Giovanni Battista Guadagnini

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini
Background information
Also known as	G. B. Guadagnini Giambattista Guadagnini
Born	(1711-06-23)June 23, 1711 Bilegno in Val Tidone, Italy
Died	September 18, 1786(1786-09-18) (aged 75) Turin, Italy
Occupations	Luthier, pedagogue
Years active	1729–1786

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (or G. B. Guadagnini; Giambattista Guadagnini); (June 23, 1711 – September 18, 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history.^[1]

Biography

Guadagnini was born in Bilegno in Val Tidone near Piacenza, now in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He practiced his craft from about 1729 until his death, and his work is divided into four main periods corresponding to and named after, Piacenza, Milan, Parma and Turin, the four cities in Italy where he lived and worked. The instruments of the latter period, Turin, are generally considered to be his best work, and tend toward higher valuations.

Guadagnini's father, Lorenzo, his son, Giuseppe, and some other members of the Guadagnini family continued in the line of violin making through several generations.

He died in Turin in 1786.

Performers who have used or are using Guadagnini instruments

Violinists

Violists

• Li-Kuo Chang plays the 'ex-Vieuxtemps' G.B. Guadagnini viola, Parma c.1768 ^{[5] [6]}
• Geraldine Walther plays a G.B. Guadagnini viola, Turin 1774 ^[7]

Cellists

• Natalie Clein plays the "Simpson" Guadagnini cello (1777) ^[8]
• David Geringas plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello made in 1761 ^[9]
• Maxine Neuman plays a 1772 Guadagnini ^[10]
• Han-na Chang plays the G.B. Guadagnini cello made in Milan in 1757
• Gilberto Munguia plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello (1748)
• Sol Gabetta plays a G.B. Guadagnini cello (1759)

Bibliography

This article is part of a series on the
Fiddle and Violin
Basic physics
Fiddlers
History of the violin
Luthiers
Musical styles
Violin making and maintenance
Violin technique
Violin construction
Violin family
Violinists
v t e

• Guadagnini
• G B Guadagnini
• E.N. Doring: The Guadagnini Family of Violin Makers (Chicago,1949)
• A.H. König, ed.: Die Geigenbauer der Guadagnini-Familie. Die Turiner Schule (Frankfurt, 1981)
• G. Fiori: ‘Documenti biografici di artisti e personaggi piacentini dal ’600 all’ ’800 nell’Archivo Vescovile di Piacenza’, Strenna piacentina (1994), 67–111
• P.J. Kass: Violin Makers of the Piedmontese School
• Vannes, Rene (1985) [1951]. Dictionnaire Universel del Luthiers (vol.3). Bruxelles: Les Amis de la musique. OCLC 53749830. 
• William, Henley (1969). Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers. Brighton; England: Amati. ISBN 0-901424-00-5. 
• Walter Hamma, Meister Italienischer Geigenbaukunst, Wilhelmshaven 1993, ISBN 3-7959-0537-0
• Duane Rosengard: G.B. Guadagnini - The life and achievement of a master maker, Carteggio Media, 2000

References

External links

• Images of the ex-Joachim G.B. Guadagnini Turin 1775