POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Violin made by Barak Norman

Object No. 92/236

This violin is significant as one the earliest violins made in England in the Powerhouse Museum's collection. It is also made by one of England's finest viol and violin makers during this early period, Barak Norman. Dated 1723 the instrument is a very late example of the work of Norman. The instruments' more recent provenance also makes it significant having belonged to Rudolph Dolmetsch one of the sons of Arnold Dolmetsch, who with his family greatly contributed to the revival of Early Music during the twentieth century. Originally part of the collection of Arnold Dolmetsch, the violin was given by him to his son Rudolph on his 21st birthday. Rudolph Dolmetsch was killed in action during World War II in 1942. The violin was later sold to Professor Donald Peart, who knew Dolmetsch as a player of early music. Peart was the founder of the first Department of Music at the University of Sydney so this instrument also has particular significance to the Sydney region. Further Reading: Brian Blood; The Dolmetsch Story, Dolmetsch Online, http://www.dolmetsch.com/index.htm Margaret Campbell; Dolmetsch: the man and his work, (Hamilton, London, 1975). Benjamin Hebbert; "A Catalogue of Surviving Instruments by, or Ascribed to, Barak Norman" in The Galpin Society Journal, (Vol. 54, May 2001, pp.285-329). Michael Lea Curator, music & musical instruments February 2012.