German Violinmaking: The Klotz Family

Austria’s von Trapps might have a movie made about them, but the musical contributions of the Klotz luthiers are celebrated with a statue and a school.

The Catholic Church, as well as with many other Christian denominations, has a, shall we say, evolving history with the use of instrumental support of liturgical music. The chants and polyphonic a capella style are considered the original, and therefore most pure, expression of praise and worship.

So how is it that a statue of Mathias Klotz, patriarch of the Klotz family of violinmakers, stands prominently outside the Church of Saint Peter and Paul in Mittenwald, Germany? The statue was erected in 1890 and managed to survive two world wars.

The Church eventually has come to embrace, in fits and starts, organs and trumpets and flutes and, yes, violins, violas, cellos, and the stringed bass. Oddly, the bassoon was among the earlier instruments deemed acceptable as all types of instruments made their way from the secular to the sacred.

But the reason Saint Peter and Saint Paul so honors the first luthier of Mittenwald may be because Klotz saved the town from economic disaster. After centuries of being a market town a switch to Bolzano (both situated between Venice and Augsburg) devastated the local economy in one fell swoop. It was in 1679, when Klotz was 26 years old.

The son of a tailor, Klotz had been studying violin making under renowned luthiers Nicolo Amati of Italy and Jacobus Stainer, a German, although some historians say evidence thereof is thin. So he returned in 1684 to the place of his birth, which happens to have a good supply of premium tone woods from the nearby Karwendel mountain region. Still near trans-Alpine trade routes, both supplies and customers were easy for him to access.

Mathias Klotz continued working at his storied violin shop through much of his life, living to the age of 90, producing fine cellos, violas and violins. But that was the beginning of what turned out to be eight generations of Klotz luthiers, the last (Hans Klotz) having died in 1988.

And while it was this first Klotz luthier who established a tradition, it was his son Sebastian (1696-1775) who was more skilled at the craft. Surviving violins made by Sebastian are considered the most valuable of this remarkable family. Still, the Sebastian Klotz violins, and those of his children-protegés, come in a range of aesthetic and dimensional (length of body, height of ribs) variation. The common characteristics are a high table, curved peg box, and lavish baroque scroll.

Successive generations of the Klotz family luthiers brought further variation: unusually large sized instruments; innovate arch, fluting and sound hole design; and broad purfling.

The creativity and productivity of the Klotzes led the state of Bavaria to establish, in 1856, the region’s official school of violinmaking (Staatliche Berufsschule Mittenwald), which today offers a full-time, seven semester vocational training and degreed program in a range of instrument making (violins, bows, plucked instruments, woodwind instruments, and brass instruments).

No longer must the priests and monks chant a capella (unless they want to). Mittenwald meanwhile resounds with the sound of music from all those student luthiers aspiring to be like a Klotz.

Albert Einstein and the Violin

While scribbling difficult formulas about E=mc² on a chalkboard, it may have been Mozart’s Violin Sonata in C that coursed through his considerable brain.

 

We may have Mozart to thank for E=mc².

 

The most famous scientific equation in the world, given us by none other than Albert Einstein, is a product of the man’s genius. As a theoretical physicist, his theory of relativity is one of many contributions he made to the development of quantum mechanics. He was educated at the Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, Switzerland and later received a PhD from the University of Zurich. Einstein taught at many European and American universities, and was a resident scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

But there is strong evidence, as well as direct quotes from Professor Einstein himself, that suggest his love of music may have played a key role in his cognitive development and in his work throughout his life.

 

Einstein’s mother, Pauline Koch, was herself a pianist of some accomplishment. She introduced young Albert at age 6 to the violin. He didn’t take to it at first, but at the age of 13 he became acquainted with Mozart’s violin sonatas. He more or less self-taught and achieved accolades from those who heard him. There is some debate on how accomplished he may have been – photographs of him playing with his beloved chamber ensembles show poor form, such as failing to bow the instrument perpendicular to the strings. But it was a lifelong passion. He carried a violin with him wherever he traveled and he enjoyed performing for friends and family until late in life.

 

In recent decades the role of music in cognitive development has been well established. Studies indicate that the study of music, and playing an instrument in particular, helps with language processing, memory retention, math, social skills development, academic success, and long-term success in life.

 

A study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience (“Longitudinal Analysis of Music Education on Executive Functions in Primary School Children,” Jaschke, Honing, Scherder, 2018) found “structured music lessons significantly enhance children’s cognitive abilities – including language based reasoning, short-term memory, planning, and inhibition – leading to improved academic performance.”

 

Reportedly, the great physicist said, “life without playing music is inconceivable for me. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. I get most joy in life out of music.”

 

Einstein owned several fine violins. In 2018, one sold at auction for $516,500, an amount far beyond its intrinsic valuation (Einstein memorabilia is a highly valued and finite category for collectors). Originally a gift to Einstein from Oscar Steger, a violin maker who was a member of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist gave the instrument to a Princeton University janitor, Sylas Hibbs, whose son Lawrence was studying the violin.

 

Perhaps musical training also engenders generosity and empathy. But does it take a genius to figure that out?