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Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (often shortened to G. B. Guadagnini; 23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history.^[3] He is widely considered the third greatest maker after Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri "del Gesù". The Guadagnini family was known for their violins, guitars and mandolins.^[4]

Biography

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (Latinized as Johannes Baptista Guadagnini) was born while both Stradivari and Guarneri were at the zenith of their production years, roughly 30 km away from the City of Cremona on 23 June 1711 at Bilegno in Val Tidone of Piacenza.^[5]

Recent research has shed light as to the influence of both Casa Stradivari and Casa Guarneri of Cremona on the lines of symmetry of instruments by Guadagnini, hence J.B. Guadagnini was still a youth while his father Lorenzo, both in Bilegno and Piacenza, was a contributing maker of instruments for Stradivari's workshop, the leading violin shop in the first half of the 18th century.

It was the normative use of trade in 18th-century Italy for a young person to start as an apprentice in a master's workshop around age 12, to be allowed to practice a given trade afterward. Guild shops, either in consortium or under one roof, were headed by a master who provided journeymen papers for successful apprentices. Trade guilds, providing career opportunities for skilled tradesmen including musical instrument makers, were a mercantile arrangement in Europe since medieval times, including in Italy. Guilds were a pre-capitalist industrial organization under ducal oversight which regulated trade practice, quality of articles produced, and pricing policies.

J.B. Guadagnini died in Turin in 1786.

Violin maker

His work is divided into four main periods corresponding to, and named after, Piacenza, Milan, Parma and Turin, the four cities in Italy where he lived and worked. Each period has its own style and characteristic. The Guadagnini's Milan style are more popular in Europe while the Turin style is more sought-after in the United States.^[5] Because of different arching built for each style, the Milan models make soft and colorful sound, whereas the Turin models sound are flatter and more powerful.^[5]

Appreciation by both connoisseurs and musicians alike attest to the fact that J.B. Guadagnini may possibly be considered the last of the great master violin makers in the second half of the so-called "golden age", while Italy was under Bourbon rule.

Performers with Guadagnini instruments

Violinists

Violists

• 
  Li-Kuo Chang plays the 'ex-Vieuxtemps' G.B. Guadagnini viola, Parma c.1768^[11][12]
  


• 
  Geraldine Walther plays a G.B. Guadagnini viola, Turin 1774^[13]
  

Cellists

• 
  Natalie Clein plays the "Simpson" Guadagnini cello (1777)^[14]
  


• 
  David Geringas plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello made in 1761^[15]
  


• Maxine Neuman plays a 1772 Guadagnini^[16]
  


• 
  Han-na Chang plays the G.B. Guadagnini cello made in Milan in 1757


• 
  Gilberto Munguia plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello (1748)


• 
  Saša Večtomov played a G.B. Guadagnini cello made in Milan in 1754


• 
  Sol Gabetta plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello (1759)


• 
  Carter Brey, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, plays a Guadagnini made in Milan in 1745^[17]
  

Groups

• 
  Australian String Quartet (ASQ) plays four matched instruments: a violoncello (c.1743), and a violin (1748-49), both made in Piacenza, and a viola (1783) and another violin (1784) made in Turin^[18]
  

Bibliography

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v t e

• 
  Guadagnini^{[permanent dead link]}
  


• G B Guadagnini


• E.N. Doring: The Guadagnini Family of Violin Makers (Chicago,1949)


• A.H. König, ed.: Die Geigenbauer der Guadagnini-Familie. Die Turiner Schule (Frankfurt, 1981)


• G. Fiori: ‘Documenti biografici di artisti e personaggi piacentini dal ’600 all’ ’800 nell’Archivo Vescovile di Piacenza’, Strenna piacentina (1994), 67–111


• P.J. Kass: Violin Makers of the Piedmontese School


• 
  Vannes, Rene (1985) [1951]. Dictionnaire Universel del Luthiers (vol.3). Bruxelles: Les Amis de la musique. OCLC 53749830..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
  


• 
  William, Henley (1969). Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers. Brighton; England: Amati. ISBN 0-901424-00-5.
  


• 
  Walter Hamma, Meister Italienischer Geigenbaukunst, Wilhelmshaven 1993,
  ISBN 3-7959-0537-0
  


• Duane Rosengard: G.B. Guadagnini - The life and achievement of a master maker, Carteggio Media, 2000

References

External links

• Images of the ex-Joachim G.B. Guadagnini Turin 1775