Brief History of the Violin

It took several years and the gradual evolution of multiple instruments before we arrived at the invention of the violin as we know it today. The origin of this instrument is still an unresolved subject and raises several questions since the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations from which we retain several legacies in the fields of philosophy, poetry and art, do not indicate any trace of instruments played with a bow. The same goes for the Egyptian and Chaldean civilizations. So where does this tradition of rubbing the strings of an instrument with a bow come from? According to archives and legends, an Indian king, Ravana of Ceylon, invented the first instrument with bowed strings: the ravanhatta (several possible spellings). Equipped with two gut strings tuned in fifths, a bridge, a small sound box made of half a coconut and a bow curved like a bow. It is considered to be the oldest ancestor of the violin.

Ravanhatta
University of Edinburgh, Musical Instruments Museum Edinburgh

Vielle (fiddle),
14th century, detail after Boethius, Naples,
Biblioteca Nazionale, MS VA14, fol. 47r.

Subsequently, several traces of bowed instruments were found here and there in Europe, but we have little certainty concerning their origin. Among the whole range of instruments of the same kind, here are a few examples that catch our attention. Coming most probably from the Orient, the instrument that we call rebab, then which evolved to become the rebec from the 13th century, has three strings separated by a fifth: A, D and G. Its elongated pear shape differs a little from that of the violin, the front of the instrument is flat, the back is convex and its sound is much harder and nasal than today's violin. Let us then name the vielles (vielles) and the viols , these instruments with bowed strings which have had several forms. Considered the closest ancestors of the violin, the hurdy-gurdy is slightly longer than today's violin and consists of three to five gut strings, and the viola is fretted and played vertically, like today's cello.

Throughout Europe, several violin makers, notably Kerlino of Brescia and Kolitzer of Paris, made instruments of this type and by making small changes to the form, contributed to the evolution and discovery of the modern violin. Moreover, several different sources attribute this discovery to different violin makers such as Caspar S. Duiffoprugcar, Gasparo da Salo and André Amati of Cremona. These two violin makers from northern Italy being the most often cited, their great influence continued from the middle of the 16th century. Since that time, many renowned violin makers such as Stradivari, Guarneri, Maggini and several others have also made violins and participated in its evolution and above all, in the transmission of this unique art through the generations.

The bass viol lesson,
Caspar Netscher,
Louvre Museum