the tension of the strings.

It was discovered that by increasing the tension of the strings and making the changes in the fingerboard, the violin had an increase in both sound projection and range.

Those who had older violins took them to luthiers to adapt them. In some cases, these adaptations ended up seriously impairing the original piece. The new violins were being made using these new specifications. It’s not exactly clear when these changes were made and who exactly made them.

As the violin continued to grow in popularity, more instruments were being produced and it began to be used in a variety of different music styles.

Individuals who played the violin began to develop new techniques to complement the new genres of music, and in some cases, small modifications were being made to the instrument itself to meet the needs of the genre of music that was being played.

The violin became a key component in a variety of different music styles, being used to play Hungarian music, Celtic music, gypsy music, and Irish music. Later, as new music genres began to emerge, it was used to play blues, jazz, bluegrass, and country/western.

Antonio Stradivari, a “Golden Age” luthier, is the most famous of the violin makers; today, his violins sell for millions of dollars.

Today’s violin

These days, the violin is one of the most popular instruments across the world. The older violins are more sought after than the mass-produced factory violins by advanced and intermediate players of this instrument due to the superior resonance, craftsmanship, and because it is believed that the tone/timbre of the instrument matures over its lifetime.

The violins that are being produced today can emit sound electronically through amplifiers and microphones, which means that the need for a sound box has been eliminated.

Musicians can use amplifiers to distort the fully electric sound produced by today’s violins to create a variety of tonal qualities, which means the capability of the instrument is even more diversified.

Violin In The Future

As you can see, over time, the violin has evolved into an extremely versatile instrument and these days, a violinist now has a variety of career options and genres that he or she can explore.

While it’s true that violins are famous for their origins, there are also many amazing violin players flourishing across all genres including bluegrass, country, and Celtic music. This is why there are so many people who are interested in, and excited to be learning about this amazing instrument.