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    Who Invented The Violin ?

    本篇生词：

    orchestra 管弦乐队 high rank 如此高的地位 rebec 雷贝克琴（三弦古琴） wide range of expression 宽广的表现力 stringed 有弦的 vielle 维尔琴（六弦提琴） Balkan Peninsula 巴尔干半岛 Arabic 阿拉伯半岛 sturdy 结实的 peg 弦轴，琴栓  bow 琴弓 theme n. 主题

    The violin is known as the queen of instruments. Of the more than one hundred musicians in a great orchestra, over thirty are violinists. The violin's high rank is due to the beauty of its tone and its wide range of expression. the violin took many centuries to develop. Its history beings in India, where the use of a bow to play stringed instruments was probably invented. During the early Middle Ages in Europe various stringed instruments were played with a bow. One of these was the vielle, which was probably introduced to Europe through the Balkan Peninsula in the 10th century. Like the violin, the vielle was held against the player's shoulder. Later the vielle was changed through the influence of the rebec. This was an Arabic instrument that spread from Spain to the rest of Europe. By combining the sturdy body of the vielle with the clever arrangement of the pegs in the rebec, a new group of instruments was born.

    The violin received its basic form between 1550 and 1600. Since that time it has changed only in small ways. the most successful violins were made in the 17th and 18th centuries. Italy produced outstanding families of violin-makers. Probably the greatest of these was Antonio Stradivari （1644- 1737） . Stradivari is called the master of all masters. He developed a larger, flatter type of violin than had been made before, which gave it more tone power. Stradivari is said to have built 1,116 instruments. Of these, 540 "strad" violins are known to us.