Violins of Scandinavian spruces?
Posted: 09 Jan 2009, 21:42
I have asked a question to some people knowing a lot about violins, if there are any violins made of svandinavian spruce-wood. The common (and surely the right) answer is that according to tradition also Swedish instruments are made of central European wood, at least high quality instruments. It would still be interesting to see measurements from instruments used by ordinary people in the countryside. I think they often not had the recourses to bye expensive instruments from abroad or by professional luthiers, but they often were very skilled in ordinary wooden handcraft, and probably able to build their own instruments, although they did not made any masterpieces.
Bertil Israels, dendrochronologist as well, measured the top of two instruments from around Svärdsjö in Dalarna. One of them, an instrument used by a man in the village Marnäs in Enviken (60º50'13"N, 15º39'53"E), dead around 1950, seems to be made of rater local spruce wood after 1924 (Marn01) and the other one of imported (south-german?) wood after 1961 (Eost01). I hope Bertil will write a report and link to it in a reply. Below are correlation values and the mean value series (rwl) so far. Hopefully we may be able to study some more instruments.
Bertil Israels, dendrochronologist as well, measured the top of two instruments from around Svärdsjö in Dalarna. One of them, an instrument used by a man in the village Marnäs in Enviken (60º50'13"N, 15º39'53"E), dead around 1950, seems to be made of rater local spruce wood after 1924 (Marn01) and the other one of imported (south-german?) wood after 1961 (Eost01). I hope Bertil will write a report and link to it in a reply. Below are correlation values and the mean value series (rwl) so far. Hopefully we may be able to study some more instruments.
Code: Select all
Cybis CDendro, Algorithm: Proportion of last two years growth (2,0,T)
Correlations between available references in PCAB-081221.fil and
Marn01_3.d12 dated to 1924 with corr >= 0,32 and with overlap >= 93
Results sorted according to decreasing correlation coefficient values.
T- Over
Corr Test lap
all... 0,60 7,15 93 based on 5 members
FINL012 0,47 5,14 93 535 1 Kyynärä, Nat.P.Liesjärve WIDTH_RING PCAB -
swed312+ 0,47 5,13 93 000 1 Bjorbo (and Grangarde)+Svardsjo, Dalarna PCAB
swed312 0,47 5,07 93 000 1 Bjorbo (and Grangarde), Dalarna PCAB
swed311 0,34 3,47 93 NMG 1 Namdo PCAB
SWED010 0,32 3,24 93 351 1 Nyteboda WID! TH_RING PCAB -
Cybis CDendro, Algorithm: Proportion of last two years growth (2,0,T)
Correlations between available references in PCAB_ABAL_centalEUR-alp_1.fil and
Eost01_2.d12 dated to 1961 with corr >= 0,37 and with overlap >= 83
Results sorted according to decreasing correlation coefficient values.
T- Over
Corr Test lap
all... 0,57 6,51 91 based on 3 members
germ14 0,56 6,02 83 887 1 BAYERISCHER WALD
swit173w 0,40 4,12 91 071 1 Obersaxen, Meierhof, GR WIDTH_RING PCAB -
germ11 0,37 3,75 91 894 1 KREUTH
000 1 Violins in Svärdsjö PCAB
000 2 Sweden 1831 1961
000 3 B. Israels , (T. Axelson)
Eost01 1870 200 180 150 110 96 152 164 197 184 150
Eost01 1880 167 166 141 127 143 150 102 150 156 176
Eost01 1890 161 138 145 127 118 143 148 160 154 112
Eost01 1900 114 116 92 124 140 114 78 90 74 84
Eost01 1910 98 104 96 97 86 86 96 86 78 105
Eost01 1920 117 116 102 112 126 153 130 140 110 68
Eost01 1930 92 84 101 89 128 120 81 94 95 97
Eost01 1940 100 97 74 74 98 86 82 107 73 104
Eost01 1950 121 88 73 102 84 122 131 71 110 117
Eost01 1960 112 96 999
Eost01 #### Eost01 1 Violine by Erik Ostberg PCAB
Eost01 #### Eost01 2 Sweden
Eost01 #### Eost01 3 B Israels
Eost01 #### This violine is one of my own made by Erik Östberg, a friend of me, who died around 1995
Marn01 1831 85 83 91 88 100 101 94 79 97
Marn01 1840 105 109 134 116 129 112 118 73 111 112
Marn01 1850 84 108 125 112 94 76 98 108 80 83
Marn01 1860 103 114 127 97 85 84 78 100 89 66
Marn01 1870 120 108 128 106 104 111 89 94 106 88
Marn01 1880 66 57 82 74 109 106 123 83 98 91
Marn01 1890 96 72 77 75 73 92 96 99 80 88
Marn01 1900 124 110 74 110 84 106 144 151 152 118
Marn01 1910 135 116 105 99 117 118 112 104 93 117
Marn01 1920 102 133 115 109 114 999
Marn01 #### Marn01 1 Violine from Marnäs, Enviken PCAB
Marn01 #### Marn01 2 Sweden
Marn01 #### Marn01 3 B Israels
Marn01 #### A violine of my own, inherited from person who died around 1950. There is no signature and no information about
Marn01 #### the manufacturer. Not a masterpice. Used in traditional folklore.