A. E. Smith (violin maker)
Encyclopedia
Arthur Edward Smith MBE, known as A. E. Smith (188016 May 1978) was an English-born Australia
n violin
and viola
maker of world renown. His violins and violas are prized for their excellence of tone and decorative elements such as the sound holes, scrolls and curves. Among musicians, "it is his violas that have the greatest reputation, being easily counted amongst the greatest ever created, regardless of era or nationality."
Smith is believed to have been born in 1880 at Islington
, London
. He began his violin-making hobby in order to improve upon the inferior instrument he played in the Maldon
Amateur Orchestral Society. This soon overtook engineering as his primary interest. Smith was self-taught, but guided by A. E. Hill's book on Antonio Stradivari
. He rapidly acquired expertise, attracting the attention of the Maldon antique and musical instrument dealer C. W. Jeffreys, whose firm he joined in 1905 as repairer and violin-maker.
By 1909 Smith had made twenty violins and a quartet, his instruments already being notable for their excellent outline, arching and scrolls. Wishing to set up on his own in an environment with fewer established competitors, he migrated to Melbourne
, Australia
. In 1912-14 he worked with the Hungarian Carl Rothhammer at San Francisco, exhibited a quartet of violins at the World Trade Fair, then moved to Sydney
, where he briefly continued his partnership with Rothhammer.
In 1919 he established A. E. Smith & Co. Ltd, which was an importer and repairer as well as a manufacturer. Smith trained his craftsmen to produce violins, violas and cellos, enabling them to pursue the art privately if they wished. His workshop established the careers of many other leading Australian violin makers such as Charles Clarke, William Dolphin, Harry Vatiliotis and his own daughter, Kitty Smith. His expertise encouraged the development of local orchestras and violin teaching and helped to give foreign virtuoso violinists the confidence to accept Australian concert engagements and subject their precious instruments to the long sea-voyage. During World War II
when German strings were unavailable, Smith, under the trade name 'Paganini', further supported the Australian music world by designing and building machines to manufacture fine strings and fittings.
Smith created his own masterpieces at his Roseville workshop, producing between one and six violins a year and an occasional viola and cello. His total output between 1899 and 1970 was about 250 instruments, the details of each were carefully recorded in a series of notebooks. He used only traditional, well-matured woods—European maples for the ribs, scrolls and backs of his instruments and Swiss or Italian pine for the bellies—aiming, through the Italian method, for the structural perfection of Guarneri
and Stradivari models. He took a musical approach to the science of acoustics. His varnishes were produced to suit each individual instrument.
In 1938 his daughter Ruth married Ernest Llewellyn
, a violinist, violist and conductor, and later the founding director of the Canberra School of Music
. Smith's wedding present to Llewellyn was a new violin, which he used while concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
1949-64; it then passed to a later concermaster, Dene Olding
, who also used it in recordings of works such as the violin concertos of Ross Edwards
, Samuel Barber
, Frank Martin
and Darius Milhaud
.
In 1947, Isaac Stern
visited Australia for the first time. He attended a performance by the Queensland State String Quartet and was struck by the tonal qualities of the violin being played by the leader, Ernest Llewellyn, so he went backstage and met him, and learned about A. E. Smith for the first time. The next morning they played together after swapping instruments. They became lifelong friends.
Smith's reputation for an even sound and tonal quality reminiscent of the Cremonese masters attracted the interest not only of leading Australian players but of the world's great violinists, violists and cellists; in addition to Isaac Stern, those who acquired and used A. E. Smith violins included Yehudi Menuhin
(whose sister Hephzibah
had played the Beethoven sonatas with Ernest Llewellyn), Tossy Spivakovsky
, Ruggiero Ricci
, David Oistrakh
and Zlatko Baloković
.
In 1949, A. E. Smith was awarded diplomas of honour for both violin and viola at the International Exhibition of Violin Makers at The Hague
and next year was the first Australian to be elected to the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers. He suffered a series of strokes from the late 1950s onwards and the workmanship on his later instruments fell away. In 1971 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
(MBE) for his services to music.
For relaxation he played the viola with his family musicians. Smith died in Canberra
on 16 May 1978 aged 98, predeceased by his wife Kate, née Dènèrèaz, formerly Davidson. He was survived by a pianist son, Arthur Denereaz, and his daughters Kitty Smith and Ruth Llewellyn. Kitty succeeded her father as violin maker and manager of A. E. Smith & Co. until its closure in 1972. A grandson Roderick Smith is also a violin maker.
A quartet of A. E. Smith instruments is held by the National Museum of Australia
, Canberra, and a violin at the Powerhouse Museum
, Sydney. The cello of the quartet held by the National Museum of Australia can be heard played by cellist David Pereira
on an audio file.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
maker of world renown. His violins and violas are prized for their excellence of tone and decorative elements such as the sound holes, scrolls and curves. Among musicians, "it is his violas that have the greatest reputation, being easily counted amongst the greatest ever created, regardless of era or nationality."
Smith is believed to have been born in 1880 at Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He began his violin-making hobby in order to improve upon the inferior instrument he played in the Maldon
Maldon
-Placenames:* Maldon, Essex is a town on the Blackwater estuary in England** Maldon , a local government district based in Maldon, Essex** Maldon Town F.C., an English football club** Maldon *The Battle of Maldon...
Amateur Orchestral Society. This soon overtook engineering as his primary interest. Smith was self-taught, but guided by A. E. Hill's book on Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...
. He rapidly acquired expertise, attracting the attention of the Maldon antique and musical instrument dealer C. W. Jeffreys, whose firm he joined in 1905 as repairer and violin-maker.
By 1909 Smith had made twenty violins and a quartet, his instruments already being notable for their excellent outline, arching and scrolls. Wishing to set up on his own in an environment with fewer established competitors, he migrated to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In 1912-14 he worked with the Hungarian Carl Rothhammer at San Francisco, exhibited a quartet of violins at the World Trade Fair, then moved to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, where he briefly continued his partnership with Rothhammer.
In 1919 he established A. E. Smith & Co. Ltd, which was an importer and repairer as well as a manufacturer. Smith trained his craftsmen to produce violins, violas and cellos, enabling them to pursue the art privately if they wished. His workshop established the careers of many other leading Australian violin makers such as Charles Clarke, William Dolphin, Harry Vatiliotis and his own daughter, Kitty Smith. His expertise encouraged the development of local orchestras and violin teaching and helped to give foreign virtuoso violinists the confidence to accept Australian concert engagements and subject their precious instruments to the long sea-voyage. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when German strings were unavailable, Smith, under the trade name 'Paganini', further supported the Australian music world by designing and building machines to manufacture fine strings and fittings.
Smith created his own masterpieces at his Roseville workshop, producing between one and six violins a year and an occasional viola and cello. His total output between 1899 and 1970 was about 250 instruments, the details of each were carefully recorded in a series of notebooks. He used only traditional, well-matured woods—European maples for the ribs, scrolls and backs of his instruments and Swiss or Italian pine for the bellies—aiming, through the Italian method, for the structural perfection of Guarneri
Guarneri
The Guarneri is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati and Stradivari families...
and Stradivari models. He took a musical approach to the science of acoustics. His varnishes were produced to suit each individual instrument.
In 1938 his daughter Ruth married Ernest Llewellyn
Ernest Llewellyn
Ernest Victor Llewellyn CBE was an Australian violinist, concertmaster, violist, conductor and musical administrator. He was the founding director of the Canberra School of Music and he is commemorated in the concert venue there, Llewellyn Hall.-Early career:Ernest Llewellyn was born in Kurri...
, a violinist, violist and conductor, and later the founding director of the Canberra School of Music
ANU School of Music
The School of Music is a school within the Faculty of Arts of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of Music building - which contains Llewellyn Hall - and the Peter Karmel Building....
. Smith's wedding present to Llewellyn was a new violin, which he used while concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
1949-64; it then passed to a later concermaster, Dene Olding
Dene Olding
Dene Olding is an Australian violinist. He has had a distinguished career as a soloist in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, performing over forty concertos in recent years, including many world premieres...
, who also used it in recordings of works such as the violin concertos of Ross Edwards
Ross Edwards (composer)
Ross Edwards is an Australian composer of a wide variety of music including orchestral and chamber music, choral music, children's music, opera and film music. He is not to be confused with a British up and coming singer-songwriter of the same name.-Life:Ross Edwards was born in Sydney...
, Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
, Frank Martin
Frank Martin (composer)
Frank Martin was a Swiss composer, who lived a large part of his life in the Netherlands.-Childhood and youth:...
and Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
.
In 1947, Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
visited Australia for the first time. He attended a performance by the Queensland State String Quartet and was struck by the tonal qualities of the violin being played by the leader, Ernest Llewellyn, so he went backstage and met him, and learned about A. E. Smith for the first time. The next morning they played together after swapping instruments. They became lifelong friends.
Smith's reputation for an even sound and tonal quality reminiscent of the Cremonese masters attracted the interest not only of leading Australian players but of the world's great violinists, violists and cellists; in addition to Isaac Stern, those who acquired and used A. E. Smith violins included Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
(whose sister Hephzibah
Hephzibah Menuhin
Hephzibah Menuhin was an American-Australian pianist and human rights campaigner. She was sister to the violinist Lord Menuhin and to the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin...
had played the Beethoven sonatas with Ernest Llewellyn), Tossy Spivakovsky
Tossy Spivakovsky
Nathan "Tossy" Spivakovsky was a Jewish Russian-born, German-trained violinist, who taught in Australia and later settled in the United States.-Biography:...
, Ruggiero Ricci
Ruggiero Ricci
Ruggiero Ricci is an Italian-American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Paganini. He was born in San Bruno, California. Ricci's brother was cellist and his sister Emma played violin with the New York Metropolitan Opera.He is the son of Italian immigrants. His...
, David Oistrakh
David Oistrakh
David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
and Zlatko Baloković
Zlatko Balokovic
Zlatko Baloković was a Croatian violinist.-Early years:He was born in Zagreb, Croatia , and began violin lessons at age ten. He made such progress that, after three years, he was sent to Prague to continue his studies at the "Meisterschule" under the guidance of Otakar Ševčík...
.
In 1949, A. E. Smith was awarded diplomas of honour for both violin and viola at the International Exhibition of Violin Makers at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and next year was the first Australian to be elected to the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers. He suffered a series of strokes from the late 1950s onwards and the workmanship on his later instruments fell away. In 1971 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(MBE) for his services to music.
For relaxation he played the viola with his family musicians. Smith died in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
on 16 May 1978 aged 98, predeceased by his wife Kate, née Dènèrèaz, formerly Davidson. He was survived by a pianist son, Arthur Denereaz, and his daughters Kitty Smith and Ruth Llewellyn. Kitty succeeded her father as violin maker and manager of A. E. Smith & Co. until its closure in 1972. A grandson Roderick Smith is also a violin maker.
A quartet of A. E. Smith instruments is held by the National Museum of Australia
National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia was formally established by the National Museum of Australia Act 1980. The National Museum preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation....
, Canberra, and a violin at the Powerhouse Museum
Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, the other being the historic Sydney Observatory...
, Sydney. The cello of the quartet held by the National Museum of Australia can be heard played by cellist David Pereira
David Pereira
right|250pxDavid Pereira is an Australian classical cellist, considered one of the finest working today. He was Senior Lecturer in Cello at the Canberra School of Music from 1990-2008....
on an audio file.