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In Focus: A 1776 mute violin by Nicolò Gagliano

2026-07-24T07:03:00

cert copy

Nazrin Rashidova and Peter Beare take a look at the unique instrument

Nicolò Gagliano, son of Alessandro and brother of Gennaro, was part of the second generation of the prolific Neapolitan violin making family. He was Alessandro’s eldest son, and is generally considered the family’s most successful luthier. Although he sometimes used Amati models, his instruments were mainly inspired by Antonio Stradivari, and have occasionally been mistaken as his work. Here we will look more closely at the unusual construction of a unique instrument: a mute violin that celebrates its 250th birthday this year. It has recently (2024–25) been exhibited in the exhibition ‘Stradivarius and the Golden Age of Violins and Guitars’, held at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ, US…

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