I Segreti di Sgarabotto

Gaetano Sgarabotto, one of the most greatly admired violin makers in the first half of the twentieth century, revealed his “secrets” to his son Pietro. After transcribing his father’s knowledge and practices in several notebooks, in 1936 Pietro compiled the first modern Italian manual on making bowed instruments, now published here for the first time. By documenting Gaetano’s activities as a restorer, imitator and scholar, who not only meticulously made notes but also gathered fragments and casts, Pietro’s writings were an ambitious attempt to revive classical violin making, foreshadowing Simone Fernando Sacconi and his “Secrets of Stradivari”.

“It is probably the most thorough and direct step-by-step account of the methods and techniques of any leading violin maker (…) This book is now the definitive account of the Sgarabottos, and an important part of Italian violin making history”

John Dilworth, The Strad, February 2020