John Dilworth
STAINER, Jacob Born circa. 1617, died 1683 Absam, Innsbruck Austria The greatest Germanic maker and one of the most influential luthiers of all. For much of the eighteenth century his reputation outstripped the Cremonese throughout Europe and his designs were copied wholesale. The entire Tyrolean German school of violin making and the core activity in the towns of Mittenwald, Markneukirchen, Klingenthal, and Schönbach (now Luby) was based on replicating his work. The Stainer model also became dominant throughout Italy, France, the Netherlands, and England in the eighteenth century and was the pattern for makers like Tecchler, Serafin, Pietro Guarneri, Rombouts, and Wamsley. Only in the mid nineteenth century did Stradivari’s innovative work have an appreciable effect on this tradition. The origins of Stainer’s career remain mysterious. The son of a salt-miner, he was apprenticed between 1630 and 1644 to Daniel Hertz, an organ builder in Innsbruck, and to a joiner, Hans Grafinger, in his village of Absam. Most sources accept as fact that he travelled widely in this early period, from Salzburg to Venice and Rome, but there is no hard evidence to support this. Nor is there any documentary support for the notion that he worked for Nicolò Amati in Cremona. However one violin of c.1645 is recorded with an authentic-looking manuscript label attached to the top block stating ‘Jacob Stainer/ fecit Cremona 16..’. Stainer does not appear in the lists of Amati’s apprentices in Cremona. In 1644 Stainer made and presented an instrument to the Salzburg court orchestra, the first recorded commission of many that followed to courts all over the region. By 1656 he had bought a house in Absam which is still preserved and commemorated with a plaque stating: ‘In diesem House lebte einer Kunst Jakob Stainer Der Vater der deutschen Geige Geboren zu Absam 14 Juli 1621 hier Verstorben 1683’. An appointment as luthier to Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria, followed in 1658. The archduke died in 1662 but in 1669 Stainer was made an ‘Imperial Servant’ to Leopold I. In this same year he was arrested as a suspected Lutheran and from that date on he seems to have deteriorated mentally under pressure from the established Catholic Church. Stainer was by any standards an exceptional man. He was the only maker to stand on equal terms with the Cremonese in terms of attention to detail and finish and to apply the very highest levels of craftsmanship to a sophisticated design. His work does incorporate several vital features of the Cremonese school, using morticed linings, separate internal top block with the neck fixed by a nail, and even a system of internal register points not dissimilar to the single central puncture mark observable in the backs of Amati instruments. Instruments typically have a medium full arch, with a deep recurve at the perimeter (not unlike Nicolò Amati’s work) but a slightly squarer cross-section and a more sudden transition from the convex shape across the centre of the arch to the concavity of the edges. The soundholes are also Amatisé, but with emphasised wings, generally curling further round into the circular finials, and prominent curved nicks in the centre of the arm. The scrolls are well finished and finely balanced, but the first turn of the volute is wider and the last continues further around the eye than in the Cremonese tradition. The pegbox has a pronounced swan-necked curve and deeply drawn throat and is broad across the chin. Several instruments dating from after 1665 have very beautiful and stylised lion heads replacing the scroll itself. His varnish is very similar to the early Cremonese: pale golden-amber tints that are soft clear and tender. Other mannerisms include the use of maple purfling, a vellum strip covering the centre joint of the back, and a characteristic graduation of the plates: both front and back following a similar plan. Violins are in two similar models, one slightly reduced in width, although smaller ‘ ’ or child’s sizes are known. Fronts invariably of fine alpine spruce, frequently with cross-grain ‘hazel-figure’. Lion heads of pearwood, backs of maple (quarter and slab-sawn), and sometimes the jointed backs have one side reversed in the same manner as Amatis to show the flame running in one direction across the seam. Stainer appears to have been the first violin maker to make substantial use of ‘bird’s eye’ maple, a timber that may have been imported from North America in this period. The distinctive spotted figure is seen as a characteristic of Stainer’s and was taken up by many of his imitators. (It is not found in classical Cremonese work.) Some violas and very few cellos, but several fine viols extant. In letters from a commission of 1678 Stainer states that his viol is in the form of the ‘Englishman’s viol’; almost certainly a reference to William Young, the violist to the Archduke Ferdinand who died in Innsbruck in 1662. It is assumed that Stainer took his pattern from an English instrument, although no surviving Stainer viol appears to follow any such form. Labels prior to 1650 are not sufficiently authenticated, but it is plausible that they were in manuscript (see the ‘Cremona’ label cited above). From c.1650 the labels were printed in Cremonese style and form rather than in the gothic typeface used by other German and Austrian makers. The first three date digits are pre-printed. After c.1667 he reverted to manuscript labels, with ‘m-pia’ added: an abbreviation of the Latin ‘manu-propria’ (‘made by my own hand’) commonly used by artists and craftsmen. Jacobus Stainer in Absom / propè Oenipontum fecit 165.. Iacobus Stainer in Absam / propè Oenipontum fecit 165.. From c.1665: Jacobus Stainer in Absam / prope OEnipontum 1666 Manuscript labels from c.1667: Jacobus Stainer in Absom / propè Oenipontum m-pia 1669
Cecie Stainer
Son of Martin Stainer and Sabina Grafinger: b July 14, 1621, at Absam near Hall in the Tyrol: d. there, 1683. Little is known of the first part of his life but there seems to be absolutely no evidence in support of the statement that he went to Cremona to become a pupil of Nicola Amati, married the daughter of the latter, and afterwards passed some time in Venice. A violin with the inscription. ” Jacobus Stiner cremonia fecite 1642,” which was in the Monastery of Stams, is generally thought not to be genuine Stainer work. He would no doubt have studied the Italian instruments used by the Italian musicians, who assembled at Innsbruck at the Court of the Archduke Ferdinand Carl, Count of the Tyrol, and this would account for his earlier work showing traces of Italian influence; the thicknesses of the wood and the disposition of the blocks and linings being similar to Cremonese work. The old German viol-makers, as is known, used no linings at all, and did their dimensions and thicknesses by guesswork. Stainer’s instruments soon showed those distinctive characteristics known as ” Tyrolese ” ; he was practically the founder of the Tyrolese or German school of violin making; the large number and great excellence of his instruments, all made on the same high model, and the reputation he gained in his lifetime, causing his work to be copied in Germany, England, and even in Italy. And it was a long time before makers realised that this high model was in any way defective. An old tradition says that instruments dated as early as 1639 are known ; if so, they are extremely rare. In 1641 he was already selling his violins at the large market-fairs of Hall. On Nov. 26, 1645, he married Margarethe Holzhammer (b. March 10, 1624; d. 1693), in Absam, the witnesses being Michael Pamperger and Hans Grafinger, the latter a relation of his. He had nine children, eight daughters, and a son who died in infancy. In 1648 he travelled in Austria, and remained for some time working in Kirchdorf, living in the house of Saloman Hübmer, a Jew. He unfortunately left in debt for a small amount; but though, in 1667, when called upon, he paid part of it, the debt seemed to grow rather than diminish for in 1669 it had reached the sum of 24 gulden, and in 1677 he made a vain appeal to the Emperor for its remittance. In spite of this he had bought (Nov. 12, 1666) a house and garden from his brother-in law, Paul Holzhammer so at that time his affairs were going on well. Though later there is no doubt that money worries helped to throw him into the state of profound melancholy from which he suffered for four years before his death, and which ended in his losing his reason entirely in 1681. The Archduke Ferdinand Carl had sent for him to Innsbruck, and, Oct. 29, 1658, appointed him violin maker to the Court. Jan. 9, 1669, he was appointed violin maker to the Emperor Leopold I. ; the same year he was imprisoned on suspicion of being implicated in the Lutheran movement, but was released in 1670. He made an enormous number of stringed instruments of all sorts; for his violins he used a particular kind of wood from a tree called the ” Haselfichte,” of which there were large quantities at Gleirsch ; he used to wander from tree to tree tapping with a hammer until he found one which pleased him, and was suitable for his purpose. His instruments are small; the belly rises abruptly from the edges to the foot of the bridge, and then keeps nearly flat; the breadth of this flattened part is about the same as that of the bridge , this high arching necessarily renders the tone thin, in spite of the fact that the wood is left very thick. The sound-holes are shorter and narrower than in Italian instruments, the upper and lower turns are completely circular ; the purfling is also narrower and placed nearer the edge, the scroll is smaller and is particularly round and smooth, it is sometimes replaced by a lion’s head, beautifully carved; the sides and back are made of very finely figured maple ; the outline is extremely elegant, although the body is rather shorter and broader than in Italian work ; the work is always beautifully finished ; the varnish, of rich quality, varies in colour from a red mahogany, embrowned by time, to a golden red equal to that of Cremona work ; the tone is not powerful, but has a sweet flute-like sound, it is not generally considered suitable for a concert-room, but a violin, played by Sivori, is said to have had a charmingly sympathetic and unusually brilliant tone. His violins were made in three different sizes, large, medium, and small and are his best work ; his tenors are not so good, although one is mentioned as being perfection both in work and in charm of tone. His double-basses are of great rarity, one was in the Collection of Prince Moriz Lobkowitz at Castle Eisenberg, Bohemia. A viola di bordone, dated 1660, is in the Collection of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde at Vienna, and in the Paris Conservatoire Collection is a small pocket violin, inlaid with silver, with a finely carved head of a faun. There is record of his having sold a viola bastarda, in 1643, to the Archbishop of Salzburg, and of his being again in Salzburg in 1670, when he sold some violins there. A viola da gamba was dated 1667. In 1677 he made two splendid violins for the St. Georgenberg Monastery, but they were unluckily destroyed when the Monastery was burnt down on June 21, 1868. The tradition of his having retired to finish his days in a Benedictine Monastery after his wife’s death, and having made there sixteen exquisite violins, of which he presented twelve to the twelve Electors and four to the Emperor, is quite untrue. In the Hall Cathedral a violin is preserved with the label ” Jacobus Stainer oenipontum fecit in Absam, 1653,” which was made for the ” Damenstift ‘ in Hall, which was suppressed in 1783.A violin that belonged to Mozart was dated 1656. Stainer had many pupils and imitators, among them Mathias Albani of Botzen, Egidius and Mathias Klotz; these makers if they had turned out a better violin than usual, would use a Stainer label for it. The date of Stainer’s death not being generally known, imitations are often post-dated. One is known dated 1684 and one 1729. Though at first Stainer’s written labels were carefully imitated, later on printed labels were used with the date 16— or 166—, so that figures could be added in writing. These printed labels may always be taken as a sure sign of copies or imitations; labels are rarely found in genuine Stainer instruments, but when there, they are always written, not printed: “Jacobus Stainer in Absom prope Oenipontum, fecit 1647 ” Really genuine instruments, whether violins or violas, though at one time much depreciated, are now steadily increasing in value, a fine viola having realised over £100. His brother Paul was not a violin maker.
George Hart
The celebrity of this maker is second only to that of the great Cremonese artists. His admirers in Germany and England were, at one time, more numerous than those of the principal Italian makers. In a manuscript note which Sir John Hawkins added to his own copy of his History of Music (1776), he says ” The Violins of Cremona are exceeded only by those of Stainer, a German, whose instruments are remarkable for a full and piercing tone.” To the connoisseur of today such commendation may seem inexplicable, and cause him to believe that Fiddle admirers of past times were incapable of appreciating true beauty of form, and its bearing upon sound, or else that fashion made its influence felt on the Fiddle world as elsewhere. It would be absurd to deny that the greatest German maker of Violins that ever lived was a man of rare abilities, because it is indelibly written on his chief works that he was a thorough artist. Therefore an expression of surprise that Jacob Stainer has been estimated higher than even Stradivari by the Germans and English, must not be understood as a reflection on his abilities, since it refers to the form that he chose to give to his works. To account for the apparent inconsistency in the works of Stainer, and to strike the balance between his exceptional abilities on the one side and his model on the other, is not easy. His form was not a borrowed one ; it is as original as that of Stradivari—a fact which makes it more than ever unintelligible that he should have been content with it. To arrive at anything approaching to a satisfactory solution, we must endeavour to trace the history of this model. Jacob Stainer was born in the Tyrol, and passed there his early years, and probably received his first instructions from one of the old Tyrolean Lute and Violmakers, at a period when they raised their model, and introduced into the German school the scooping round the sides of the backs and bellies, the inelegant sound-hole, the harsh outline, and uncouth scroll. As experience ripened his understanding, he may have felt that these characteristics of the German school were not such as could be moulded with advantage by an artist, whatever his talent might be, and resolved to do his best to unlearn much that he had acquired. In order to do so with any chance of success, but one course was open to him—that of studying the works of the Italian masters. It has been stated that he went to Italy when very young. With this view I do not concur. In all cases where there is an absence of direct evidence, opinions can only be formed from particular analogies bearing on the case under consideration. Now in the case of Stainer we have nothing to guide us but his variations of style, and dates of time and place. What is the result of a careful investigation of every particle of evidence that we can glean ? The style is ever German, although the great maker is head and shoulders above all his countrymen who followed his art. I am thus forced to believe that had so excellent an artist visited Italy in his youth, as reported, there would have remained but the faintest trace of its origin. That men of less ability should be unable to entirely sever themselves from their national style of work, even under the most favourable circumstances for such a release, I can readily understand ; it is an incapacity which has been exemplified over and over again; but Jacob Stainer was not one of these ordinary men ; he had not his superior in the school of Cremona as a finished workman, with the single exception of Antonio Stradivari. I believe, therefore, that the German style was deeply rooted within him when he ceased to be young, and that if he went to Cremona or Venice it was not until he recognised the inferiority of the school in which he had been bred, as compared with that of Cremona or Venice. That he did not go far enough in his “second thought,” is pretty well acknowledged on all sides. His originality was conceived in the German school, amid the worst examples, and it was too late to undo what had gone before. Here, then, lies, I consider, the key to the seeming anomaly that so great a maker as Stainer should have adopted and clung to so clumsy a model. That he became acquainted with much of the best work of the Italians is evidenced by his improved style. The varnish he used furnishes even stronger evidence of his having possessed a knowledge of the subject equal to that of the Cremonese makers. Whether he acquired this knowledge in Cremona or Venice, cannot be stated with certainty, but I am inclined to believe that he gained it in the first-named city. Who but an artist acquainted with the best work of Italy in Violin-making could have made those exquisite Violins known as “Elector Stainers ?” The wood selected for its rare loveliness, the finished workmanship, and charming rose-coloured varnish, render these works of art, of which one glimpse is a never-fading memory. These works show the diligent zeal with which Stainer laboured in his studies of the Italian masters. He contrived to give these instruments an air of grace quite foreign to the best efforts of his brother German makers. In the sound-hole and scroll is observable his seeming desire to leave behind the German preferences ; and although it must be admitted that he was but partially successful in his endeavours to stamp out early tendencies, the connoisseur cannot but be impressed with the fertile resources of the artist’s manipulations. Had such skill been exercised on a form nearer akin to the Italian, the result would have been perfect. Prior to the publication of the interesting facts obtained by Herr S. Ruf, relative to the personal history of Jacob Stainer, we had no really reliable account of this famous maker.* The industry and research of Herr Ruf, has not only supplied all the ascertainable facts with regard to Stainer, but also served to trace the history of Stainer fiction. The last-mentioned portion of Herr Rufs labours is singularly instructive as to the manner in which romance is spliced on to what is intended to be sober history, and which results oftentimes in the graft being rendered invisible, or even unsuspected. He tells us that the first mention of Jacob Stainer is that made by Johann Primisser about a century after the death of the Violinmaker, and that he merely states that there lived in Absam in 1673 a celebrated maker named Stainer. Early in the present century Counsellor Von Sardagna collected certain particulars concerning Stainer, which were published in 1822. He states that Stainer lived at Absam, that it is traditionally reported that he went to Venice or Cremona, and died a madman. It appears that this slight material was at once utilised for the manufacture of nearly all the romantic accounts of Stainer with which we are familiar. Herr Ruf says that in the year 1825 there appeared in a German literary publication a poetical effusion entitled ” Jacob Stainer,” and that in 1829 Dr. Johann Schuler published a novel of great merit on the same subject. Herr Ruf states that August Lewald in 1835 made the novel of Dr. Schuler the basis of the romantic account of Stainer, published in his ” Guide Book to Tyrol,” under the title of “An Evening in Absam,” but without any acknowledgment whatever. Notwithstanding the growth of Stainer literature down to 1835 not a single historical fact concerning the maker had been brought to light. In the year 1839 Herr Ruf began his labours of research. He discovered at Hall a register of the parish of Absam, wherein he found all the information we possess as regards the birth and death of Stainer and his family. About this period the poem of Dr. Johann Schuler, “Jacob Stainer,” was dramatised by Theodore Rabenalt. Other poems based on the same material appeared in 1843, but still the facts of Stainer’s life were all but unknown. At length Herr Ruf was prevailed upon by Dr. Schafhaiilt (an ardent admirer and collector of Stainer’s Violins) to prosecute his enquiries concerning the great maker. In the archives of the town and salt mines at Hall, Her Ruf found much information, which he published in the local newspapers, the ephemeral nature of which naturally placed his valuable contributions beyond the reach of those likely to value them. In the meantime Nicolaus Diehl, of Hamburg, published a little book on Violins, into which was imported a portion of the romance traceable to the novels or poems on Stainer. Herr Ruf, feeling disappointed that his labours in discovering the facts relative to Stainer had failed to clear away the cloud of Stainer fiction, published his book, ” Der Geigenmacher Jacob Stainer von Absam in Tirol, 1872,” which gives us a full account of his researches, and should have secured to him. the full credit due to his industry. His facts, however, like the good fiction found in Dr. Schuler’s novel, “Jacob Stainer,” have been used by German writers on the subject of the Violin without any acknowledgment. Herr Ruf died at Hall in the year 1877. It is said that Stainer was apprenticed to an organ-builder at Innsbruck, but owing to his weak constitution he was unable to continue in the business, and chose instead the trade of Violin-making. Amongst the rumours concerning this maker may be mentioned that of his having been a pupil of Niccolo Amati. It is certain there is no direct evidence in support of it, neither is it shown that his work is founded on that of Amati. I am satisfied that Stainer was assisted by neither the Brothers Amati nor Niccolo Amati, and I am strengthened in this opinion by the steadfastly German character of a model which no pupil of Amati could have persisted in using, even though based on his earliest traditions. The marriage of Stainer took place October 7th, 1645. On the 7th of October, 1658, he was appointed by the Archduke Leopold (of Austria, Governor of Tyrol) one of the “archducal servants,” and on the 9th of January, 1669, he obtained from the Emperor the title of “Violin-maker to the Court.” About this period he is said to have incurred the displeasure of the Jesuits, which led to his being accused of the crime of heresy. The accusation seems to have been based on the fact of books of a controversial kind—chiefly Lutheran— having been found in his possession. The penalty he suffered for daring to indulge in polemical literature was six months’ imprisonment, and his future prospects were completely shattered. Prior to this misfortune he appears to have been in pecuniary difficulties, and frequently at law with one Salomon Huebmer, of Kirzchdorf, from whom he had obtained money loans. In the year 1677 he petitioned the Emperor Leopold—who was a great patron and lover of music—to render him pecuniary assistance, but failed to procure it. Over-burdened with troubles, he was bereft of his reason, and died insane and insolvent in the year 1683. “Alas ! misfortunes travel in a train, And oft in life form one perpetual chain.” His widow was left with a family of eight daughters, she dying in poverty in 1689, which chronological fact disposes of the fiction so widely circulated that in consequence of the great grief he experienced upon the death of his wife he withdrew from the world, and became an inmate of a Benedictine monastery, and that he made within its walls the famous instruments known as Elector Stainers, which he presented to the twelve Electors. Whether he made them to order in the usual manner, whether he presented them, or where he made them, matters little ; they are works of great merit, and need no mysterious surroundings to call attention to them. The followers of Stainer have been numerous, and are mentioned in the lists of German and English makers. Probably no maker is more mistaken than Stainer : the array of German instruments called by his name is at least ten times greater than the number he actually made. Nearly every high-built tub of a Violin sails under his colours. Instruments without any resemblance whatever to those of Stainer are accepted by the multitude as original Jacob Stainers. Much of this has arisen from the variety of style and work said to have been shown in the instruments of this maker. That this marked variety exists I do not believe. The pattern varies, but the same hand is traceable throughout.
Willibald Leo Lütgendorff
Sohn des Martin Stainer und der Sabina geb. Grafinger. Der grösste Meister der deutschen Schule und ein Künstler, der, wenn er auch andere Wege einschlug, nur in Amati und Stradivari seines Gleichen findet. Es ist unbekannt, wessen Schüler er war; die Sage, dass er bei Amati in Cremona gelernt habe, ist durch nichts bewiesen. Auch die Annahme, dass er bei dem berühmten Orgelbauer Daniel Herz in dem seinem Geburtsorte nahen Wilten zuerst in der Lehre gewesen sei, hat nicht viel Wahrscheinlichkeit für sich, aber es wäre immerhin möglich; Daniel Herz war ein kunstreicher Mann, der gewiss ausser Orgeln auch Lauten und Geigen machen konnte. Er stand bei dem Landesfürsten Erzherzog Ferdinand Karl in hohem Ansehen, und die besten Musiker verkehrten bei ihm. Hier hatte Stainer also wohl den Grund zu seiner nachmaligen Künstlerschaft legen können. Wahrscheinlicher ist es, dass er bei irgend einem Absamer Bauern, der, wie viele Andere in Tyrol, im Winter sich mit der Bildschnitzerei und dem Geigenmachen beschäftigte, die erste Anleitung erhielt. In seiner frühesten Jugend wird er auch eine Zeit lang als Hirtenknabe gedient haben, und seine ersten Versuche, sich eine Fidel zu schnitzen, mag er damals unter Gottes freiem Himmel gemacht haben. Gleichwohl dürfte er keine ganz schlechte Schulbildung genossen haben; er war auch ein vorzüglicher Geiger und soll sogar als Mechaniker durch merkwürdige Kenntnisse berühmt gewesen sein. Es wird stets erzählt, dass er schon 1639 seine ersten Geigen auf den Markt in Hall gebracht habe, was durchaus glaubwürdig ist. Im Jahre 1643 kam er nach Salzburg, musste dort, wie das Zahlmeister- Kassajournal ausweist, »etliche Geigen bei der hochfürstl. Instrumentenstube« ausbessern und verkaufte eine schöne Viola. Weiter weiss man von ihm, dass er mit der blutarmen Kleinbürgerstochter Margarethe Holzhammer (geb. 1624, † 1693) ein Liebesverhältniss hatte, das nicht ohne Folgen blieb. Sobald er aber grossjährig geworden war, heirathete er sie am 26. Nov. 1645. Im darauffolgenden Jahre finden wir ihn in Venedig, wo er sich aufhielt, um Materialien einzukaufen, und im gleichen Jahre überreichte er seinem Fürsten eine Bittschrift mit dem Anerbieten, die Instrumente für die Hofcapelle machen zu wollen, wobei er sich grossherzig erbot, damit eine Schuld von 412 fl. seines Schwiegervaters Georg Holzhammer, »gewesten Bergmeisters bei dem Salzberg«, an das Pfannhausamt abtragen zu wollen. Der Erzherzog Ferdinand Karl willfahrte dieser Bitte. Auf den Haller Märkten kam er mit allerlei Handelsleuten zusammen; dort mag er auch den jüdischen Händler Salomon Huebmer aus Kirchdorf in Oberösterreich kennen gelernt haben, der ihn überredete, mit ihm nach Kirchdorf zu kommen. Huebmer wird ihm wohl goldene Berge versprochen haben, denn es ist nicht einzusehen, was einen Geigenmacher gerade nach diesem Orte hatte locken können. Stainer blieb bis zum Frühjahr 1648 in Kirchdorf und wohnte bei Salomon Huebmer. Er musste gewiss sehr fleissig arbeiten, den Verdienst aber wird wohl der Händler eingesteckt haben, denn als Stainer wieder abreisen wollte, stellte sich bei der Abrechnung heraus, dass er nicht nur gar nichts erhielt, sondern noch 24 Gulden für Miethe aufgerechnet bekam, die er schuldig bleiben musste. Als er wieder nach Hause kam, musste er sofort seiner Verpflichtung, die Instrumente der Hofcapelle in Stand zu halten, nachkommen, und damals hat er wohl den Erzherzog Ferdinand Karl mit seiner Frau Anna Grossherzogin von Toskana zuerst persönlich kennen gelernt. Der Erzherzog, dem Stainer’s seelenvolles Geigenspiel ungemein gefallen hatte, liess ihn mehrfach nach Innsbruck kommen, was viel heissen will, denn am erzherzoglichen Hofe standen fortwährend italienische Virtuosen im Sold, aber auch bei diesen erfreute sich Stainer grosser Werthschätzung; trotzdem währte es noch zehn Jahre, bis ihm der Landesfürst am 29. October 1658 den Titel eines Hofmusikers und erzfürstlichen Dieners verlieh, womit das Recht verbunden war, mit »ehrsamer und fürnehmer Herr« angeredet zu werden. Leider starb Ferdinand Karl schon 1662, und sein Bruder löste die italienische Hofcapelle auf, starb aber auch schon am 24. Juni 1665. Tyrol kam nun an Kaiser Leopold, und an diesen richtete Stainer 1668 ein Gesuch um Bestätigung seines Titels. Der Vicekanzler Dr. Paul Hocher befürwortete dieses Gesuch wärmstens, und der Kaiser entsprach ihm auch laut Diplom vom 9. Januar 1669. Stainer hatte damals seine künstlerische Höhe erreicht und war bereits zu Ruf und Ansehen gekommen. Er war vielbeschäftigt, seine Violinen wurden ihm schon mit 40 fl. bezahlt, und Alles wies darauf hin, dass er zu Wohlstand kommen werde. Schon am 12. November 1666 hatte er von seinem Schwager Paul Holzhammer das Haus W. 39 in Absam gekauft, das, von hohen Linden umgeben, dem Kripp’schen Herrensitze gegenüber liegt. Und doch hatte er damals schon mit allerlei Schwierigkeiten zu kämpfen. 1667 erhielt er plötzlich vom Landgericht in Thaur eine Vorladung, und es wurde ihm mitgetheilt, dass der Jude Huebmer seine alte Forderung für die Mietheschuld eingeklagt hatte. Stainer hat die Berechtigung dieser Forderung wohl nie wirklich anerkannt, aber er zahlte zunächst 15 fl. und erklärte sich bereit, den Rest von 9 fl gelegentlich des nächsten Haller Marktes zu bezahlen. Er unterliess dies jedoch, und so wurde er 1669 gerichtlich gemahnt, und zwar, was ein eigenthümliches Licht auf die Person des Gläubigers wirft, nochmals um die ganze Summe, ohne Anrechnung der bereits geleisteten Zahlung. Als Stainer sich dazu nicht verstand, ging Huebmer an das Gericht in Kirchdorf, welches der Stadt Hall die Eintreibung gebot. Es half ihm nichts, er musste nochmals bezahlen, und vergeblich wandte er sich noch 1677 an den Kaiser, um das ihm widerrechtlich Abgenommene zurückzuerhalten. Mag er damit auch viel Ärger gehabt haben, das Unglück seines Lebens war sein Conflict mit dem fürsterzbischöflichen Consistorium in Brixen. Es war die böse Zeit der Gegenreformation und Stainer wurde im Januar 1669 angezeigt, gemeinschaftlich mit dem Schneider Jakob Meringer lutherische Schriften verbeitet und sogar ketzerische Redensarten geführt zu haben. Ob die Klage überhaupt berechtigt war, kann heute kaum entschieden werden, genug, das geistliche Gericht verurtheilte Beide. Sie sollten im Büssergewande mit Geissel und brennender Kerze in den Händen öffentlich abschwören, während die Bücher verbrannt wurden. Beide legten Berufung ein, und es spricht sehr für das, selbst von katholischem Standpunkte aus betrachtet, geringe Verschulden Beider, dass das weltliche Gericht sie nach Möglichkeit in Schutz nahm, so dass die Geistlichkeit auf Geissel und Kerzen verzichten musste. Die Bücher wurden verbrannt, aber Stainer sowohl als Meringer weigerten sich hartnäckig, abzuschwören Nun zog das Consistorium die Saiten straffer an und verlangte die Verhaftung Beider, die leider auch bewirkt wurde. Stainer fügte sich auch diesem Gewaltact lieber, als dass er etwas gegen seine Überzeugung gethan hätte; er bat nur um Aufschub gegen Bürgschaft, da er noch Geigen für das Kloster Rothenbüch in Bayern fertig zu machen hatte; man gestattete ihm aber nur, dass er diese im Gefängniss vollende. Er wurde über Jahr und Tag gefangen gehalten und hat sich dort wohl den Grund zu der Krankheit geholt, der er später erlag. Als man ihm die Freiheit wiedergab, war er ein gebrochener Mann, sein Vermögen war in Verfall gerathen, und er konnte sich nicht mehr emporarbeiten. Er sass wohl noch fleissig in seiner Werkstatt, da er aber Alles mit der grössten Gewissenhaftigkeit ausführte und keine fremde Hilfe an seinen Werken duldete, arbeitete er nur sehr langsam und die Einnahmen standen dann in keinem Verhältniss dazu. Er hatte eine grosse Familie zu ernähren und so erdrückten ihn die Sorgen schliesslich, dass er in Geistesnacht verfiel. Sein Todestag ist unbekannt, aber sein Andenken ist lebendig geblieben, und 1898 wurde ihm ein würdiges Denkmal gesetzt. Wie Stradivari war er vielseitig in seiner Kunst, und es giebt kaum ein zu seiner Zeit gebräuchliches Streichinstrument, das er nicht gemacht hatte. Er schlug neue Wege ein, wenn er sich auch dem Einflusse der Amati-Schule nicht entziehen konnte. Doch nahm er nur das an, was seinen Absichten entgegenkam. Er veränderte die Umrisse, die Stärkenverhältnisse des Holzes und die Wölbung, bei der auffällt, dass er die Decke höher als den Boden machte. Seine Geigen erhielten dadurch jene eigenthümliche, fast mehr an den Flöten- als an den Geigenton erinnernde Klangfarbe, die noch durch das ganze 18. Jahrhundert das Entzücken aller Musiker war. Das individuelle Gepräge aller Arbeiten Stainer’s fällt sofort in die Augen. Auch seine kurzen F-Löcher mit ihren kreisrunden Endigungen sind charakteristisch. Dass er manchmal unter dem Griffbrett noch ein rundes oder öfter ein sternförmiges Schallloch und am Wirbelkasten gerne Löwenköpfchen und dergl. angebracht hat, sei nur nebenbei erwähnt, da das auch andere unter seinen Zeitgenossen thaten. Sein Lack ist sehr schön und kommt dem italienischen sehr nahe. Wenn er in Venedig »Materialien einkaufte«, so wird der Lack dabei sicher eine Hauptrolle gespielt haben, da er gewiss Holz, wie er es brauchte, in seiner Heimath selbst haben konnte. In der Farbe ist der Lack gelbroth gewesen, zeigt aber jetzt oft einen an Mahagoni erinnernden Ton. Er hatte drei verschiedene Modelle, ein kleines, ein mittleres und ein grosses. Die technische Vollendung seiner Geigen blieb allen seinen Nachahmern unerreichbar, aber auch er dürfte von einem Grundgedanken ausgegangen sein, den er als Geheimniss mit in’s Grab genommen hat. Man nennt u. A. Klotz und Albani seine Schüler; sie waren sehr geschickt, aber an den Meister reichten sie nicht hinan. Bald nach dem Tode Stainer’s wurde sein Name so berühmt, seine Geigen so gesucht, dass zahlreiche Fälschungen vorkamen, und selbst Klotz soll in seinen besten Geigen den Namen Stainer’s angebracht haben. In Deutschland und England wurde er von den Geigenmachern zum alleinigen Vorbild genommen; auch in Frankreich fälschte man seine Arbeit, wie eine zweifellos französische Geige im Museum des Conservatoriums in Brüssel beweist, in der sich der unsinnige, gedruckte Zettel: »Jacobus Staainer Filius, in absam prope omni pontum 1558« befindet. Selbst in Italien wurde sein Modell nachgeahmt, ganz abgesehen von dem Einfluss seiner Arbeit auf D. Tecchler und die Schule von Rom. Ja, der Glanz seines Ruhmes hat im achtzehnten Jahrhundert in allen germanischen Ländern die grössten italienischen Meister überstrahlt. Erst die erhöhten Anforderungen an die Geige und die Kraft ihres Tons im 19. Jahrhundert, denen die Stainer-Geigen nicht ganz zu entsprechen vermögen, brachten es mit sich, dass man jetzt die Cremoneser überall bevorzugt. Ihren Sammelwerth behalten die Stainer-Geigen aber für alle Zeit, und so kommt eine echte Arbeit von ihm fast noch seltener im Handel zum Vorschein, als eine echte Stradivari. Die schönsten Stainer- Geigen befinden sich in englischem Besitz, was in Deutschland noch vorkommt, ist nicht immer zweifellos echt. In echten Arbeiten fanden sich bisher nur handschriftliche Zettel, so dass es fraglich erscheint, ob er jemals gedruckte verwendet hat. Es wäre wünschenswerth, dass einmal ein Verzeichniss der wirklich echten Stainer- Geigen und ihrer Besitzer zusammengestellt würde. Von grösseren Sammlungen seien hier nur die Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, das Museum des Pariser Conservatoriums, die kgl. Sammlung in Berlin, die fürstl. Lobkowitz’sche Sammlung auf Schloss Roudnic in Böhmen (ein Contrabass von 1677, Violinen von 1652,1653,1657, 1661 und 1667) erwähnt. Eine Violine von 1660 ist in der Kirche am Strahov, eine von 1676 in der Prager Kreuzherrenkirche. Auch einige bayrische und österreichische Kloster dürften noch im Besitz echter Arbeiten von ihm sein. So glaubt das Stift St. Florian (O.-Ö.) eine Violine von 1670 sein eigen zu nennen. Stainer’s Leben wurde wiederholt zum Gegenstand novellistischer Arbeiten gemacht; eine wirklich werthvolle Biographie schrieb der verdienstvolle Caplan des Irrenhauses in Hall Seb. Ruf (geb. 1802, †1877). Nach ihmsind nur noch zwei Funde von dem Archivbeamten Klaar gemacht worden, die uns einen genaueren Einblick in Stainer’s Schicksale gestatten. Vgl. Prof. Dr. F. Lentner’s »Jakob Stainer’s Lebenslauf im Lichte archivalischer Forschung«.
Henri Poidras
Absam circa 1621-1683 The German Stradivarius. Very finished make, the model being his own and the style entirely German. Stainer is thought to have gone to Italy to perfect himself with the great masters, although nothing in his style denotes it, and should it be so, he must have freed ?himself of their influence in order to preserve his individuality. The admirable violins which he made for the twelve electors have much resemblance to, and that indescribable something of refinement appertaining to the beautiful Amati, with which they may be compared. This is the reason why he is thought to have perfected himself with N. Amati. The workmanship, the general outline, even the varnish are as fine, but other details, the shape of the sound holes for instance, point to a German origin. If it is almost without doubt that Stainer followed the Cremonese, probably had lessons with them and adopted some of their methods, it is equally difficult to say who was his adviser. His production has been fairly large, his instruments are more scarce than those of Stradivarius and thousands of German violins bear his label. He has had some good copyists, among whom must be mentioned Leopold Widhalm. The orange-red varnish of Stainer is as beautiful as that of the Cremonese masters. The clear and refined quality of tone of his instruments is similar to that of the Italian School. Stainer had three models, small, medium and large.
