A luthier ( ; )[ .]
Etymology
The word
is originally
French language and comes from
luth, the French word for "
lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be used in French for makers of most bowed and plucked stringed instruments such as members of the
violin family (including
,
, and
) and
. Luthiers, however, do not make
or pianos; these require different skills and construction methods because their strings are secured to a frame.
Craft
The
craft of luthiers, lutherie (rarely called "luthiery", but this often refers to stringed instruments other than those in the violin family), is commonly divided into the two main categories of makers of stringed instruments that are plucked or strummed and makers of stringed instruments that are bowed.
Since bowed instruments require a bow, the second category includes a subtype known as a
bow maker or archetier. Luthiers may also teach string-instrument making, either through
apprenticeship or formal classroom instruction.
Plucked strings
Lutes
Early producers of
,
,
and
include the
Tieffenbrucker family, Martin Hoffmann and
Matteo Sellas.
Guitars
Two luthiers of the early 19th century connected with the development of the modern classical guitar are
Louis Panormo and
Georg Staufer.
[The Guitar (From The Renaissance To The Present Day) by Harvey Turnbull (Third Impression 1978) – Publisher: Batsford. p. 68 (Ponormo) and p. 70 (Georg Staufer) – Chapter 4 (The Development Of The Instrument).] Antonio Torres Jurado is credited with developing the form of
classical guitar still in use. C.F. Martin of Germany developed a form that evolved into the modern steel-string acoustic guitar.
The American luthier Orville Gibson specialized in Mandolin, and is credited with creating the archtop guitar.
Bowed strings
Bowed instruments include:
cello,
crwth,
double bass,
erhu,
fiddle,
hudok,
morin khuur,
nyckelharpa,
hurdy-gurdy,
Rebab,
rebec,
sarangi,
viol (viola da gamba),
viola, viola da braccio, viola d'amore, and
violin.
The purported inventor of the violin is Andrea Amati. Amati was originally a lute maker, but turned to the new instrument form of violin in the mid-16th century. He was the progenitor of the Amati family of luthiers active in Cremona, Italy until the 18th century. Andrea Amati had two sons. His eldest was Antonio Amati ( circa 1537–1607), and the younger, Girolamo Amati ( circa 1561–1630). Girolamo is better known as Hieronymus, and together with his brother, produced many violins with labels inside the instrument reading "A&H". Antonio died having no known offspring, but Hieronymus became a father. His son Nicolò (1596–1684) was himself a master luthier who had several apprentices of note, including Antonio Stradivari[Pollens, Stewart (1995) The Early Pianoforte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press]
Gasparo Duiffopruggar of Füssen, Germany, was once incorrectly credited as the inventor of the violin. He was likely a maker, but no documentation survives, and no instruments survive that experts unequivocally know are his.
Gasparo da Salò of Brescia (Italy) was another early luthier of the violin family. About 80 of his instruments survive, and around 100 documents that relate to his work. He was also a double bass player and son and nephew of two violin players: Francesco and Agosti, respectively.
Da Salò made many instruments and exported to France and Spain, and probably to England. He had at least five apprentices: his son Francesco, a helper named Battista, Alexander of Marsiglia, Giacomo Lafranchini and Giovanni Paolo Maggini. Maggini inherited da Salò's business in Brescia. Valentino Siani worked with Maggini. In 1620, Maggini moved to Florence.
By century
17th
Luthiers born in the mid-17th century include Giovanni Grancino,
Vincenzo Rugeri, Carlo Giuseppe Testore, and his sons Carlo Antonio Testore and Paolo Antonio Testore, all from
Milan. From
Venice the luthiers Matteo Goffriller, Domenico Montagnana,
Sanctus Seraphin, and Carlo Annibale Tononi were principals in the Venetian school of violin making (although the latter began his career in
Bologna).
Carlo Bergonzi (luthier) purchased Antonio Stradivari's shop a few years after the master's death.
David Tecchler, who was born in Austria, later worked in both Venice and
Rome.
18th
Luthiers from the early 18th century include Nicolò Gagliano of
Naples, Italy, Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi of Milan, and Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, who roamed throughout Italy during his lifetime. From Austria originally,
Leopold Widhalm later established himself in
Nuremberg, Germany.
The Jérôme-Thibouville-Lamy firm started making wind instruments around 1730 at La Couture-Boussey, then moved to Mirecourt around 1760 and started making violins, guitars, mandolins, and musical accessories.
19th
The early 19th-century luthiers of the
Mirecourt school of violin making in France were the
Vuillaume family, Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin, and Collin-Mezin's son, Charles Collin-Mezin, Jr., Honore Derazey, Nicolas Lupot, Charles Macoutel, Charles Mennégand, and Pierre Silvestre.
Nicola Utili (also known as Nicola da Castel Bolognese) (Ravenna, Italy, 1888–1962), beside traditional lute works, experimented the making of "pear-shaped" violins.
See also
Further reading
-
Historical Lute Construction by Robert Lundberg, Guild of American Luthiers (2002)
-
The Complete Luthier's Library. A Useful International Critical Bibliography for the Maker and the Connoisseur of Stringed and Plucked Instruments. Bologna, Florenus Edizioni 1990.
-
Mottola's Cyclopedic Dictionary of Lutherie Terms. R.M. Mottola 2020.
-
Guild of American Luthiers
-
Guitar Museum Classical Guitar Museum, (UK)
-
Luthier Interviews Guitarbench.com archive of Luthier Interviews.
-
The Consortium of Violinmakers "Antonio Stradivari" CREMONA
-
Luthiers Forum A large online lutherie community. Educational.
-
Contemporary violin makers from China and Taiwan
-
Il Liutaio – Origine e costruzione del violino e degli strumenti ad arco moderni, by Angeloni Domenico, legatura tela edit. fig., pp. XXVI-558 con 176 figure e 33 tavole, Milano, HOEPLI, 1923
-
The secrets of Stradivari by Simone F. Sacconi, Libreria del Convegno in Cremona, Cremona, 1972 Simone Fernando Sacconi
