German violin made by F. C. Louis, Saarbrücken

This truly lovely violin is an acoustically distinctive instrument that was made between the 1930s and 1940s at the renowned workshop F. C. Louis in Saarbrücken. It was crafted one generation after the death of the workshop’s founder, Franz Conrad Louis, who began working for himself in his home region of Saarland, Germany, in 1895 after completing his training in Markneukirchen. Within a very short time, he earned himself a solid reputation because of the excellent instruments he created based on his individual designs. Drawing upon this good standing, he also opened a music shop that became a leading address not only within Saarbrücken but beyond it as well. The shop’s successes lasted well into the wild 1960s and 70s. The F. C. Louis violin presented here represents the high quality which defined the F. C. Louis brand for almost a century, transcending several musical genres. Its appealing aesthetic is shaped by the unusually beautiful maple used for the one-piece back, wood taken from outer slabs of the trunk and chosen by someone with significant experience, resulting in a piece with strikingly fluid flames that are set in their best light. Hardly any traces of use are visible on the orange-brown varnish which harmonizes so magnificently with the grain of this top-tier wood, and the extremely even moderately-grained spruce selected for the top is a worthy counterpart. The expressive scroll is the crowning touch to this violin’s appearance: at a glance it makes clear that the instrument was made in keeping with the finest artisanal traditions. Our luthiers have painstakingly set up the F. C. Louis violin and made it ready to play, repairing a minor repair at the rib which had no impact whatsoever on the sound and has been properly secured. With its splendid response, this violin will delight knowledgeable musicians with its precision and its mature, warm, lyrical sound that is bolstered by great volume, perfectly articulating its balanced clarity and strength throughout its entire range.

 

 

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