AS a teenage student at London's Central School of Art and Design, Roger Hansell's life was changed by a chance encounter at the V&A Museum. 'I was looking around at the paintings and sculptures when I came upon a 1699 violin by Antoni Stradivari. I was transfixed,' he recalls. 'It was so organic and so totally itself. I loved the work of J. M. W. Turnerthe luminosity he created by the layering of paint. I saw the same thing in the Stradivari, the way the multiple layers of varnish interacted with the natural tones of the wood. It was scintillating and, right away, I wanted to find out how it was achieved.' Mr Hansell grew up on a farm in Swainby, North Yorkshire. He had spent his boyhood carving stone heads-'most of them fell apart,' he laughs and tinkering in the farm's workshops. After his experience at the V&A, he cycled around the specialist shops of London acquiring materials. Disappearing into his flat, he emerged a few weeks later with his first violin. Mr Hansell modestly dismisses the idea that, for someone with no formal training in carpentry, this was an amazing feat. 'In woodworking terms, it is not all that complicated.
It is easy to make a violin,' he believes. 'What is hard is to make a good one. Everything in life is simple, unless you have high standards.' This man's standards were very high indeed.
Although his initial effort may not have won any prizes, he persisted. Today, Mr Hansell is acknowledged to be one of the finest luthiers of his generation. For the past 37 years, from his workshop in Leyburn in the Yorkshire Dales, he has been creating violins, violas and cellos for some of the most prestigious players around the world.
'One of the first really major works I undertook was for Moray Welsh, principal cellist with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO),' reveals Mr Hansell. 'He asked me to make a copy of his 1705 Matteo Goffriller cello, which was a superb instrument. I studied every part of that cello.
Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A trip down memory lane
IN contemplating the imminent approach of a rather large and unwanted birthday, I keep reminding myself of the time when birthdays were exciting: those landmark moments of becoming a teenager or an adult, of being allowed to drive, to vote or to buy a drink in a pub.
The lord of masterly rock
Charles Dance, fresh from donning Michelangelo’s smock for the BBC, discusses the role, the value of mentoring and why the Sistine chapel is like playing King Lear
The good, the bad and the ugly
With a passion for arguing and a sharp tongue to match his extraordinary genius, Michelangelo was both the enfant prodige and the enfant 'terribile’ of the Renaissance, as Michael Hall reveals
Ha-ha, tricked you!
Giving the impression of an endless vista, with 18th-century-style grandeur and the ability to keep pesky livestock off the roses, a ha-ha is a hugely desirable feature in any landscape. Just don't fall off
Seafood, spinach and asparagus puff-pastry cloud
Cut one sheet of pastry into a 25cm–30cm (10in–12in) circle. Place it on a parchment- lined baking tray and prick all over with a fork. Cut the remaining sheets of pastry to the same size, then cut inner circles so you are left with rings of about 5cm (2½in) width and three circles.
Small, but mighty
To avoid the mass-market cruise-ship circuit means downsizing and going remote—which is exactly what these new small ships and off-the-beaten track itineraries have in common.
Sharp practice
Pruning roses in winter has become the norm, but why do we do it–and should we? Charles Quest-Ritson explains the reasoning underpinning this horticultural habit
Flour power
LONDON LIFE contributors and friends of the magazine reveal where to find the capital's best baked goods
Still rollin' along
John Niven cruises in the wake of Mark Twain up the great Mississippi river of the American South
The legacy Charles Cruft and Crufts
ACKNOWLEDGED as the ‘prince of showmen’ by the late-19th-century world of dog fanciers and, later, as ‘the Napoleon of dog shows’, Charles Cruft (1852–1938) had a phenomenal capacity for hard graft and, importantly, a mind for marketing—he understood consumer behaviour and he knew how to weaponise ‘the hype’.
