Speaker: Dr. Joseph Nagyvary, Texas A&M

Abstract:Following centuries of speculation, some definitive results were obtained on the material makeup of old Italian string instruments, including one sample of Antonio Stradivari. The results are quite different from those obtained on last century and some recent instruments. There seem to be three major differences that may have a profound effect on the acoustical properties:(1) The wood of the old instruments was soaked in a brine, (2) the surface was filled with a water-soluble mucilage and mineral powder, and (3) the varnish itself was a micro composite. Admittedly, the limited number of samples analyzed does not allow a generalization, but numerous studies of reconstruction lend support to this new view of what was really important in the Cremon method of violin making. Chemistry -- both ancient and modern -- emerges as a critical tool in determining the sound quality of wooden musical instruments. Historical evidence suggests that Stradivari and his colleagues were lucky beneficiaries of fortuitous coincidences with regard to wood procurement and finishing technologies. Much of the mystique concerning Stradivari's violins could have had its real origin at the local drug store.
About the presenter:Dr. Joseph Nagyvary has brought an unprecedented level of academic expertise to bear upon the age=old violin puzzle. A native of Hungary, he majored in chemistry at the Eotvos Lorand University of Budapest (1952-1956); he became a student of the Swiss Nobel Laureate Paul Karrer in 1957 and received his Ph.D. in the chemistry of natural products in 1962. While in Zurich, he had his first formal violin lessons on a violin that once belonged to Albert Einstein, a coincidence that helped turn his attention to the physical mysteries of the violin. In 1963, he spent a postdoctoral year with Lord Alexander Todd, a British Nobel laureate. He came to the United States in 1964 and settled down in Texas in 1968, where he has remained a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University. Dr. Nagyvary was the recipient of a Career Development Grant and numerous other research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. His discoveries concerning the classical violins were made public in over 80 lectures sponsored by the American Chemical Society. On such occasions, comparisons were made between Dr. Nagyvary's new creation and the finest locally available antique Italian violin. We'd like to invite any local violinists that would like to compare tonal qualities of their violins with those of Dr. Nagyvary to please bring their instruments. There will be time available with Dr. Nagyvary following his lecture.