Carlo Antonio Testore
Today, a luthier teaches us a lesson. The University of Houston presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them.
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Okay, that word luthier: It means a maker of stringed instruments – violins, violas, cellos, and more. And I’m drawn to one in particular – to Carlo Antonio Testore. One among so many great makers in northern Italy in the late seventeen and early eighteenth centuries. Something in his approach to making violins seems to set him apart from the other great luthiers of that era.
A violin made by Carlo Antonio Testore in 1734
But first a look at violin making in his time. He was surrounded by some of the greatest: The families of Stradivarius, Amati, Guarneri, Guadagnini, and the other Testores. Carlo Antonio Testore’s instruments often compete with those of more famous makers. But they do not appear to compete on the same terms. Let us see why.
All the sources remark that Testore’s instruments were somewhat rough-hewn compared with those of more famous makers. He clearly made aesthetic concessions as he served a less wealthy clientele. His purfling is an example. You see a cut around the edge of the front of a violin (and usually the back as well) – a tiny carved-out trench with some kind of filler, usually wood. Purfling lets those plates vibrate more freely. They likely give it a better sound. He used less expensive filler woods – and sometimes he even used no purfling at all on the back of his violins.
Right: A purfling trench on the back of a cello, being filed with an appropriate kind of wood. Left: A very cheap violin with phony purfling – only lines drawn around the edge.
Testore’s compromises with looks are not subtle. He willingly sacrificed appearance – but not function. I’ll provide links to a contemporary luthier, Edgar Russ. He tells us far more about all this. He appears to’ve fallen in love with Carlo Antonio’s violins. So he offers videos. He holds up a Carlo Antonio Testore violin and he first tears into it. The shape is wrong. The f-holes aren’t right. This one has no purfling on the back. And – wait – a woman draws her bow across the strings. And - Oh the sound – so rich, so full.
(Solo performance on a Testore violin)
Russ gleefully tells us that he makes and sells modern copies. So we see why the originals are now prized alongside the more famous Cremona violins.
And the engineer in me is as gleeful as Russ. Because I see that kind of mindset in Testore. He saw the competition between form and function. Appearance had market value. But how something functions is what matters. Which do you sacrifice when you sell to a client of limited means?
Suppose, today, you want a violin with a history. One that had once played the music of Bach, Handel, and Corelli while those masters still lived – One that can also give you the sound that they would’ve wanted to hear? Well, then either a Stradivarius or a Testore will give you what you seek.
I’m John Lienhard, at the University of Houston, where we’re interested in the way inventive minds work.
(Solo performance on a Testore violin)
Some sources:
For the bare bones of Carlo Antonio Testore’s life, see the brief Wikipedia account: Carlo Antonio Testore - Wikipedia
Purfling is explained here: Purfling: Purfling - Wikipedia
Here is one of Edgar Russ’s videos. And, here is another. Each shows what I have been describing, in detail.
Here is another analysis of Carlo Antonio Testore’s violin making: Violin Making Greats: Carlo Antonio Testore - HubPages This site provides a very useful discussion of the details of his violin design
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Testore - Wikisource, the free online library This source comes back to themes, similar to the HubPages, about Testore’s violin making.
Photos by JHL except for the cello purfling which is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
This Episode first aired on July 14, 2026.