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Violins
Thu Apr 29, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton, and this is The Weather Notebook. The violins crafted by Antonio
Stradivari and other Italian violin-makers have long been honoured for their sweetness
and brightness of tone. Recently, two American scientists have suggested a long, cold
spell known as the "Little Ice Age" may have played a factor in their sound.
The Little Ice Age gripped Europe from the mid-fourteen to the mid-eighteenth
centuries, but reached its coldest during the years between 1645 and 1715. That
period coincided with a reduction in solar activity, as noted by an absence of sunspots,
known as the "Maunder Minimum." Winters were long and cold, summers short and
cool.
While studying the climate during the Minimum using tree-ring analysis, Dr. Henri
Grissino-Mayer at the University of Tennessee and Dr. Lloyd Burckle at Columbia
University noted that the cold climate had a dramatic effect on tree growth. The
extremely slow growth during the coldest period yielded uncommonly dense wood in
many high elevation tree species including larch, spruce, and pine from western
France to southern Germany. The compact, narrow tree rings in Alpine spruce drew
their particular interest because this wood was used by Stradivari and others in
making their instruments. Stradivari produced his most prized instruments from 1700
to 1720 from wood grown during the depths of the Little Ice Age.
Grissino-Mayer believes a strong relationship exists between the sound of the violins,
the trees they were made from, and weather conditions under which the trees grew. He
believes that the wood's density gives it unusual strength and superior tonal
quality.
If the hypothesis is true, the famed instruments may have benefited from the perfect
timing of low solar strength and skilled musical craftsmen.
Thanks to our contributing writer, meteorologist Keith Heidorn. The Weather Notebook
is supported by Subaru of America and the National Science Foundation.
Today's Links
CNN story
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/12/08/stradivarius.secret.ap/
National Geographic News Item
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0107_040107_violin.html
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