News
Original letter by Ing. Giuseppe Schivardi - Mantova
10.01.2004Dear Mr. F.Ognibeni,
last year I read with great interest your book " The soul of wood" and I appreciated the report of your tests on the characteristics of tone-wood used for the tops in violin making.
In the newspaper " La stampa" of January 7th I read a short article concerning a research published in an american magazine: hereby a copy for your information. The american scientists affirm that the special acoustic characteristics of the spruce used by Stradivari are joint to the phenomenon of the " small glaciation" , which took place towards the end of 1600, as consequence of the solar spots and that strongly influenced the climatic conditions of the earth. It seems to me, anyway, that they are quite rash in their judment, ascribing all resonance properties simply to the wood density, about which you have strong doubts.
What do you think about it?
With best regards,
Ing. Giuseppe Schivardi
Tesero, January 14th 2004
Spett.le Ing. Giuseppe Schivardi
Via G. Di Vittorio,34
46100 MANTOVA
Dear Ing. G.Schivardi,
first of all many thanks for sending me the article published in the newspaper " La Stampa" and for your kind letter.
I've already learned about this theory from a similar article published in " Speciale scienza" of the newspaper " Corriere della sera" Feb. 23rd 1997 by Massimo Spampani, where I'm mentioned as well.
In fact I have many perplexities on the matter, but I mention three of them in short.
It is stated that the life and the instruments of A.Stradivari clashed with the phenomenon of the " small glaciation" , when the trees would have grown with narrow year rings. But generally the violin maker uses spruce with very thin fibre, 100-130 year rings. The spruce used by A.Stradivari came from trees grown many years before (approximately between 1550 and 1680).
Examinating the violins of the Maestro from Cremona, one can notice that the growing rings are not so tight and thin, indeed, in some instruments they are, on average, wider than in others. Now, among the seasoned tops we have in stock and which are obtained from spruces grown in Val di Fiemme during the last century, many show a fibre much thinner than the one of the original " Stradivari" . However, from the end of the nineteenth-century till now there wasn't any " small glaciation" .
In the article it's also mentioned a " higher density" of the wood, as positive result of the rigorous climate of that period, that made the trees growing very slowly.
But as violin makers and experts well know, the best characteristics of a good tone-wood are the high elastic module (high resistance to flexion) joined to a low density of the wood.
Furthermore, through tests carried out at our firm, on the contrary of what it's usually thought, it results that the spruce with narrow rings has a higher density .Sometimes the wood with wider fibre has a higher density than other wood pieces with very narrow rings.
After all, I think to be in position of stating that the factors which determine the growth of the trees are different and the main are climatic-environmental, connected with the exposure ,the altitude, the ground, the humidity, but also the forest, the wind etc.: a good mix of " natural factors" , partially due to the interventions on the cultivation by men, which here in Val di Fiemme are particularly present in several forests in the respect and maintenance of the trees.
I hope to be sufficiently convincing as I prefer to stop vague news of several reporters or " American scientists" and to restate, on the other hand, that the widest knowledge on the matter today (that in any case is incomplete and perfectible), I think is located in Val di Fiemme.
With best regards.
Fabio Ognibeni / General Manager
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