User:Bentstave

Nicolas Bertrand
Nicolas Bertrand was the most significant French viol maker of early 18th-century and his career, from or before 1687 until his death in 1725, spanned a time during which much of the greatest French music for the viol was composed.

His output was large and 22 of his instruments are known to have survived, of which 16 are bass viols. Perhaps the best-preserved example is a large seven-string bass dated 1720, now in the Musée de la Musique in Paris. In addition to bass viols, he built pardessus, treble viols, and pochettes.

His earliest extant work, a seven-string bass viol of somewhat smaller dimensions than those of his later instruments, is dated 1687. Most of his seven-string bass viols are of quite large size, the tops about 71 cm long, the maximum width of the lower bouts about 40 cm and the sides about 13 cm deep. His authentic labels are often handwritten and typically read “Nicolas Bertrand / a Paris [date]”. Several authorities cite him as being “faiseur d’instrumens ordinaire de la muzique du Roy” [maker of instruments in ordinary to the King’s music].

Bertrand was apparently the first French viol maker to carve instrument tops from two joined halves after the manner of Italian violins. This represented a distinct change from the techniques of his predecessors in England and France, whose instruments usually have tops made of five (less often, three) pre-bent staves glued together along their edges.

The extremely restrained decoration of his viols is usually limited to a single line of purfling on the belly. His instruments are often adorned with a beautifully carved female head. In some examples, the pegbox is elaborately carved; in others it is left plain. His distinctive soundholes have a pronounced roundness to their curves and are beautifully cut.

His maple wood, used for the back and sides of the instruments, is generally handsome and sometimes extraordinary wild. The backs of his instruments are typically of two matched pieces. His varnish, often of a lovely reddish brown, stands out as one of the most beautiful of his epoch in France. He sold “the varnish, and the drugs [i.e., resins, colors, etc.] for making it, and for the secret of how to make it” to his successor for 60 livres.

The date of his death is known from an inventory of his shop made “upon the death of Nicolas Bertrand” which is dated the 10th of November, 1725. To judge from this document as well as his surviving works, most of his efforts went into the production of bass viols. In the last year of his life, Bertrand owned an enormous stock of instruments, over 250, some of his own make and some by other French and English makers. He also seems to have been a dealer in wood and parts for other tradesmen including guitar and even harpsichord makers. The inventory lists four work benches and heavy tools, indicating that he employed several helpers, probably two journeymen and an apprentice.

After his death, his instruments continued to appear in the inventories of later 18th-century makers. In modern times, his instruments have been prized by collectors and have been widely copied by modern viol makers. In addition to the Bertrand viols in public and private collections, several are owned and played by well-known soloists.

--Bentstave (talk) 04:16, 29 November 2009 (UTC)