Violins and very cold weather – a hypothesis
Lloyd Burckle and Henri D Grissino-Mayer suggest a link between the great Italian violin makers and a mini ice-age 300 years ago

A. There is considerable controversy surrounding reasons why instruments made by the artisans of Cremona in Italy in the late 17th and early 18th centuries sound superior compared to modern instruments. The famous violin-making families of Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri certainly included many highly accomplished craftsmen, and the popular belief is that the skills of these Cremonese artisans, combined with either a secret ingredient or undocumented process, give their instruments the rich sound so highly admired by professional musicians. The nature of this secret ingredient has been the subject of conjecture for many years and is still fuelling speculation. Theories have included the method of varnish applied to the wood to produce the right acoustic effect, or the use of special types of wood which are subject to specific treatment and aging processes, as well as the careful blending of responsibly harvested chemicals before application.

B. A new hypothesis has been found for the possible explanation. It was not directly related to the violin-makers’ skills but more likely to do with the climate. Around 1645–1715, Europe was affected by a mini ice-age caused by a combination of reduced solar activity – widely known as the Maunder Minimum – and a possible increase in volcanic eruptions. This period was characterized by shorter, cooler growing seasons for trees, which resulted in wood with a greater density and narrower rings than usual. Antonio Stradivari was active during this period, from as short a season as seven years to as long as 31 years, developing wood that demonstrated considerable scientific properties.

C. Analyses that include ultraviolet photography, electron microscopy, ion backscattering, and X-ray investigations, finally, have suggested that Stradivari used wood felled from alpine conifers. This theory has been discounted because analyses on numerous instruments attributed to Stradivari demonstrated ages for the wood that were contemporary with his lifetime.

D. Wood with high density can, however, be found in trees growing in a variety of habitats and environmental settings in numerous higher-elevation locations throughout the world. Hence, an account of the Cremonese craftsmen’s superior sound quality based solely on wood properties is insufficient. Instead, could the superior sound quality be explained by a combination of wood properties, environmental characteristics, and macroscopic conditions? Could the wood used by the Cremonese makers have had particular physical characteristics that were perhaps time-specific? There were questions that required more thorough research.

E. The well-documented Maunder Minimum (1645–1715) was a period characterized by a scarcity of sunspots and a reduction in overall solar activity. It coincided with a sharp dip in temperatures and a period of extremely cold weather in western Europe. Analyses of the elevation forest areas of the European Alps over a long period recorded growing rates between approximately 1645 and 1720, identified by the narrow rings in tree trunks. Narrow rings would not have been seen in warmer periods.

F. Exactly with this climatic period, and that to fashion the most prized and valued instruments of this “Golden Period” (1700–1720), he would have used the only wood available to him, i.e. from trees that grew during the Maunder Minimum. The onset of the Maunder Minimum at a time when the skills of the Cremonese violin-makers reached their peak perhaps made the crucial difference in the violin’s tone and brilliance. Furthermore, the conjunction of elevation, topography, soil properties and a deterioration in climate was temporally unique – climatic conditions with temperatures such as those that occurred during the Maunder Minimum simply cannot and do not occur today in areas where the Cremonese makers obtained their wood.