"The Apollo": Violin from Rushworth & Dreaper, Liverpool

In 2002, the Liverpool organ-making company Rushworth & Dreaper closed its doors after a 134-year history. A family-run business until the end, the company had a rich tradition and had established a good name for itself in the music world; its bankruptcy was unsettling to musicians throughout Great Britain and well beyond. Rushworth & Dreaper concentrated its efforts on making harmoniums, church and concert organs. It sold other instruments from other sources as well – first pianos, rapidly followed by violins, violas und cellos – but kept its focus on the organs made in-house. Its emphasis on its own instruments was so pronounced that the stringed instruments it imported from Germany (and, to a lesser extent, from France) were even named after the different kinds of Rushworth & Dreaper organs. This “Apollo” violin ranks amongst the series of instruments that received their name from the very successful, large and acoustically commanding model of harmoniums the company built. The violin bears the original Apollo label which also states “Style 9” and is numbered 1924. The unmistakably German instrument with its distinctive colors probably hails from Markneukirchen; its extremely transparent and highly glossy varnish in a warm orangebrown lets the beauty of the deeply flamed back shine through. This “Apollo” creates the best possible conditions for self-confident solo performance with its mature sound which is very strong, full of character, clear and brilliant, rich in overtones and resonant.