Giuseppe Pedrazzini

Giuseppe Pedrazzini (Pizzighettone, near Cremona, 13 January 1879 – 19 October 1957) was an Italian violin maker. He was a pupil of Riccardo Antoniazzi and Romeo Antoniazzi in Milan, then began to work on his own there. He quickly gained recognition and won awards at various exhibitions, including those in Rome in 1920 and in Cremona in 1937. He modelled his instruments after various patterns, especially those of Stradivari, G.B. Guadagnini and Amati, all of which he interpreted freely. Tonally his work is among the best of the early 20th-century Italian makers. He was a meticulous and elegant craftsman; the scrolls of his instruments are always deeply carved, and the symmetrically rounded curves of the bouts and flanks provide a distinctive touch. Besides new instruments, he made a number of skilful antiqued copies. He used a variety of different labels and, depending on the period, one of three different brands. A good part of his output was exported, and he had particularly close ties with Hawkes & Son (later Boosey & Hawkes) in London. Among his pupils and associates were Ferdinando Garimberti, P. Parravicini and his nephew N. Novelli.[1]

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Although his work is extremely distinctive, Pedrazzini was unusually versatile in that as well as following the usual Amati' Grand Pattern, Amatese Stradivari and, more rarely, Guadagnini models, he also paid tribute to the old Milanese school by incorporating Giovanni Grancino’s influence into his own models and varnishing. The only other modern maker in Milan who ever tried his hand at this unusual model was Celeste Farotti, and this only in his antiqued copies, whereas Pedrazzini did so subtly in his straight work.

Pedrazzini’s highly distinctive scrolls – which are extremely symmetrical, very round, large yet delicate and deeply cut – are strongly influenced by those of Giovanni Grancino with perhaps a bit of Amati. These masterfully carved, heavily chamfered scrolls, as well as the angled position of the precisely cut, lightly fluted f-holes, are the features that most recall their classical Milanese prototypes. Pedrazzini’s, wide, rounded back buttons complement the scrolls.

His wood choice is nearly always of excellent quality and the purfling, positioned close to the neat channeling of the edge, is quite thin and often not very strongly stained. The backs are pinned with well-centered, round pins that are removed slightly from the purfling, although he sometimes omits the pins, particularly in his earlier work. The corners are quite triangular and generally stubby.