Giuseppe Pedrazzini (Pizzighettone, near

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

, 13 January 1879 – 19 October 1957) was an Italian violin maker. He was a pupil of Riccardo Antoniazzi and Romeo Antoniazzi in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, then began to work on his own there. He quickly gained recognition and won awards at various exhibitions, including those in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1920 and in

in 1937. He modelled his instruments after various patterns, especially those of

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 colloqui ...

, G.B. Guadagnini and

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 Nico ...

, all of which he interpreted freely. Tonally his work is among the best of the early 20th-century Italian makers. He was a meticulous and elegant craftsman; the scrolls of his instruments are always deeply carved, and the symmetrically rounded curves of the bouts and flanks provide a distinctive touch. Besides new instruments, he made a number of skilful antiqued copies. He used a variety of different labels and, depending on the period, one of three different brands. A good part of his output was exported, and he had particularly close ties with Hawkes & Son (later Boosey & Hawkes) in London. Among his pupils and associates were Ferdinando Garimberti, P. Parravicini and his nephew N. Novelli. Although his work is extremely distinctive, Pedrazzini was unusually versatile in that as well as following the usual

' Grand Pattern, Amatese

and, more rarely, Guadagnini models, he also paid tribute to the old Milanese school by incorporating

Giovanni Grancino Giovanni Grancino (1637–1709), son of Andrea Grancino, was one of the early Milanese luthiers, and may have worked with his brother, Francesco. Giovanni was the most prominent member of the family of luthiers . Other members included Andrea Gra ...

’s influence into his own models and varnishing. The only other modern maker in Milan who ever tried his hand at this unusual model was Celeste Farotti, and this only in his antiqued copies, whereas Pedrazzini did so subtly in his straight work. Pedrazzini’s highly distinctive scrolls – which are extremely symmetrical, very round, large yet delicate and deeply cut – are strongly influenced by those of

with perhaps a bit of

. These masterfully carved, heavily chamfered scrolls, as well as the angled position of the precisely cut, lightly fluted f-holes, are the features that most recall their classical Milanese prototypes. Pedrazzini’s, wide, rounded back buttons complement the scrolls. His wood choice is nearly always of excellent quality and the

purfling Purfling is a narrow decorative edge inlaid into the top plate and often the back plate of a stringed instrument. It was originally made of laminated strips of wood, and later nacre and other hard inlay materials. Plastic is commonly used in moder ...

, positioned close to the neat channeling of the edge, is quite thin and often not very strongly stained. The backs are pinned with well-centered, round pins that are removed slightly from the purfling, although he sometimes omits the pins, particularly in his earlier work. The corners are quite triangular and generally stubby. Because Pedrazzini used to be a woodmaker, he was quick to master the art of violin making and was already producing fine works, which were rated highly by musicians and his colleagues, that he opened his own workshop in 1906. A fine maker Leandro Bisiach, who was working with Antoniazzi at the time, was also attracted by Pedrazzini's works and started to ask Pedrazzini to make instruments for him. When World War I began in 1914, Pedrazzini went to work as a woodworker at an aircraft manufacturing plant, where Bisiach's apprentice Giuseppe Ornati was working as well. It can be hypothesised that Pedrazzini and Ornati became friends there, discussed about instrument making between work and even made a few instruments, as Ornati's works dated during the war have been found. After the war, Pedrazzini went back to making instruments and went onto win a Gold medal at a stringed instrument competition in Rome in 1920. From then on, Pedrazzini rose to fame and orders from outside Italy started to come in. By Bisiach's recommendation, Pedrazzini welcomed Ferdinando Garimerbti, an extreme talent with knife skills, as his apprentice and made instruments together. Pedrazzini's works were mostly modeled after

and Guadagnini, but showed his own personal interpretation with beautiful symmetry and absolute precision. Scrolls are usually deeply carved and his antiqued varnish was definitely his forte. He was a masterful copyist and has left numerous fine copies as well. In addition, Pedrazzini, like Bisiach, was a successful businessman dealing antique Italian instruments, which probably helped him circulate his own instruments to various dealers worldwide. After winning a prize for his works of quartet at a stringed instrument competition in Cremona in 1937, Pedrazzini rose to even more fame and more orders were pouring in. One of his clients was Boosey & Hawkes, who made orders in bulk that Pedrazzini employed his nephew Natale Novelli and Piero Parravicini to work together to accommodate the abundant orders. Works from this period, in effect, are not as consistent as his own from the earlier period or the works he collaborated with Garimberti; however, Pedrazzini has indeed produced some of the finest instruments with bright and beautiful tone quality and left his name in history as one of the finest makers in Milan. On a side note, when a musician is looking for a modern Italian violin and is not too fond of Fagnola's tone, more than 70% of them go on to prefer Pedrazzini's.

References

* * La Liuteria Italiana / Italian Violin Making in the 1800s and 1900s - Umberto Azzolina (Milan, 1964) * I Maestri Del Novicento - Carlo Vettori * La Liuteria Lombarda del '900 - Roberto Codazzi, Cinzia Manfredini 2002 * C. Woodcock as Dictionary of Contemporary Violin and Bow Makers (Brighton, 1965) * Dictionary of 20th Century Italian Violin Makers -

Marlin Brinser Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority. Name The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Taxonomy Th ...

1978 * * *

Walter Hamma Walter Hamma (22 September 1916 – 11 August 1988) was a German violin maker. His father, Fridolin Hamma, was an influential violin maker. Walter Hamma was pupil of the violin making school in Mittenwald Mittenwald () is a German municipalit ...

, ''Meister Italienischer Geigenbaukunst'', Wilhelmshaven 1993,
Liuteria Parmense

External links

View photos of a fine Giuseppe Pedrazzini violin * https://dmitrygindin.com/dmitry-gindin-articles-on-cozio/giuseppe-pedrazzini.php * https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/browse-the-archive/makers/maker/?Maker_ID=524 * https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/cozio-carteggio/giuseppe-pedrazzini/ * https://ingleshayday.com/notable-sales-instrument/a-violin-by-giuseppe-pedrazzini/ * http://www.giordanoviolins.com/stolenInstruments/index.html#Pedrazzini * http://www.archiviodellaliuteriacremonese.it * https://www.thestrad.com/news/violinist-elias-david-moncado-wins-vladimir-spivakov-international-violin-competition/14083.article * https://www.thestrad.com/news/prizes-awarded-at-the-ysaye-international-music-competition/15129.article * https://www.thestrad.com/luthier-dealer-reunited-with-stolen-violins-after-seven-years/3651.article {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedrazzini, Giuseppe 1879 births 1957 deaths Luthiers from Cremona