Available for the first time in English, this book has been considered the best single encyclopedia of the violin for 20 years. All aspects of the violin are covered: construction, history, and literature; violin playing and teaching; and violin virtuosos through the ages. Since 1972, this encyclopedic volume on the construction, history, and lore of the violin has been an important resource. Pauly (music, emeritus, Lewis and Clark Coll.) has now translated and edited the most recent (1993) edition, bringing it further up to date by referencing material as recent as 1996. Kolneder, the late Austrian conductor and musicologist, divided his massive tome into three parts. The first, which deals with the physical instrument itself, contains detailed information on such diverse topics as bow-making, varnish, worm and crack damage, and string acoustics. This part, by necessity somewhat dry and pedantic, is followed by a remarkably inclusive history of the violin most impressive in its detailed examination of the various regional and national schools of violin-making throughout the world. The third part, titled "Performance, Pedagogy, and Composition," may be the most ambitious in scope; the section on virtuosi alone is worth the price. Pauly's updating is welcome, though one might have wished for more than just a brief mention of such outstanding ensembles as the Kronos and Arditti quartets. Essential.?Larry A. Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, PA Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. ... traces the construction, history and repertoire of the violin with Teutonic thoroughness ... liable to become a standard reference work. -- San Francisco Examiner, 1/1999 A good companion should entertain, inform, even beguile; Kolneder's book ... actually turns out to be [a companion]. -- Fanfare, May/June 1999 Its greatest strength is its thorough history of the schools of violin playing and teaching ... -- American Record Guide, March/April 1999 This book will continue to serve as a useful reference tool well into the next millenium. -- The Strad, July 1999 For the general music-lover as well as for violinists, this extraordinary encyclopedic resource is considered the standard work on the violin. It deals with every aspect of the instrument in fashion: its construction and evolution, history, literature; violin playing, pedagogical philosophy; and violin virtuosos through the ages. This edition is the first English-language translation of Walter Kolneder's Das Buch der Violine, which was first published in 1972, and includes information on recent developments not available to the author. First published in 1972, Walter Kolneder's Das Buch der Violine quickly established itself as the standard work on the violin, dealing with every aspect of the instrument in truly encyclopedic fashion. This first English-language translation, by eminent scholar and educator Reinhard G. Pauly, is based on the fifth German edition, published in 1993. Ours is more than a translation, however. Dr. Pauly also took the opportunity to revise the text, for American and English readers particularly, and has included information on recent developments not available to the author. The book begins with an examination of the violin's construction and history. Part One offers fascinating detail on woods, glues, varnishes, shapes and dimensions, and bows and strings; Part Two traces the evolution of the instrument's form, from the violin's pre-history through the five centuries, roughly, that have elapsed since it took its present shape. Part Three is a chronological survey of the violin's musical aspects, treating performance techniques, pedagogical philosophy, and literature for the violin. Kolneder examines the various national schools for their distinguishing characteristics and shows the influence of composers (Bach and Beethoven, among others), virtuosos (Paganini, Kreisler), and teachers (including Tartini and Geminiani) upon the development of the modern violin and its music. Together the three parts form the best single volume on the violin and its music, an extraordinary encyclopedic resource for the general music-lover as well as for violinists. Walter Kolneder (1910-1994) was a distinguished Austrian string player, conductor, musicologist and pedagogue. In addition to the present work, he wrote ten books on musical subjects from Vivaldi to Webern. Reinhard G. Pauly, translator and editor of the Amadeus Book of the Violin , is professor emeritus at Lewis and Clark College, where he was director of the School of Music.