- Joseph Nagyvary
Joseph Nagyvary (1934) is a Professor Emeritus at
Texas A&M University and has spent much of his life trying to unlock the secrets of the great violin-makersStradivari and Guarneri.Biography
Joseph Nagyvary was born 1934 in
Szeged ,Hungary . As the most celebrated citizen of this town wasAlbert Szent-Györgyi , the discoverer ofvitamin C and much of thecitric acid cycle , he was inspired at an early age to follow a career innatural products andbiochemistry .From 1952-1956 he attended at
Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest and in 1957 he went toZurich to study underPaul Karrer . There he became fascinated by theviolin when he had the opportunity to take lessons on an instrument once owned by one of his heroes,Albert Einstein .In 1963 he went to
Cambridge to study underAlexander Todd at the laboratory there. He moved to America in 1964 and in 1968 he moved toTexas where he became a professor ofbiochemistry andbiophysics atTexas A&M University .In 1983 he devoted his research entirely to the study of recreating the legendary tone of
violins made by the old masters. While working at Texas A&M University as a biochemist Nagyvary succeeded in making a violin somewhere near the quality of a Stradivari.Texas A&M University biochemist Joseph Nagyvary succeeded in making a violin somewhere near the quality of a Stradivari by leaving the wood to soak in brine. [cite news | author=Robert Uhlig | title=Stradivari 'Owes it All to Worms' | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/03/31/wviol31.xml | work=The Telegraph | date=31 March 2001 | accessdate=2007-08-20] Because of the lack of land inVenice , during that period imported wood was often stored in the seawater of theVenetian Lagoon , where a type ofdecomposition had a slight effect on the wood. Nagyvary managed to acquire woodshaving s from a Stradivarius violin, and under amicroscope he found the natural filter plates in thepore s between thetracheid s were gone. He also treated the wood with a preparation ofborax in the manner of Stradivari, who used it to prevent infestation. Fact|date=May 2008By late 2003, Nagyvary refined his techniques and produced a violin that was tested in a duel with the "Leonardo da Vinci" of 1725, an instrument not from Stradivari’s golden period. [cite news | author=Kathleen Phillips | title=Violin Duel a Draw for Antique Stradivarius, New Instrument | url=http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/BICH/Sep2203a.htm | archivedate=2003-10-03 | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20031003034650/ | work=AGNews | publisher=Texas A&M University | date=22 Sept 2003| accessdate=2008-02-24] Both violins were played in each of four selections of music by violinist Dalibor Karvay behind a screen to an audience of 600 attended by 160 trained musicians and 303 regular concert goers. This was the first public comparison of a Stradivari with a contemporary instrument before a large audience where the audience would cast ballots on the performance quality of each violin. The consensus was that Nagyvary's instrument surpassed the Stradivarius in each category by a small margin. - Fact|date=May 2008
References
* Bio of Joseph Nagyvary [http://www.tamu.edu/classes/bich/nagyvar/bio.html]
* Nagyvary's Violin Interest [http://www.tamu.edu/classes/bich/nagyvar/work.html]
* Bio of Nagyvary from Nagyvary Violins [http://www.nagyvaryviolins.com/bio.html]
* More Nagyvary Information (Nagyvary Violions) [http://www.nagyvaryviolins.com/about.html]
* Chemical secrets of Stradivari unveiled -- from the Telegraph [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/30/nviol30.xml]
* Stradivari 'owes it all to worms' -- Telegraph [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/03/31/wviol31.xml]
* Mystery Solved: Chemicals Made Stradivarius Violins Unique, Says Nagyvary [http://tamunews.tamu.edu/archives/article.php?articleid=3791&month=11&year=2006]
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