Violin Making in England in the Age of Purcell

Abstract Although there is much documentary evidence of the long history of the violin in England, there are very few actual surviving examples of violins made in this country during the lifetime of Henry Purcell and before such as would enable us to know precisely what form of instrument he knew and composed for. Throughout Europe, styles and techniques of violin making, which profoundly affect the sound of the instrument, were diverse, and it was not until the middle of the eighteenth century that makers generally settled on one favoured pattern, that of the Tyrolean maker Jacob Stainer (born c.1617, died 1683). What few English violins of the seventeenth century we do have illustrate well this diversity of work, and give some evidence of the variety of contexts in which they were used. Most significantly, the short years of Purcell’s life, as both composer and keeper of the instruments in the Chapel Royal, mark a certain rise in the status of the violin-maker and his work, a rise which challenged the position of the viol-maker, an apparently discrete occupation in England during the seventeenth century but already an anachronism in Italy, which saw the most important developments in violin making.