"As we will see, the roots of today's guitar
can be traced back to the end of the eighteenth century. The Italian
school of lutherie, especially that of Fabricatore was initially
responsible for influencing Stauffer and was imported to America ,
perhaps through the Italian immigrants. This in turn influenced the
early work of Orville Gibson who dominated the early flat back mandolin
and arched top guitar making. This ultimately led to the electric
guitar. The Austrian / German school, primarily that of Stauffer
who clearly influenced C. F. Martin also working in America paved the way
for the steel strung acoustic guitar. And finally the Spanish school,
especially that of Pages, Panormo and Torres with its strong routed
tradition is still here today in the form of the classical guitar.
Of course this is grossly over simplifying things. Other schools
and countries, such as the French, Portuguese, Russian,
Danish and many more played their part in shaping the guitar in all of
its forms and today's varied designs."
This is without a doubt, the most informative
volume on 19th century guitars that we have come across. This softcover
book is 180 pages of information with hundreds of black & white photos
as well as 23 pages of colour plates and a companion CD that showcases
professional concert classical guitarists playing nine of the most significant
guitars discussed!
Link to a shortened
Audio Sample from CD as played by Paul Gregory
| "Perhaps the most famous of all composer-maker
relationships was that between the Italian guitarist Luigi Legnani and
the luthiers at the Stauffer workshop in Vienna. The selections from
Legnani's Thirty-six Caprices are played on a Stauffer 'Legnani model'
guitar. This instrument is based on a design by Legnani and it contains
the red wax seal and label that is associated with his models. Many
of Legnani's compositions regularly go beyond the normal compass of high
Ab, thus necessitating instruments such as the Stauffer guitar, whose
fingerboard extends to the high D." |
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