Jean Baptiste Vuillaume

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Jean Baptiste Vuillaume (1860)

Jean Baptiste Vuillaume (born October 7, 1798 in Mirecourt , † March 19, 1875 in Paris ) was an influential French violin maker of the 19th century .

Life

Jean Baptiste Vuillaume was not only one of the best French violin makers of the 19th century, but also a central figure in violin making in his day. He followed his family tradition. His father and grandfather were already violin makers, from whom he learned the art of violin making. In 1818 he went to Paris, where he trained with the famous François Chanot . His role models were the beauty and ethics of the Cremona instruments, whose ideals he sought to achieve. From 1821 he worked for Joseph Dominique Lete and three years later they jointly founded the company Lete et Vuillaume in the Parisian Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs.

Label 1823

In 1827 Vuillaume received his first silver medal at the Paris World Exhibition. In the following year, 1828, he started his own business in the rue des Petits-Champs 46. There he built violins , violas , cellos and double basses, always following the models of the Cremonese masters . He also made excellent bows that have not lost any of their quality to this day. In retrospect, many of his employees were among the best bow makers, whose work is still highly valued by soloists today. This included the from Markneukirchen originating Hermann Richard Pfretzschner .

When traveling to the Swiss Alps , Vuillaume kept an eye out for old cupboards, tables and even dance floors, which, to the horror of the salespeople, he often dismantled immediately and only had the wood that he could use loaded. Over time, his copies became so perfect that they could hardly be distinguished from the originals. His replica of Niccolò Paganini's legendary Guarnerius violin Cannone from 1838, which Paganini's student Camillo Sivori later acquired from his teacher, is famous .

In the following twenty years his workshop grew to become one of the leading in Europe. In 1855 he bought 144 Italian violins from the heirs of the traveling Italian dealer Tarisio, 24 of them Stradivari and among them the famous Messiah . He partially dismantled these violins as study objects. In 1839, 1844 and 1855 he received gold medals at the world exhibitions and in 1851 became a member of the French Legion of Honor . During this time, the German acoustician Rudolph Koenig came to Vuillaume's workshop to complete an apprenticeship.

Violin by J. B. Vuillaume (copy of a Joseph Guarneri del Gesù) 1863

The 1860s are known as Vuillaume's golden period, during which time he created more than 3,000 numbered instruments. The external characteristic of his instruments was the reddish-brown paintwork, which became lighter from 1860 onwards. His contacts with Hector Berlioz , the violinists Niccolò Paganini , Henri Vieuxtemps , Jean-Delphin Alard , Pablo de Sarasate , the Belgian cellist Adrien-François Servais and the Norwegian violinist Ole Bull had a great influence on him. The findings of the acoustic research of the doctor and physicist Félix Savart were partly incorporated into Vuillaume's work. As a result of these contacts, new types of instruments such as the deeper-sounding contrabass (the contralto, built in 1855 and characterized by body size and sound volume ) and the octobass , a huge contrabass, emerged. Vuillaume also developed a number of tools and procedures that are still useful in violin making today.

Other violin makers in the family

  • Claude Vuillaume - the oldest member of the family who made violins
  • Charles François Vuillaume (1755–1779)
  • Claude François Vuillaume I (* 1730)
  • Jean Vuillaume - grandfather of Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, studied with Stradivari
  • Claude François Vuillaume II (1772–1834) - father of Jean Baptiste Vuillaume
  • Nicolas Vuillaume (1800–1871) - second son of Claude François Vuillaume II., Built instruments of very good quality
  • Nicolas François Vuillaume († 1876) - third son of Claude François Vuillaume II., Was the most successful violin maker in the family after his brother JB Vuillaume
  • Joseph François Vuillaume (1804–1856) - worked in Mirecourt, later in Paris and Lyon
  • Sébastien Vuillaume (1835–1875) - nephew of Jean Baptiste Vuillaume

Musician

Some violinists who play or played on Vuillaume instruments:

literature

  • Roger Millant: JB Vuillaume "The artist and his works". WE Hill & Sons London 1972
  • Jost Thöne and Stefan-Peter Greiner : JBVuillaume, illustrated book with original-sized illustrations. Bocholt 1998
  • Les Trésors de la Lutherie Française du XIXe siècle. Paris c 1992
  • Sylvette Milliot: Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume et sa famille: Nicolas, Nicolas-François et Sébastien. Edition les Amis de la Musique, 2006.

Web links

Commons : Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roger Millant: JB Vuillaume: Sa Vie et son Œuvre ( French ). WE Hill, London 1972, OCLC 865746 .
  2. ↑ Sylvette Milliot: Les Luthiers Parisiens aux XIX et XX siecles Tom 3 "Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume et sa famille: Nicolas, Nicolas-François et Sébastien" Edition les Amis des la Musique 2006
  3. ↑ The historical violins: The "Vuillaume" premiopaganini.it (archive page)
  4. ↑ Erich Valentin : Handbuch der Musikinstrumentenkunde. Gustav Bosse, Regensburg 1954, p. 139.
personal data
SURNAME Vuillaume, Jean Baptiste
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French violin maker
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1798
PLACE OF BIRTH Mirecourt
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1875
Place of death Paris