Fine Violin Made by Knute Reindahl No. 569 Madison, Wisconsin July 1929 – Awesome Violin!

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Knute Reindahl 1857-1936 was born November 16, 1857, in Telemark, Norway where fiddle making had long been a tradition in his mother’s family. Beginning with Knute’s great-grandfather, Olav Gullbekk circa 1760-1836, several generations had produced makers of both Norwegian Hardanger fiddles and classic Italian instruments. Knute’s widowed mother emigrated to America with her seven children in 1867 when Knute was nine years old, settling near Madison in the Town of Burke, Wisconsin. Knute had little schooling, never making it past 5th grade. He’d rather carve salad bowls and picture frames than study books. Selling his handmade trinkets, he visited Indian camps on Lake Monona by the city. By age 8 Knute realized wood carving was his only interest. The neighboring Ho Chunk Indians taught him how to make bows and arrows. He peddled these and other carved items such as spoons and letter openers door-to-door and to local stores to help his family.

Working as a hired man on farms and construction sites as a young man, Reindahl saved enough money to return to Telemark in 1887, studying woodcarving and distinguishing himself as an ornamental carver and instrument maker. He had learned the best violin makers had originally been wood carvers, like Stradivarius and Amati. Two years later he was back in America, but success did not come quickly. I think it was Reindahl’s fierce determination to become very good at something that brought him great rewards. When the Chicago Symphony Orchestra moved into a newly built Orchestra Hall on Michigan Avenue, the old violins built by masters were too weak to be heard. The director of the orchestra bought five of Reindahl’s violins to replace the other violins. In 1900 one of Reindahl’s violins won the Diploma of Merit for woodcarving and received a special medal for it at the World’s Fair in Paris. Reindahl was the only violin maker mentioned in the “Who’s Who” of the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. When Fritz Kreisler was honored in Madison, Wisconsin he was presented with a Reindahl violin. By all accounts Knute Reindahl was self-taught maker of violins and bows; no electrical tools, all hand work and Wow! he developed the gifts he had from the Lord.

In 1889 Knute went to Chicago, where he worked as an ornamental woodcarver, first for the Pullman Car Company. I have witnessed firsthand the quality of the carving interior of one of these Pullman railroad cars at “Hildene” Robert Todd Lincoln’s “summer cottage” family home in Manchester, Vermont. The woodworking workmanship on these cars is off-the-charts beautiful. Knute later became the foreman of the woodcarving shop of the Windsor Folding Bed Company.

Knute really got serious making handmade violins in the early 1890’s and in 1899 he established a studio in the Atheneum Building at the corner of Wabash Ave. and E. Van Buren Street. Without assistants or machinery, Reindahl produced 585 violins and some 20 each of violas and cellos. He also made an unknown number of bows, at least one guitar, and one pitchfork cello, or “Viking Cello” as he called it. Several of his early instruments exhibit his fine carving and engraving. He made instruments of the violin family in his Chicago atelier until the Summer of 1915, when he moved his family and business back to Madison, Wisconsin. Knute continued making and repairing instruments at his studio in Madison until sometime in 1934 when he became disabled by illness. He died in Madison on January 17, 1936.

Our violin is number 569 and was well played. We meticulously went over the violin, bushing all eight holes and cut a new set of ebony pegs, a new fingerboard and nut. We gave the violin a new soundpost and bridge, tailpiece and chin rest. In short, an entire new set up. The violin has no issues and has a beautiful one-piece back. The varnish is a deep orange/brown on an amber base.

Corpus 357.0 mm. Major Width 206.0 mm. Minor Width 167.5 mm. Rib height 30.0 mm

The sound literally jumps off the strings. Yes, the response is quick. The tone is deep and rich and the strength of this instrument was noticeable as soon as I played. The bottom end has a gutsy quality, rich, ringing, and woody. The overtones are evident and assist in the sustain of the instrument. The response off the G is powerful and each of the other strings exhibit the same drive and sustain. The E and the A are vibrant and noticeably clear. The violin has a great overall sound; tonally inviting and better than the best cup of coffee you have had this summer. It is a beautiful violin full of history, and it is not a wonder the director of the Chicago Symphony purchased 5 of his violins the first year he was open for business.