National Violin Day
National Violin Day:
Celebrated on December 13th every year. The day is to applaud the existence of violin, a wooden string instrument.
Year | Date | Day | Where |
2018 | 13th December | Thursday | United States |
2019 | 13th December | Friday | United States |
2020 | 13th December | Sunday | United States |
Twitter Hashtags:
#NationalViolinDay
#ViolinDay
Related: Other National Days Celebrated on December 13th:
Why Violin Day?
The day is to applaud the existence of violin, a wooden string instrument that includes scroll, tailpiece, fingerboard, peg box, a neck, 3 bouts (upper bout, Lower bout and C bout), and a bridge, F-Holes, Fine Tuners and Chinrest. The pitch range is from G3 to Es. The lowest note is G whereas the highest note is E. The person who plays violin are termed as violinist or fiddlers and the one who manufactures or repairs violin is called as Luthiers.
How we can Celebrate or Observe National Violin Day:
#ViolinDay to post about the National Violin Day.
Interesting Facts About Violin Day:
- A Violin has four vibrating elements, which produces different sounds. Traditionally violins are made of wood, but it evolves to electrical violin and the sounds can be changed with the help of speaker, amplifier and electronic pickup.
- The term violin is derived from the Italian name “violino” that in turn derived from Latin term “Vitula” means “stringed instrument”. The informal name of violin is “fiddle” means “stringed instrument”. The word fiddle was used in English in the fourteenth century and the word “violin” was used in the fifteenth century.
- The French king Charles IX ordered 24 violins in 1560.
- The finest decorated and carved violin in the world is the Gasparo da Sala that was constructed in the year 1574 and owned by Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria. After him, it was owned by some others, no evidence has been documented with respect to the owners. After that, from 1841, Norwegian virtuoso Ole Bull owned Gasparo da Salo, and used it for around forty years. He performed thousands of musical concerts since it produced very powerful tones.
- A violin named “The Messiah” or “Le Messie” or “Salabue”, constructed by Stradivari, a famous Italian luthier, in the year 1716 remains in its original condition and exhibited at Ashmolean Museum of Oxford.
- Strings were first made by sheep gut or simply gut that was made elongated, dried, and twisted. However, it evolved to significant changes during the earlier 20th century when strings were made up of either gut or steel. Modern strings are constructed using gut, either solid or stranded steel. Usage of various synthetic materials like perlon is also quite common.
- It is also constructed with the help of various precious metals like silver. Several strings are wound, with some exceptions in “E String” that either is consist of plain or plated. Despite its unavailability, Gut strings are used by most of the violinist since it only can produce some historical sounds like the Baroque one.
- The life span of strings is limited and mainly depends on the Quality intensity. It is mainly affected by corrosion oil, dirt, and rosin accumulation that eventually leads to uneven strings. A String can be changed if it no longer produces good sounds. Violin authentication is done during the violin manufacturing to avoid any fraudulent actions.
- A violin named “Lady Blunt” was sold at auction for $15.9 million in the year 2011.
History of Violin Day:
The History of National Violin Day is not discovered within my research. However, violin otherwise called as fiddle is reported to be in use right from the 16th century. The violin was first discovered in Italy, during the sixteenth century and several alterations were made to make it to give powerful sounds during the eighteenth century. In European countries, it evolved numerous changes and it was an inspiration for producing the other stringed instruments that plays a vital role in classical music.