The Norway Spruce (picea abies) is an evergreen conifer renown for being a provider of Christmas trees but it has other more important functions for musicians. It is a wood popularly associated with making violins and other stringed instruments because it is renown for its slow-growing in a cold climate.
The Hazel Spruce which grows in the European Alps, moreover, has been recognised by UNESCO as having a cultural heritage because it was the wood which was used to make the legendary Stradivarius stringed instruments.
The Italian craftsman Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) made a number of stringed instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, harps and guitars, in the late seventeenth and early eighteen centuries. Today these instruments sell for millions because of their exquisite and matchless sound quality. A Stradivarius violin dating from 1703 is housed in the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum as illustrated.
Famous names who have played named Stradivarius violins include Joshua Bell, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Jascha Heifetz, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen and Yehudi Menuhin.
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