Graham Elliot

Haunted by the soft, sweet power of the violin

Researching the provenance of a single violin becomes a four-year obsession for Helena Attlee, taking her from Britain to Russia, via Paris, Florence and Cremona

Antonio Stradivari in his atelier. Credit: Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis via Getty Images 
issue 01 May 2021

An extraordinary omission from Neil MacGregor’s A History of the World in 100 Objects is the lyre, the instrument closest to Homer’s heart. Without it, the evolution of bowed stringed instruments — rebec, lira da braccio, violetta — would not have taken place. Ipso facto, there would be no violin, nor its larger siblings; no chamber music, no orchestra, no Hot Club de France.

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