Here’s something fun, courtesy of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States: Researchers tried a double-blind test to see if professional violinists — not listeners — could tell the difference in sound between two Stradivarius, one Guarneri del Jesú and three modern violins. Only three people out of the 17 study subjects could pick out a Strad.
I failed the Old Master test, too — and had the benefit of a 50-50 opportunity to get it right, thanks to an enlightening little story on National Public Radio you can catch here.
John Terauds
John Terauds, Editor-Emeritus of Ludwig van Toronto, is currently a Divinity student at the University of Toronto and a church music director. He joined the Toronto Star in 1988, was the classical music critic from 2005 to 2012, and continues as a freelance critic for the paper. He is the co-author of Roy Thomson Hall: A Portrait, a book written with Toronto Star Colleague, William Littler.
Latest posts by John Terauds (see all)
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
