Violin Making

The so-called Tyrolean School of violin making (Tiroler Schule) flourished from the middle of the 16th century down to the middle of the 18th. It was as much at home in Füssen as in Mittenwald and, with the increasing migration of Tyrolean masters, it determined violin making in Franconia, Vienna, and Bohemia. Its high repute is based mainly on the violin maker Jakob Stainer (ca.1617-1683) of Absam. Even into the 19th century, his instruments were rated as superior to the most famous Italian ones from Cremona. After Stainer had spent journeyman’s years of travel selling his instruments, carrying out repairs and obtaining commissions in southern Germany, South Tyrol and upper Italy, his renown was so great that he not only supplied instruments for the royal Spanish court orchestra but he was also raised to the rank of “archducal servant” (erzfürstlicher Diener) by Archduke Ferdinand Karl in Innsbruck in 1658 and honored by Emperor Leopold I with the title of “imperial servant” (kaiserlicher Diener) in 1669 because no one wanted to do without his work at court.[34]
In 1567 the lute maker Georg (I) Gerle (ca.1520-1591) of Füssen migrated to Innsbruck and served Archduke Ferdinand II as an instrument maker and bellows-treader. His son Georg (II) Gerle (after 1548 - after 1615) gave him a hand from December 1583 on; his son Melchior Gerle (†1607) succeeded him in serving at court in 1591.[35]
Also from the Füssen area was the Seelos family, who also worked at the Innsbruck court as violin makers: Georg (II) Seelos (ca.1590-ca.1668), a cousin of the Venetian masters Giorgio and Matteo Sellas and his son Georg (III) Seelos (after 1647-1724). Georg’s (II) son Johann (II) Seelos (1654-1715) learned the craft of making violins from his father in Innsbruck but settled in Linz, while his brother Johann Georg Seelos (ca.1650-1724) took over their father’s workshop.[36]
According to historical sources, a violin maker “Johann Paul Schorn” is supposed to have worked in Innsbruck as early as 1660 until about 1690. However, the latest research has shown that the violin maker “Johann Schorn” (1659-1718) formerly identified with him was active from about 1690 in Salzburg and had not stayed in Innsbruck and that the son of the latter, “Johann Paul Schorn” (1682-1758), had only been a violinist at the parish church in Hall from 1702 to 1704.[37]
Jakob Rauch (ca.1680-1765) entered into service for Duke Karl Philipp von der Pfalz-Neuburg in Innsbruck in 1706 and made several string instruments for the court musical ensemble (Hofmusik). Because he moved to Mannheim with his lord, Franz Straubinger (1674-1724) was able to take his place from 1720 on. From 1739 to 1741 Franz Urban Stoß (1711-1783) of Füssen was the court lute maker in Innsbruck. Likewise from Füssen (-Faulenbach) was Matthias Griesser (1698-1784) who had moved to Innsbruck as a violin maker in 1725; he worked there for the rest of his life.[38] On 9 September 1732 Johann Georg (I) Psenner (ca.1680-1762) of Bozen was granted residency and his licence as a lute maker in Innsbruck. In 1752 he saw a disagreeable competitor in the joiner and “harp maker” (Härpfenmacher) Georg Kößl of Hötting. His son Johann Georg (II) Psenner (1747- after 1798) became qualified by doing his apprenticeship with Georg Klotz in Mittenwald, among other things, to take over his father’s operation in 1768, which may have been run by Ignatius Locatelli in the interim.[39] Josef Knittel (1746-1797) obtained a permit to practice the violin makers’ craft in Innsbruck in 1795; his son Franz Knittel (ca.1780-1802) had also learned violin making.[40] Even in the 19th century there were still several violin makers at work in Innsbruck, although their products were no longer outstandingly important: the organ builder Johann Georg Gröber (1775-1849) also fashioned string instruments, his son Josef Gröber (1817-ca.1921) repaired all kinds of string instruments and built new zithers based on Munich models. Johann Fritz of Pfaffenhofen near Telfs (1783 - after 1825), a farmer’s son and trained joiner, built harps and guitars and made violin repairs in his spare time, until he bound himself as a journeyman to Johann Georg Gröber. In 1816, after submitting a violin built completely by himself, he was accredited by the Innsbruck magistrate as a maker of musical instruments and permitted to set up business. Karl Eberle, documented in Innsbruck 1829, may have been an assistant of Johann Fritz, Oswald Zoller (1774-1816) his predecessor.[41]
In 1835 the joiner Jakob Kaspar Schrott (1804-1843) was incorporated in his native town of Innsbruck as an instrument maker. He built double basses, guitars, zithers and harps. Josef Gschwenter (1838-1894) of Mals had learned violin making in Mittenwald and established himself in Innsbruck in 1857. Although he was granted a gold medal for the viola of a quartet he submitted in Vienna in 1873, he focused more on repairs, building zithers and guitars, and on trading in instruments. In 1875 Otto Body (*1857 Debreczin) took up work as a journeyman under Josef Gschwenter. He set up his own workshop later, also for building zithers and guitars and reparing violins. Around 1904 he worked with his son Hans Body, who is documented as doing repair work, for instance in 1932, and was still working in Innsbruck in 1957.[42] One of Josef Gschwenter’s pupils was Ludwig Neuner, documented as a repairman in Innsbruck in 1897 and violin maker in 1906.[43] Around 1860 Josef Kluibenschädl and Andreas Müller (ca.1801-1864) were also working as violin makers in Innsbruck. Bruno Nobitschek opened a workshop in Innsbruck in 1906.[44]
The town of Vils attained supraregional importance in the history of violin making. Since the second half of the 17th century, violin makers of great renown had been established there or else trained and gone abroad. The old violin making center of Füssen with its school had a decisive influence on the tradition of the craft in the Außerfern only a few kilometers away. The Rief family furnished the leading violin makers in Vils for almost two centuries, until the craft was driven out of the town by industrial production. The founding father Anton Rief (1694-1766) built mainly violins and was the master who trained his son Matthäus Rief (1728-1794). Dominikus Rief (1759-1814) followed the example of his father Matthäus Rief, even surpassing him in both the quantity and quality of the instruments he built. His austere, yet well carved, darkly varnished and powerfully sonorous violins are considered remarkable examples of the Tyrolean art of violin making. Dominikus’ younger brother Johann Georg Rief (1765-1848) also learned under their father Matthäus and was a sexton of the parish church in Vils as a sideline. Josef Matthäus (I) Rief (1799-1848), a son of Dominikus Rief, signed his instruments as “Josef Rief,” while his cousin Josef Matthäus (II) Rief (1801-1879), a son of Johann Georg Rief, signed his full name. Anton(i) Rief (1786-1834) built violins in Vils around 1810.[45]
Among the violin makers in the Petz family established in Vils were Franz (II) Petz (1702-1772) and his nephew Jakob Ägidius Petz (1742-1824), who was one of the most successful master violin makers of Vils and strove to follow the example of Nicola Amati and others. Franz (I) Petz appears as a lute maker in 1707 in Vils. Franz (III) Petz (1805-1882) learned violin making but seems to have given it up. Marianus Petz (1742-1787) of Vils took over the workshop of Josef Ferdinand Leidolff in Vienna in 1774. Johann Alois Petz (1797- after 1825) had already moved from Vils to Budapest in 1810.[46]
The most renowned violin maker clan of Vils is the Eberle family, of which, however, only Johann Anton (I) Eberle (1699-1768), native of Tannheim, remained in Vils. In Prague Johann Ulrich Eberle (1699-1768) became one of the most important viola d’amore makers ever. Thomas Eberle (1727- after 1792) worked in Naples from 1750 on; his brother Johann Anton (II) Eberle (*1736) is documented from 1769 on in Mannheim.
Johann Michael Willer (1753-1826) of Vils practiced his trade in Prague and was the head of the violin makers’ guild there from 1822 to 1826. Whether Anton Höss, who worked in Prague in 1682, actually also came from Vils cannot be demonstrated at the moment. Georg Schonger (1661-ca. 1740) went to Erfurt, Antony Posch (1677-1742) to Vienna, Georg Aman (1671-1741) to Augsburg, Josef Doser (1770-1836) to Freising. The violin makers of the Wörle family born in Vils all migrated in their youth to Bavaria, Vienna and Czechoslovakia.[47]
Johann Georg Kleinhans (1681-1716) of Pinswang set up business as a violin maker in Füssen-Faulenbach. Towards the end of the 19th century, members of the Alber family of joinersin Weißenbach began to fashion plain string instruments, mainly violins: Franz Alber (1868-1966), his brother Josef (I) Alber (1869-1919), and later his grandson Josef (II) Alber (1899-1979). Anton Hauser (1726-1806) worked in Reutte.[48] Johann Georg Frick was working as a lute builder in Grän around 1757. Johann Hueber (1758-1821) of Namlos worked in Füssen before establishing himself in Munich as a violin maker in 1794.[49]
In Scharnitz, Josef (I) Schäffler (†1758) of Mittenwald and Josef (II) Schäffler (1759-after 1792) pursued violin making. Not far away, in Seefeld, were Conrad Zunterer (1717-1778) and his brother Leopold Zunterer (1722-1792); their father Anton Zunterer had already carried out violin repairs as a joiner.[50] Vitalis Haslberger OESA of the Augustinian Monastery in Seefeld built a double bass for Stams Monastery in 1777.[51] Amideus M. Grasser OSM (1810-1886) of the Innsbruck Servite Monastery renovated the neck and belly of a violin belonging to the monastery in 1841.[52] In Seefeld a violin maker established an enterprise again in 1807: he was Kaspar Hornsteiner (1778-1857) a native of Mittenwald. Around 1835 he moved into the Kreuzhäusel, an property he had bought in Volderwald
/Tulfes, where his son Josef Hornsteiner (1809-1889) also built violins and zithers, though he did only repairs later.
Simon Gföller, who for instance supplied a violin to St Georgenberg in 1649, had been working in Schwaz since 1637. In the 17th century the violin makers Christoph (I) Klingler (†1677) and his son Christoph (II) Klingler (1657-1702?) worked in Rattenberg.[53] Josef (I) Sappl (1862-1925) of Kundl was apprenticed under Franz (II) Reinisch from 1884 for three years as an organ builder. He worked in this trade at first, but then shifted to guitar and mainly harp making in his home town. He built over two hundred harps with pedal action, for which buyers were found as far away as Dresden and Leipzig. His son Josef (II) Sappl (1909-1986) was apprenticed to the trade of “instrument maker” in Brixlegg under Franz Bradl (1882-1963), the master of Tyrolean harp building. Harp makers named Six and Halterer lived in the Lower Inn Valley towards the end of the 19th century.[54] Michael Stecher (1810-1864), after his violin maker’s apprenticeship in Mittenwald, made violins, cellos, basses and mandolins in Ried in the Upper Inn Valley.
Self-taught craftsmen engaged in building violins in northern Tyrol were Johann Isser (1791-1852), a farmer at Horeben near the Volderberg; Johann Spiß (ca.1805 - after 1861), joiner and wood turner in Zell near the Ziller (violins, zithers, guitars, later flutes and clarinets); Simon Kreutner (1846-1912) in Hart in the Zillertal (zithers, harps, guitars, violins); Jakob Wallensteiner (ca.1809-1865) in Alpbach around 1849 (harps, violins). The joiner Josef Steiner (1862-1908) in Lengberg/Nikolsdorf soon changed over to manufacturing violins and zithers.
South of the Brenner Pass, too, trained joiners liked to carve serviceable violins, for example Sebastian Pircher (1859-1934) in Schweinsteg in Passeier and Pietro Floriani (1787-1870) in Riva.[55]
In 1671 the farmer’s son and “violin maker from Caltern” Matthias Alban (1634-1712) was admitted as a resident of Bozen. He was the most famous Tyrolean violin maker after Jakob Stainer. His violins were close to those of the latter in tone; their masterly execution recalls the Füssen school. Matthias Alban’s violin bows are said to have surpassed those from Cremona. Of his sons, Johann Michael Alban (1677-1730) took over the workshop of his father-in-law Wolfgang Sagmayr in Graz in 1702, and Josef (I) Alban (1680-1722) that of his father in Bozen in 1712. Josef (II) Anton Alban(i) (1720-1771) was a grandson of Matthias Alban and pupil of Johann Michael Alban. After journeyman’s years in Vienna he became a resident of Bozen in 1759 and established himself successfully in the town with his trade.
Johannes Jais (1752-after 1780) had learned the craft of building violins from his father Franz Jais in Mittenwald and worked in Bozen around 1775 in the “good Tyrolean manner.” Peter Sebastian Wirnitzer, who is known from a printed violin label “[...] Bulsani in Tiroli Anno 1693” may have stayed in Bozen only temporarily. A violin by Johan(n)es Eberhardt Steger, dated Bozen 1684, has been preserved.[56]
The lute maker Giovanni Martino Cabona (†1580) is first mentioned in documentary sources in 1571 in Trent. Giovanni Antonio Berera (1711-1799) is documented as a violin maker in Trent between 1745 and 1771, and as a dulcimer (Hackbrett) and harpsichord (cembalo) builder. In Rovereto, Antonio di Chiusole (1735-1797) built mainly double basses.[57] Josef Johann Ennemoser (1875-1953) of Obermais learned his trade in Munich, set up his own enterprise in Meran in 1902, and was a much sought-after repairer and builder of zithers and guitars.[58] Also known as the maker of a zither is Giovanni Battista Vian in Enneberg in1868. Working in Brixen around 1679 were the violin makers Rochus Gufler and Samuel Berner (†1754), who had stayed in Neustift/Vahrn earlier. Matthias Prat(h)er (1657-1697) of St Andrä near Brixen was granted burgher’s rights in the old town of Prague as early as 1681.[59] One of the most excellent violin builders of his time, Matteo Gofriller, was born in Brixen in 1659.[60] He became famous with his workshop in Venice.

Fussnote

[34] Walter SENN, Jakob Stainer, der Geigenmacher zu Absam (Schlern-Schriften 87), Innsbruck 1951;
Walter SENN, “Der Geigenmacher von Absam Jakob Stainer,” Österreichische Musikzeitschrift 25 (1970) p. 680ff;
JAKOB STAINER und seine Zeit: Musik in Tirol 1550-1730, exh. cat. Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum 1983, Innsbruck 1983;
JAKOB STAINER und seine Zeit: conference proceedings  of the Jakob-Stainer-Tagung Innsbruck 1983, ed. Walter Salmen (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 10), Innsbruck, Neu-Rum 1984;
Walter SENN and Karl ROY, Jakob Stainer (Das Musikinstrument 44), Frankfurt am Main 1986 (includes further references);
Manfred SCHNEIDER, Jakob Stainer (ca.1617-1683): Violine Absam 1682, CD booklet Musikinstrumente des Ferdinandeums 5, Innsbruck: Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum 1999, p. 2f;
Kurt BIRSAK, Salzburger Geigen und Lauten des Barock (Schriften des Salzburger Barockmuseums 25), Salzburg 2001, p. 25ff;
Manfred SCHNEIDER, Romanus Weichlein (1652-1706): Encaenia musices opus 1 Innsbruck 1695, CD booklet Klingende Kostbarkeiten aus Tirol 22, Innsbruck: Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum 2002, p.11f (a recording played on a viola by Stainer, Absam 1679). -
Cf. Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, Geigenbau in Absam und Umgebung: Ausstellung im Gemeindemuseum Absam 8.6.1990-1.7.1990 [exhibition concept and description of the displays], Innsbruck 1990, repr. in MS form (exemplar in the library of the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum: FB 56286).
Wolfgang ZUNTERER, et al., “Geigen und Bratschen,” Alte Geigen und Bogen: Ausgewählte Meisterwerke aus dem deutschen Kulturraum, ed. Internationale Vereinigung der Geigenbau- und Bogenmacher-Meister, Cologne 1997, p. 34ff.
 
[35] Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 51f;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 96f, 194f;
Adolf LAYER, Die Allgäuer Lauten- und Geigenmacher (Veröffentlichungen der Schwäbischen Forschungsgemeinschaft bei der Kommission für Bayerische Landesgeschichte 1/15), Augsburg 1978, p. 61, 133f.
 
[36] Walter SENN, Musik und Theater am Hof zu Innsbruck, Innsbruck 1954, p. 331ff;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 97, 103, 205;
Adolf LAYER, Die Allgäuer Lauten- und Geigenmacher (Veröffentlichungen der Schwäbischen Forschungsgemeinschaft bei der Kommission für Bayerische Landesgeschichte 1/15), Augsburg 1978, p. 62, 176f;
Franz M. WEISS, “Ein wiederentdecktes Inventar von Musikinstrumenten aus dem Innsbrucker Servitenkloster,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 61 (1986) p. 129ff;
Othmar WESSELY, “Linz und die Musik,” Jahrbuch der Stadt Linz 1950 (1951) p. 149;
Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 78.
 
[37] For the latest research, see Ernst HINTERMAIER, Die Salzburger Hofkapelle von 1700 bis 1806: Organisation und Personal, PhD Salzburg 1972, p. 386ff and
Kurt BIRSAK, Salzburger Geigen und Lauten des Barock (Schriften des Salzburger Barockmuseums 25), Salzburg 2001, p. 40ff; Birsak first determined the date and place of birth of Johann Schorn (*1659 Fridolfing near Salzburg).
 
[38] Walter SENN, Musik und Theater am Hof zu Innsbruck, Innsbruck 1954, p. 333;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 75, 97, 112, 195, 203, 207;
Adolf LAYER, Die Allgäuer Lauten- und Geigenmacher (Veröffentlichungen der Schwäbischen Forschungsgemeinschaft bei der Kommission für Bayerische Landesgeschichte 1/15), Augsburg 1978, p. 62, 74, 136, 167, 184, 188;
Konrad FISCHNALER, Innsbrucker Chronik 4, Innsbruck 1929, p. 191.
 
[39] Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Frankfurt am Main 1904 (1st edn), 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 164f; vol. 2, p. 300, 397f;
Konrad FISCHNALER, Innsbrucker Chronik 4, Innsbruck 1929, p. 191.
Manfred SCHNEIDER, Johann Georg Psenner (1747-nach 1798): Mandoline Innsbruck 1775, CD booklet Musikinstrumente des Ferdinandeums 4, Innsbruck 199, p. f.
 
[40] Emil BERLANDA, Musik in Innsbruck, typescript in the library of the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum (FB 49.260), vol. 1, p. 157.
 
[41] For Johann Georg Gröber as an organ and piano maker, see Part IV/2. -
BOTHE für Tirol und Vorarlberg (26 November 1849) p. 1262; (5 October 1853) p. 1243;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 165f; vol. 2, p. 116, 149, 181, 575;
René VANNES, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers, vol. 1, 2nd edn, Brussels 1951, p. 115, 138, 403;
Karel JALOVEC, Deutsche und österreichische Geigenbauer, Brünn 1967, p. 95f, 125, 456;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 97, 191;
Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 46, 105;
Walter THALER, “Musikpflege [und] Volksschauspiele,” Telfer Buch (Schlern-Schriften 112), Innsbruck 1955, p. 306.
 
[42] Baptismal register Innsbruck, St. Jakob 1803 [!, J. K. Schrott was born on 3 January 1804] (film in Tiroler Landesarchiv Innsbruck Nr. 973/1);
Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 45, 54, 78ff;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 166; vol. 2, p. 49, 182f, 453f;
Emil BERLANDA, “Innsbrucker Nachrichten”: Musik und Theater in Innsbruck 1861 bis 1874, typescript in the library of the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum (FB 49.278), p. 9f (1871);
Emil BERLANDA, Musik und Theater in Innsbruck im 19. Jahrhundert; Erstes Buch: Musik und Musikpflege in Innsbruck, typescript in the library of the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum (FB 49.275), p. 229;
Karel JALOVEC, Deutsche und österreichische Geigenbauer, Brünn 1967, p. 30;
Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Die erste Auffindung einer Viola des Reuttener Geigenbauers Anton Hauser (1793),” Tiroler Heimatblätter 69 (1994) p. 5.
 
[43] Information on the date of 1897 kindly was provided in verbal communication by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Walter Senn (†); the violin signed 1906 is in a private collection.
 
[44] Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 59;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 166;
Walter THALER, “Musikpflege [und] Volksschauspiele,” Telfer Buch (Schlern-Schriften 112), Innsbruck 1955, p. 307;
INNSBRUCKER Nachrichten (14 March 1864) p. 526.
 
[45] Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher vom Außerfern - Meister der Geigenbaukunst in Europa,” Künstler, Händler, Handwerker: Tiroler Schwaben in Europa, exh. cat. Tiroler Landesausstellung Reutte - Breitenwang 1989, [Innsbruck 1989], p. 367ff;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 73, 75f;
Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Johann Georg Rief,” Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, vol. 9, Vienna 1985, p. 146.
 
[46]Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher vom Außerfern - Meister der Geigenbaukunst in Europa,” Künstler, Händler, Handwerker: Tiroler Schwaben in Europa, exh. cat. Tiroler Landesausstellung Reutte - Breitenwang 1989, [Innsbruck 1989], p. 366ff;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 75, 202;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 2, p. 379f;
Otto STOLZ, Geschichte der Stadt Vils in Tirol zur Feier ihres sechshundertjaehrigen Bestandes, Vils 1927, p. 53.
 
[47] Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher vom Außerfern - Meister der Geigenbaukunst in Europa,” Künstler, Händler, Handwerker: Tiroler Schwaben in Europa, exh. cat. Tiroler Landesausstellung Reutte - Breitenwang 1989, [Innsbruck 1989], p. 363ff;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 74ff, 98f, 101, 111, 114, 189ff, 197, 202, 212;
Adolf LAYER, Die Allgäuer Lauten- und Geigenmacher (Veröffentlichungen der Schwäbischen Forschungsgemeinschaft bei der Kommission für Bayerische Landesgeschichte 1/15), Augsburg 1978, p. 35, 111, 119f, 165, 174;
Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 45;
Wolfgang ZUNTERER, et al., “Geigen und Bratschen,” Alte Geigen und Bogen: Ausgewählte Meisterwerke aus dem deutschen Kulturraum, ed. Internationale Vereinigung der Geigenbau- und Bogenmacher-Meister, Cologne 1997, p. 68ff, 110ff, 164ff;
Thomas RIEDMILLER, “Lehrzeit – Wanderjahre – Meisterwerkstatt: Drei Stationen aus dem Handwerkerleben der Füssener Geigenmacher des 18. Jahrhunderts,” Alte Geigen und Bogen: Ausgewählte Meisterwerke aus dem deutschen Kulturraum, ed. Internationale Vereinigung der Geigenbau- und Bogenmacher-Meister, Cologne 1997, p. 15;
Thomas RIEDMILLER, “Die ‘Verlassenschaft’ des Lauten- und Geigenmachers Johann Georg Kleinhans,” Alt Füssen: Jahrbuch des Historischen Vereins Alt Füssen 1994, Füssen 1995, p. 59ff.
 
[48] Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher vom Außerfern - Meister der Geigenbaukunst in Europa,” Künstler, Händler, Handwerker: Tiroler Schwaben in Europa, exh. cat. Tiroler Landesausstellung Reutte - Breitenwang 1989, [Innsbruck 1989], p. 362ff, 365, 383f;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 10, 77f, 189, 196;
Adolf LAYER, Die Allgäuer Lauten- und Geigenmacher (Veröffentlichungen der Schwäbischen Forschungsgemeinschaft bei der Kommission für Bayerische Landesgeschichte 1/15), Augsburg 1978, p. 140;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 2, p. 201;
Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Die erste Auffindung einer Viola des Reuttener Geigenbauers Anton Hauser (1793),” Tiroler Heimatblätter 69 (1994) p. 3ff.
 
[49] A[nton?] Anranter, “Aus der volkswirtschaftlichen Vergangenheit im Tannheimertale,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 17 (1939) p. 80;
Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Johann Hueber (1758-1821) - ein Außerferner Geigenmacher in München,” Musik in Bayern no. 51 (1995) p. 35ff.
 
[50] Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 77, 105f;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 167f; vol. 2, p. 440, 575;
Karel JALOVEC, Deutsche und österreichische Geigenbauer, Brünn 1967, p. 359, 457.
 
[51] The instrument is still preserved in Stams Monastery.
 
[52] Franz M. WEISS, “Ein wiederentdecktes Inventar von Musikinstrumenten aus dem Innsbrucker Servitenkloster,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 61 (1986) p. 130f;

[53] Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 55, 57f;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 162f, 167; vol.2, p. 228f, 256f;
Karel JALOVEC, Deutsche und österreichische Geigenbauer, Brünn 1967, p. 184f, 217;
Richard BLETSCHACHER, Die Lauten- und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes, Hofheim am Taunus 1978, p. 97;
Maurus KRAMER, “Zur Musikgeschichte der Benediktinerabtei St. Georgenberg-Fiecht im späten Mittelalter bis zum Barock mit Einschluß der Aigner-Orgel von 1870,” 850 Jahre Benediktinerabtei St. Georgenberg-Fiecht 1138-1988 (Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktiner-Ordens und seiner Zweige, suppl. vol. 31), St. Ottilien 1988, p. 300;
Erich EGG, “Schwaz vom Anfang bis 1850,” Stadtbuch Schwaz: Natur - Bergbau - Geschichte, ed. Erich Egg et al., Schwaz 1986, p. 166.
 
[54] Peter REITMEIR, “Die Volksharfe in Tirol,” G’sungen und g’spielt: Mitteilungen des Tiroler Volksmusikvereines und Südtiroler Volksmusikkreises (12 May 1987) p. 11;
Peter KOSTNER, Die Volksharfe in Tirol: Historische und instrumentenkundliche Aspekte, diploma thesis, Hochschule Mozarteum Salzburg / Abteilung X Musikerziehung in Innsbruck, Innsbruck 1991, p. 55ff.
 
[55] Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 57, 59, 62, 88f;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 167f, 167; vol. 2, p. 143, 244, 273f, 386, 475, 485;
W. HENLEY, Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers 5, Brighton/Sussex 1960, p. 92f;
information on Stecher and Wallensteiner was kindly provided in verbal communication by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Walter Senn (†);
Luis WALLNÖFER, “Die Geige in Passeier,” Der Schlern 17 (1936) p. 193;
Renato LUNELLI, Strumenti musicali nel Trentino, Trento 1968, p. 40f;
Clemente LUNELLI, Dizionario dei Costruttori di strumenti musicali nel Trentino, Trento 1994, p. 92f.
 
[56] Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911), p. 24ff;
Walter SENN, “Matthias Alban,” Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 15, Kassel 1973, col. 90ff;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 163f, 167; vol. 2, p. 10f, 239, 562;
Friedrich NIEDERHEITMANN, Cremona: Eine Chrakteristik der italienischen Geigenbauer und ihrer Instrumente, 7th edn, Leipzig 1928, p. 42;
Heinrich DICHRISTIN, “Der Geigenbauer Matthias Alban,” Der Schlern 56 (1982) p. 340;
Heinrich DICHRISTIN, “Der Geigenbauer Mat[t]hias Alban,” Festschrift 450 Jahre Pfarrchor Kaltern 1538-1988, ed. Pfarrchor Kaltern, Kaltern 1988, p. 73ff;
Wolfgang ZUNTERER, et al., “Geigen und Bratschen,” Alte Geigen und Bogen: Ausgewählte Meisterwerke aus dem deutschen Kulturraum, ed. Internationale Vereinigung der Geigenbau- und Bogenmacher-Meister, Cologne 1997, p. 46ff;
 Karel JALOVEC, Deutsche und österreichische Geigenbauer, Brünn 1967, p. 449;
Walter HAMMA, Geigenbauer der Deutschen Schule des 17.-19. Jahrhunderts 2, Tutzing 1986, p. 361ff.
 
[57] Clemente LUNELLI, “Giovanni Martino Cabona liutaio del cinquecento a Trento,” Civis studi e testi 4 (1980) p. 163ff;
Clemente LUNELLI, Dizionario dei Costruttori di strumenti musicali nel Trentino, Trento 1994, p. 12, 29, 63;
Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 43, 45;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 163f, 167; vol. 2, p. 80;
René VANNES, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers 1, 2nd edn, Brussels 1951, p. 61;
Karel JALOVEC, Enzyklopädie des Geigenbaues 1, Prague 1965, p. 201;
Friedrich NIEDERHEITMANN, Cremona: Eine Chrakteristik der italienischen Geigenbauer und ihrer Instrumente, 7th edn, Leipzig 1928, p. 66.
 
[58] Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, Die Zithern der Sammlung Walther Schwienbacher im Südtiroler Landesmuseum für Volkskunde, Dietenheim 2000, p. 60f, 71.
 
[59]Franz WALDNER, “Nachrichten über tirolische Lauten- und Geigenbauer,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 55 (1911) p. 43, 54;
Willibald Leo Freiherr von LÜTGENDORFF, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 1st edn, Frankfurt am Main 1904; 6th edn repr Tutzing 1975, vol. 1, p. 168; vol. 2, p. 42, 190, 395, 535;
René VANNES, Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers 1, 2nd edn, Brussels 1951, p. 29, 287;
Karel JALOVEC, Enzyklopädie des Geigenbaues, Prague 1965, vol. 1, p. 134, 359; vol. 2, p. 180;
W. HENLEY, Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers 1, Brighton/Sussex 1959, p. 115.
 
[60] Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Zur Musikaliensammlung im Domkapitelarchiv Brixen,” Der Schlern 75 (2001) p. 942f.