Some Italian Regions, most specifically some Italian cities, have had long-lasting traditions in the musical field: an organization based on schools and cultural organizations with specific characteristics.
Its geographical position between the Appennines, the longest Italian river Po and the Adriatic Sea, gives the Emilia-Romagna Region and Bologna, its most important city, the peculiar feature of a land of transit for all sorts of travellers, arts and events; a Region which warmly welcomes artists and performers coming from other lands and is at the same time willing to export traditions.
During the 15th and 16th Centuries many violin makers emigrated from Southern Germany to Bologna, among them Laux Maler and Hans Frei, starting the production of violins of very high quality. During the same years, a handcrafted harpsichord was enhanced and improved (the most ancient instrument dating 1521 by Hieronjmus Bononiensis). Famous families, such as The Brensis, Guidantis and Tonionis, promoted the production of musical instruments. Important authors like G.Antonio De Marchi, Florenus Guidantis and Luigi Manconcini should be mentioned.
In the 19th Century Bologna finally became a very important centre of string instruments, well known for its music schools and consequently for the production of instruments. A very important School of violin making was established, based on a different concept of violins making that included the use of the “external form” for the bands and consequently a different methodology in the construction of the instrument.
Founder and Maestro of the School was Raffaele Fiorini; his followers contributed to transforming Bologna into a very creative centre of violin making, expressed in multiple styles and models.
Raffeale Fiorini was the master of the workshop where craftsmen like Augusto Pollastri, Cesare and Oreste Candi, Giuseppe Fiorini jr and Armando Monerumici also worked.
Other violin-makers such as Gaetano Pollastri, Ansaldo Poggi, Carlo Carletti and Otello Bignami, are only some of the most famous followers of the Scuola Bolognese, an important and outstanding Workshop where the art of violin making represents a continuous research of tecnichal, artistic and acoustic improvements.
