The Guarneri (, , ), often referred to in the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

ized form Guarnerius, is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the

Amati Amati (, ) is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nicolò ...

and

Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, '' Stradivarius'', as well as the collo ...

families.

Family members

Andrea Guarneri Andrea Guarneri (1626; 1698, in Cremona) was an Italian luthier, musician and founder of the Casa Guarneri. He is the most important student of Nicola Amati and grandfather of one of the best luthiers, Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri, del Gesù. Bi ...

( 1626 – 7 December 1698) was an apprentice in the workshop of Nicolò Amati from 1641 to 1646 and returned to make violins for Amati from 1650 to 1654. His early instruments are generally based on the "Grand Amati" pattern but struggled to achieve the sophistication of Amati's own instruments. Andrea Guarneri produced some fine violas. The ex-Primrose Viola, which was played by

William Primrose William Primrose CBE (23 August 19041 May 1982) was a Scottish violist and teacher. He performed with the London String Quartet from 1930 to 1935. He then joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra where he formed the Primrose Quartet. He performed i ...

, bears Andrea's label but may have been made by his son Giuseppe. Two of Andrea's sons continued the father's traditions: *

Pietro Giovanni Guarneri Pietro Giovanni Guarneri (1655–1720), also known as ''Pietro da Mantua'' or ''Peter Guarnerius of Mantua'' was a violin maker of the Guarneri family who also worked as a professional musician. Today his instruments are highly regarded, though quit ...

(''Pietro da Mantova'') (18 February 1655 – 26 March 1720) worked in his father's workshop from around 1670 until his marriage in 1677. He was established in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

by 1683, where he worked both as a musician and a violin maker. His instruments are generally finer than his father's, but are rare owing to his double profession.

Joseph Szigeti Joseph Szigeti ( hu">Szigeti József, ; 5 September 189219 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist. Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on ...

played one of his instruments. *

Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri, better known as Giuseppe ''filius Andrea'' Guarneri (25 November 1666 – 1739/1740) was a violin maker from the prominent Guarneri family of luthiers who lived in Cremona, Italy. Biography Early life Gi ...

(''filius Andreae'') (25 November 1666 – 1739 or 1740), Andrea's younger son, joined his father's business in Cremona, inheriting it in 1698. He is reckoned among the great violin makers, although he struggled to compete with Stradivari, a pervasive presence throughout his career. From around 1715 he was assisted by his sons, and probably Carlo Bergonzi. Giuseppe Giovanni Battista was father to two further instrument makers: *

Pietro Guarneri Pietro Guarnieri (14 April 1695 – 7 April 1762) was an Italian luthier. Sometimes referred to as ''Pietro da Venezia'', he was the son of Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri, ''filius Andreae'', and the last of the Guarneri house of violin-ma ...

(''Pietro da Venezia'') (14 April 1695 – 7 April 1762), finding life in Casa Guarneri in some way uncongenial, left Cremona for good in 1718, eventually settling in Venice. Here he blended the Cremonese techniques of his father with Venetian, perhaps working with

Domenico Montagnana Domenico Montagnana (24 June 1686 – 6 March 1750) was an Italian master luthier based in Venice, Italy. He is regarded as one of the finest violin and cello makers of his time. His pieces, particularly his cellos, are sought after by orchestras ...

and Carlo Annibale Tononi. His first original labels from Venice date from 1730. His instruments are rare and as highly prized as those of his father and uncle. One of his cellos was played by Beatrice Harrison. * Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri (''del Gesù'') (21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) has been called the greatest violinmaker of all time. Giuseppe is known as ''del Gesù'' ("of Jesus") because his labels always incorporated the characters I.H.S. (''iota eta sigma'', a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

known as the Christogram). His instruments deviated significantly from family tradition, becoming uniquely his own style, and are considered second in quality only to those of Stradivari and argued by some to be superior. The famed violin virtuoso

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices fo ...

’s favorite instrument ''

Il Cannone Guarnerius ''Il Cannone Guarnerius'' of 1743 is a violin created by the Italian luthier Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri of Cremona (1698–1744). Il Cannone is also known by the variants ''Il Cannone del Gesù'', the ''Cannon'', often appended with ''Guarneri ...

'' was a Guarneri del Gesù violin of 1743. The ''

Lord Wilton The Lord Wilton Guarnerius, sometimes called the ex-Yehudi Menuhin, is an antique and valuable violin fabricated by Italian luthier Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (1698–1744), usually called Guarneri del Gesù. The violin was made in 1 ...

'' Guarneri del Gesù violin made in 1742 was owned by

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

. His last work is believed to be '' Ole Bull'', a Guarneri del Gesù violin of 1744. Other 20th-century 'del Gesù' players include

Arthur Grumiaux Baron Arthur Grumiaux (; 21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful t ...

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...

Leonid Kogan Leonid Borisovich Kogan (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Ко́ган; uk, Леонід Борисович Коган; 14 November 1924 – 17 December 1982) was a preeminent Soviet violinist during the 20th century. Many consider ...

Kyung Wha Chung Kyung Wha Chung (born 26 March 1948) is a South Korean violinist. Early years and education Kyung Wha Chung was born in Seoul as the middle of the seven children in her family. Her father was an exporter, and her mother ran a restaurant. She b ...

, Michael Rabin,

Joseph Silverstein Joseph Harry Silverstein (March 21, 1932 – November 21, 2015) was an American violinist and conductor. Known to family, friends and colleagues as "Joey", Silverstein was born in Detroit. As a youth, Silverstein studied with his father, Bernard ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman ( he, פנחס צוקרמן, born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zuk ...

, Charles Fleischman, Robert McDuffie, Itzhak Perlman,

Midori Goto , who performs under the mononym Midori, is a Japanese-born American violinist. She made her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11 as a surprise guest soloist at the New Year's Eve Gala in 1982. In 1986 her performance at the Tanglewood ...

Rachel Barton Pine Rachel Barton Pine (born Rachel Elizabeth Barton, October 11, 1974) is an American violinist. She debuted with the Chicago Symphony at age 10, and was the first American and youngest ever gold medal winner of the International Johann Sebastian Ba ...

Henryk Szeryng Henryk Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname "Szeryng" is a Poli ...

, Sarah Chang, Leila Josefowicz and the late Eugene Fodor. The Guarneri family's history is partially uncertain. Anthony J. Guarnieri writes, "Giuseppe del Gesù and Peter of Venice may have been cousins rather than brothers, and Peter of Venice may have been the son of

Peter of Mantua Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

." "Signor Giovanni de Piccolellis, in 1885, searched the archives at the church, San Donato, in Cremona for information on the Guarneri family. His findings, published 1886, in the manuscript entitled "LIUTAI ANTICHI e MODERNI", and now available online in PDF format on

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

clearly shows that Joseph Guarneri 'del Gesù' was the son of Gian Battista Guarneri, who was in fact the younger brother of Andrea Guarneri."

Guarneri violins

Some of the world's most famous violinists, such as

and

have preferred Guarneris to Stradivaris. The average Stradivari is stronger in the 200 Hz and 250 Hz bands and above 1.6 kHz. Guarneri violins are also known by the extension of Giuseppe Guarneri's name, Del Gesù. Del Gesùs are on average stronger from 315 Hz up to 1.25 kHz. These differences are perceived as a more brilliant sound and stronger fundamentals of the lowest notes of the Stradivari, versus a darker sound in the del Gesùs. A Guarneri violin is a center object in one of

Andrea Camilleri Andrea Calogero Camilleri (; 6 September 1925 – 17 July 2019) was an Italian writer. Biography Originally from Porto Empedocle, Girgenti, Sicily, Camilleri began university studies in the Faculty of Literature at the University of Palermo, ...

's main Montalbano novels ''La Voce del violino'' ("The voice of the violin"). In the summer of 2010, the ex- Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù, a violin built in 1741 by Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri, was offered for sale at auction with a starting bid of $18 million, the highest price ever sought for a musical instrument. The violin was later sold for an undisclosed sum and

Anne Akiko Meyers Anne Akiko Meyers (born May 15, 1970) is an American concert violinist. Meyers was the top-selling classical instrumentalist of 2014 on Billboard's traditional classical charts. Early life and education The daughter of an artist and a colleg ...

was given lifetime use.

References

Bibliography

* * * Walter Hamma, ''Meister Italienischer Geigenbaukunst'', Wilhelmshaven 1993, * ''The Violin Makers of the Guarneri family, Their Life and Work'' - W.E. Hill & Sons, London, 1931

Fiction

* Green, Albert Wingate. Sunset in Cremona: A Fanciful Tale; Begin the Romance of Joseph Guarnerius. Ann Arbor: Edwards Bros, 1954. * Wibberley, Leonard. Guarneri: Story of a Genius. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1974. A fictionalized biography of the Italian violin maker whose instruments, unappreciated in his lifetime, were deemed among the greatest many years after his death. . * Kilroy, Claire. Tenderwire: An Irish female violinist engages with shady characters in NYC on a hunt for what may or may not be a Del Gesù violin. * Captain Jack Aubrey, the main character in

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...

's ''

Master and Commander ''Master and Commander'' is a 1969 nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in the UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey–Maturin series, set largely in th ...

'' series of historical novels purchases a Guarneri violin with prize money won at sea. It appears in a number of the books in the series.

External links

Guarneri family web page, violins, violin labelsGuarneri web site
* ttp://www.mimo-international.com/MIMO/search.aspx?instance=Exploitation&SC=DEFAULT&QUERY=Guarneri&_lg=en-US# Instruments of the Guarneri family on the online database MIMO website mimo-international.com.
Differences of Sound Spectra in Violins by Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guarneri family Luthiers from Cremona