Instruments - Part 12

 Violin

The violin is the foundation of the orchestra.  In a large orchestra of 100 players, fully a third of them play violin.  Violins also play in small groups like string quartets, and they occasionally play in bands and other groups, like this one at the 2015 Glastonbury Festival, England.

And, of course, the violin can play solo.  In country music it's called a fiddle.  This street fiddler has a crowd of admirers.

The strings of a violin are played with a bow instead of being plucked like a harp or guitar (though they can also be plucked, an effect called pizzicato)..  Ancestors of the violin include a medieval European instrument called a rebec.  The violin in its current form emerged in Italy in the 16th century.  Some Italians became master violin makers, such as Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737).  In 2011, one Stradivarius violin sold for £9.8 million ($15.9 million).

The bow is strung with horsehair.  Rosin is rubbed onto the hair to make it slightly sticky, so when the bow is drawn across the violin string, the string vibrates.

Violin strings are traditionally made from catgut, which, despite the name, does not come from cats but from the guts of other animals such as sheep.  Modern strings may be gut, steel, or a type of nylon.

In an earlier post on the nursery rhyme "Old King Cole," I illustrated how he "called for his fiddlers three."  The first fiddler is Saul Harris.  With these three fiddlers, it's no wonder Old King Cole was a merry old soul.

The second fiddler is unnamed, but he seems to find his music very exciting.

Our last fiddler is Chris Marchant, who plays in the Well Strung Quartet.  You'll see much more of Chris Marchant and the Well Strung Quartet tomorrow.