Antonio Luigi Embergher (4 February 1856, in

Arpino Arpino (Southern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, region of Lazio in central Italy, about 100 km SE of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. The town produced two consuls of the ...

– 12 May 1943, 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, ...

) was an Italian

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

known for his high quality bowlback

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

s.Alex Timmerman's Embergher website
/ref>Information on Embergher instruments at www.mandolincafe.com
/ref> Son of the ebanist Pietro Embergher and Maria Ciccarelli, Born in Arpino 1856.

Life and work

In the 1890s he collaborated with the Mandolin virtuoso G. B. Maldura, creating a series of concert mandolins for

mandolin orchestra A mandolin orchestra is an orchestra consisting primarily of instruments from the mandolin family of instruments, such as the mandolin, mandola, mandocello and mandobass or mandolone. Some mandolin orchestras use guitars and double-basses instea ...

s including two mandolin types, a ''mandoliola'' (also called Octave

mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...

) and a mandoloncello, all suited for playing string quartet pieces for mandolin. They were first displayed in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in 1898, and soon became came to set the standard measures for mandolin orchestras. Embergher made instruments from approximately 1880 through 1935. He is considered to have taken Rome's standard of building mandolins, exemplified by luthiers Giovanni De Santis and Giovanni Battista Maldura, and improved upon it. His instruments became known for their "strong, sonorous warm sound and a perfect intonation." Among improvements he made was to change the way the instrument sounded making alterations to the sound board and sound chamber. He also added a zero-fret, an extension of the fingerboard under the 2nd string up to the g, and a highly pronounced 'V'-shape in the cross-section of the neck. Instruments from his

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...

were considered "the finest instruments" and demand for them rose until he was employing 15 luthiers in his workshop and exporting to other countries. World-renowned mandolin virtuoso Silvio Ranieri did much to extend the fame of Embergher's instruments. Ranieri only performed using Embergher mandolins, and he compared them to the

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

violin in perfection. After hearing one of his performances, Embergher gave Ranieri a superb instrument that had won the gold medal at a 1900 exhibition in Paris, and the two remained close friends. In 1904 a glowing review of one of Ranieri's concerts concluded by stating that "We are sure that Ranieri will not be offended if we attribute a part of his great triumphs to the excellence of his wonderful instrument. The instruments of Embergher are unequalled, not only the richness and fullness of tone are remarkable, but the intonation is also perfect" In 1913, for his successful career, Embergher was knighted as "''Cavaliere della Corona d'Italia''" (Knight of the Order of the Italian Crown). At the height of production, his shop produced between 80 and 100 mandolins a month, mainly mandolins, but also the terzino, mandola, mandoloncello, liuto cantabile and the mandobasso, all used in the mandolin orchestras of the day. Political upheavals in the 1930s made it difficult to export his instruments, and he closed his shop, continuing to make instruments for Italians in his

.Italian tourist portal, ''Antonio Luigi Embergher''
/ref> After his death in 1943, instruments were made with his standards by luthiers Domenico Cerrone (from 1938 to 1954) and his son Giannino Cerrone, and by Pasquale Pecoraro. Pecoraro was the last to build "in the exact Embergher-design and manner," and died in 1987.

Types

There were eleven versions of his Roman pattern mandolins, indicated with the letters ''A'' or ''B'' and with a number. Type A and B were ''Mandolini da studio'', student quality instruments.Information page on Models A and B
/ref> Mandolins Numbers 1—4 were orchestra instruments.Information page on Models 1 through 4
/ref> Mandolins 5, 5-bis, and 6 were for the concert artist and soloist.Information page on Models 5, 5-bis, and 6
/ref> Numbers 7 and 8 were elite instruments, more decorated than the other models.Information page on Models 7 and 8
/ref> The number 5 was sought after by virtuoso performers and "great masters." The number 8 was a more luxurious instrument and inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl; one of these was bought by Maria Feodorovna, the Queen mother of

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

of Russia, in 1902.

Notes

Works cited

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External links

Online recordings featuring Embergher mandolins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embergher, Luigi Embegher,Luigi Embergher,Luigi Embergher,Luigi People from Arpino