August Martin Ludwig Gemünder (22 March 1814, Ingelfingen – 7 September 1895, New York City) was an American violin maker who worked in the United States. With his brother, the great American luthier

George Gemünder Georg (George) Gemünder (13 April 1816 Ingelfingen - 15 January 1899) was a German-born American violin maker who worked in Boston, Massachusetts, and later, Astoria, New York. With his brother August and others, he pioneered the construction of ...

, and others, he pioneered the construction of quality violins in the United States.

Biography

His father was a violin maker and repairer and Gemünder was brought up in the business—taking over the shop on his father's death. In 1839, he moved to Regensburg and resided in several other cities in Germany as well. In 1846, he emigrated to Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States. Later he established himself in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and then New York City. Gemünder specialized in copying old Italian masters, especially the instruments of Antonio Stradivarius, Joseph Guarnerius, and Paolo Maggini. In 1844 he was asked by a German violinist to make a violin that should not be an imitation, as to tone or any other quality, of the Italian masters. In executing the order, he succeeded in producing an instrument that he preserved as a model. His violins were used by leading soloists, such as

August Wilhelmj __NOTOC__ August Emil Daniel Ferdinand Wilhelmj ( ; 21 September 184522 January 1908) was a German violinist and teacher. Wilhelmj was born in Usingen and was considered a child prodigy; when Henriette Sontag heard him in 1852 at seven years o ...

and Adolf Brodsky. Perhaps his greatest masterpiece was a celebrated copy of

Sarasate Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908), commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish (Navarrese) violin virtuoso, composer and conductor of the Romantic period. His best known works inclu ...

Amati Amati (, ) is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nicolò ...

, which that artist pronounced equal to the original. August's violins possessed a pure, even tone quality, responded easily, and were thought to excel in power the Italian instruments they were copied from. Gemünder contributed a series of articles to the trade journals, in which he discussed “Old and New Violins,” including a comparison of the tone of those instruments with the human voice; “The Cremona Secret,” a disquisition on the wood used in the manufacture of violins; “The Lost Secret and Common Sense,” with others on Italian varnish, violin construction, etc. He worked at times in partnership with his brother George.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gemunder, August 1814 births 1895 deaths German emigrants to the United States American luthiers People from Ingelfingen German luthiers