卡爾・貝克：家族價值
（1992, Strad雜誌）

NOVEMBER 1992 VOL.103 NO.1231
本文刊登於Strad雜誌1992年11月，本期主題為「美國」

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DENNES ROONEY WENT TO CHICACO TO MEET CARL F. BECKER, THE MIDPOINT OF A VIOLIN DYASTY.
赴芝加哥拜訪提琴王朝的中生代：卡爾・貝克

If you go to Chicago to visit Carl Becker and Son. don't expect to find a quietly elegant showroom where master instruments are displayed amid antique furnishings and reverent voices. In Fact. if you reach their headquarters, chances are you'll think you've come to the wrong address. Located in a drab, blue-collar part of town, the building is, to say the least, unprepossessing, a simple balloon-Frame two storey double house indistinguishable from its neighbours.

如果你去芝加哥訪問貝克父子提琴（Carl Becker and Son），不要期望會找到一間擺放著古典家具、充滿肅穆氣氛、牆上吊滿古董樂器、富麗堂皇的陳列室。事實上，置身在這貝克父子的總店，你會懷疑自己是不是走錯地方了。貝克父子的總店位於芝加哥城北藍領區，夾在兩邊房屋中，與周圍的房屋並沒有什麽區別，缺乏任何吸引人之處。

Climb the steps from the kerb to a front porch with a slight sag and ring the upstairs bell. That was what I did one morning Last spring. In a moment. Paul Becker. Carl's son and one of the new generation of Becker luthiers, came downstairs to let me in. I followed him up a steep flight of stairs that opens onto a combined workshop and sales floor.

去年春天的一個早上，我爬上街道邊欄的階梯，到達有一點下陷的前門廊，按響樓上的門鈴。過了一會兒貝克的兒子、貝克提琴家族的新一代保羅・貝克（Paul Becker）下樓給我開門。我跟著他爬著陡峭的樓梯上樓，樓上供工作和銷售兩用。


Some of the accoutrements may belong to the 20th century, but the ambience of the place would no doubt be Familiar to any successful artisan from medieval times. Under this roof the Becker’s work upstairs and live down. the two spheres interacting at midday with a plentiful meal served downstairs by Mrs. Carl Becker. This has been the family’s home since 1951 and headquarters of the family firm after 1974.

這裏有些裝飾物可能是20世紀的，但是對來自中古世紀的藝術家毫無疑問會對這裏的環境非常熟悉。在這所房子裏，貝克家族在樓上工作，在樓下居住。中午的時候卡爾・貝克太太會在樓下爲家人準備好豐盛的午餐。貝克一家人自從1951年起就在這裏居住，自從1974年起這裏成爲家族企業的總部。


On several days prior to our meeting, I had talked with some of that city’s leading violin dealers and makers, all of whom unanimously lauded both the quality of Becker instruments and the integrity of their makers. As one of them said: “Their instruments have a consistent quality that is the mark if true genius”. Becker instruments, according to one reference source, have a fame that has become ‘universal in America’. In The New Grore, Charles Beare states that Carl Becker and Son ‘developed that art of violin restoration to a high level, introducing a number of important innovations and technical improvements’.

在我們見面的前幾天，我與該市一些知名小提琴交易商和製作商進行了談話，他們一致稱讚貝克家族所生産樂器的質量以及該家族的正直品格。其中一人說：「他們的樂器始終保持一貫的質量，在提琴製造界，這是表現真正天才的標誌。」據一位受訪者稱，Becker家族生産的樂器全美聞名。在The New Grove刊物內, 世界提琴鑑定宗師Charles Beare說：「Carl Becker and Son將小提琴修復藝術發展到了極高的水平，發展了許多重要創新和技術的改進。」


Nearing his 73rd birthday, Carl F. Becker is now the patriarch of the firm that he founded with his father, Carl G. Becker, in 1969. This followed their decision to leave their long-time employer, William Lewis & Son, after that house, one of the city’s most respected dealers, chose to cease operations in downtown Chicago. Until then, Carl G. Becker had headed Lewis’ repair department from 1923 while making instruments under his own name and, after 1947, jointly with his son. It was Carl G. (1887-1975), sometimes referred to as ‘Carl(I)’ who made the name of Becker one to reckon with among U.S. makers, Carl F. notes that the family’s work began even earlier: ‘My great-grandfather, Hermann Macklett, produced fine instruments here in Chicago. How he learned we have no idea. So there was a talent present, at least in my father’s maternal ancestry. Unfortunately there was no direct contact between Macklett and my father because Macklett died in 1884, three years before Dad was born. However, it means that the family has been established as makers in Chicago since at least the Civil War.

Carl F. Becker很快就73歲了，他現在是Becker樂器製造行的最高領導，該公司是他和父親Carl G. Becker在1969共同創立的。此前二人長期爲芝加哥最受尊重的商行之一William Lewis & Son工作，直到該公司決定停止在芝加哥的業務。自1923年起直到離開William Lewis & Son之前，Carl G. Becker一直領導William Lewis & Son的維修部，同時製作以自己名稱命名的樂器。自1947年起，與他的兒子合作共同製作樂器。Carl G.（1887-1975），有時候被人們稱爲老Carl，他使Becker成美國樂器製作響亮的名號。Carl F.說該家族更早以前就開始從事樂器工作了。「我的曾祖父Herman Macklett在芝加哥生産精美的樂器。我們不知道他是怎麽學到的。所以至少在我父親的父輩祖先中有樂器方面的基因。但是遺憾的是，我曾祖父和我父親之間並沒有直接接觸過，這是由於我曾祖父在1884年，即父親出生三年前去世了。但是這意味著至少從美國國內戰爭時期我們家族就成爲了樂器製造世家。」


Macklett's son-in-law. Carl J. Becker, was an accomplished performer and teacher, rather than a maker, but his grandson began to display the family talent as a youth. 'My father started at 14. When he first started. be worked for a man by the name of Lane, who would frequently send him on errands downtown to Lyon & Healy, and I remember him telling me how fascinated he was by the display of instruments in their windows. At that time. Lyon & Healy was a major American violin dealer, and Dad loved to spend time looking at their wonderful Italian instruments. Eventually he went to work for Lyon & Healy, working under John Hornsteiner, a Mittenwald man.

Macklett的女婿Carl J. Becker是一位傑出的演奏家和教師，而不是樂器製作者，但是Macklett的孫子Carl G. Becker自少年時代就顯示了家族在樂器製作方面的天才。“我的父親從14歲開始製作樂器。在他剛開始進行樂器工作的時候爲名叫Lane的人工作。Lane經常派我父親到城中心的Lyon & Healy辦事。我記得父親告訴我他被展示在Lyon & Healy櫥窗裏面的樂器深深吸引了。當時，Lyon & Healy是一家重要的美國小提琴交易商。我父親喜歡長時間地欣賞美妙的義大利小提琴。最後，他去了Lyon & Healy在Mittenwald訓練的John Hornsteiner領導下工作。


‘Dad's strong curiosity led him to study instruments intently and learn directly from them. This fascination with instruments- how and why they were made - is the foundation of our business. He always studied fine repair work. especially the work of Hill's. It seems clear that Hornsteiner must soon have come to have great confidence in the boy. ‘In 1906, when my Dad was 18, Hornsteiner gave him the responsibility of restoring a severely damaged Amati that belonged to Bruno Steindel, then Principal Cello of that Chicago Symphony, who had had an accident with it. As he restored the cello, Dad copied it and later showed his new copy to another member of that Orchestra, Carl Klammsteiner. Shortly afterward, Steindel happened to be playing his restored Amati at the shop when Klammsteiner walked in. “It sounds awfully good,” he told Steindel, “but you can hear that it’s new”!

「父親強烈的好奇心引導他熱切地研究小提琴，並直接從樂器中進行學習。這種對樂器製作方法的製作原因的癡迷是我們家族生意的基礎。他一直在學習精湛的修復提琴方法，尤其是Hill’s的方法。很顯然的，Hornsteiner 很快對這個孩子充滿了信心。1906年，在父親才18歲的時候，Hornsteiner 指派父親承擔修復一把嚴重損壞的 Amati 提琴，它的主人是芝加哥交響樂團的首席大提琴手Bruno Steindel。Bruno Steindel 在一次事故中損壞了那把提琴。在修復的同時，我父親複製了一把並將複製品給芝加哥交響樂團的另一成員Carl Klammsteiner 看。不久之後，在Steindel演奏那把已修復的提琴時，Klammsteiner 剛巧進來，他告訴Steindel：「這把提琴音色真是太美了，但你能聽出來它是新做的。」


A funny story, but also a typical expression of that prejudice against new instruments that has long been a bete noire among the Beckers, “This has been an important struggle from my father’s day to this. There are two camps: those who don’t like Beckers and those who do. I would say that a person who will play a new instrument is one who has confidence in his convictions and is not too much swayed by others’ opinions, those who might otherwise talk him out of the idea. Some of our supporters have really been strong-minded people in that respect. They are convinced of that merits of these instruments and they aren’t afraid to use them. Besides, if you make an instrument for someone, they are usually thrilled to have it because it was made for them. It is our preference not to make an instrument look old. Dad and I always believed in makng an instrument straight and then letting it wear naturally so that it develops its own pattern.’

In the late 20s and early 30s, however, the elder Becker had experimented with a few ‘aged’ instruments, ‘They were varnished straight and then had some brown colour added for shading and a few marks added- but never to the extent of the more detailed imitations. They were sold as “deluxe” instruments.’

這是一個新有趣的故事，但是也充分顯示了市場上對新樂器的偏見，Becker家族一直非常不滿這種偏見。「從我父親時代開始就一直爲消除人們的偏見而奮鬥。市場上存在兩個對立的陣營：一些人不喜歡Becker家族的作品，而另一些人非常喜歡。我敢說那些用新樂器進行演奏的人是對自己信仰充滿信心，而且不爲他人觀點動搖的人，否則他就可能被別人說服而改變自己的觀點。我們的支持者中有些人在這方面有很強的主見。他們非常相信我們製作的樂器的品質，而且不畏懼使用它們。而且，如果你爲某人製作了一件樂器，由於樂器是專門爲他們打造的，他們會因爲擁有它而激動不已。我們的製作傾向不故意讓樂器看起來顯得年代久遠（仿古）。父親和我堅信保持樂器的本色，讓其自然地隨著時間的流逝而磨損的理念，這樣它才能有自己的風格。」

但在20年代末、30年代初，Becker家族嘗試製作了幾把「古舊」樂器。這些樂器被上漆以新琴的面貌完成後，然後加上一些棕色以增加一點痕迹，但是我們從沒有進行更多細緻的仿造處理。我們把它們稱爲「豪華處理」樂器出售。

Violin no.736, 1970 by Carl F. Becker with the famous varnish.
Carl F. Becker 1970年用著名的秘方製作的貝克漆生産的736號小提琴。

CARL BECKER
卡爾・貝克

Visually, a new Becker instrument proclaims its newness almost defiantly with its colour usually a brilliant orange-red. ‘From what we have seen in our study of old instruments there is plenty of evidence to indicate that they were varnished completely, some with a relatively vivid orange-red colour. The business of varnish colour and whether to fake or not to fake has been a big issue in our lives. We've felt very strongly about it. People will look at a new instrument and then an old one that has been worn, and say: "Why don't you varnish them like they used to?", It is hard for them to believe that this newness mellows into a shaded pattern that Shows age.' Their varnish is a family secret. 'We're adamant on that subject. Many people in this business don't believe that varnish makes any difference, but we believe that it has to make a difference because it becomes part of' the instrument, and all the constituents of that instrument contribute to its tone quality.’

從視覺上來看，新貝克樂器通過通常是鮮豔的橙紅色來表明自己是嶄新，這是帶有公然對抗世俗觀念的意味。「我們通過對舊樂器的研究發現，大量證據表明這些舊樂器是完全上漆，有些帶有相對活潑的橙紅色。在我們的一生中亮漆顔色和是否進行僞造的仿古是重要的衝突。我們對這個問題有非常強烈的感觸。人們會觀察一把新樂器和一把被磨損的老樂器，然後說：『爲什麽你們不像樂器以前的樣子給它們上漆呢？』他們很難相信提琴的嶄新會産生能夠顯示年代的顔色漸變形態。上漆是一項家族秘密。「我們對這一問題非常堅信，許多從事該行業的人不相信亮漆會産生任何差別，但是亮漆是爲樂器的一部分，樂器任何組成部分都會是其音色質量的貢獻因素。」


In 1908, John Hornsteiner left Lyon & Healy to start his own shop and Carl G. Becker followed him. 'By then.' says his son. 'he had already developed a following for his repair work. At that time, instruments were frequently misattributed. Dad's interest and study led him to become quite an expert. He told me that a violin came into Hornsteiner’s shop and was offered for sale as a Guadagnini. Dad looked at it and told Hornsteiner to buy it. But there was something questionable about it -apparently it had made the rounds of the Chicago dealers - and Hornsteiner refused. So Dad said:"We’ll, if you won't buy it, I will," and borrowed money to do so. For a while the word went around that Carl Becker had been taken in by this "Take Guadagnini". Then Emil Heermann came to town and let it be known that it was unquestionably a Guadagnini. Dad told me that that experience did a lot to strengthen his confidence.’

1908年，爲建立自己的店面，John Hornsteiner離開Lyon & Healy。卡爾・G・貝克（Carl G. Becker）也跟隨他一起離開並加盟了Hornsteiner的店。「那時」 卡爾・G・貝克的兒子說，卡爾・G・貝克已經爲自己的修復工作培養了一批擁護者。那時，人們對樂器的鑒定經常出現錯誤。父親的興趣和研究使他成爲鑒定方面非常在行的專家。他告訴我有人把一把自稱是瓜達尼尼（Guadagnini）的小提琴來到Hornsteiner的店面，提出要出售。我父親看完後建議Hornsteiner買下它。但是這把小提琴存在令人疑慮之處，並且很顯然它已經在各芝加哥樂器交易商轉了一圈，卻一直沒人願意買。Hornsteiner拒絕了父親的建議。父親說：「好吧，如果你不買，我會買下來。」有好一段時間，人們都傳說貝克被假的瓜達尼尼琴欺騙了，最後證明了父親是對的。父親告訴我那次經歷讓他大大增強了自信。


No word would seem more incongruous when applied to the Becker tradition than ‘fashion', to which it is simply oblivious. In a world of foxes, the Beckers are unashamed hedgehogs.

In 1921. Carl Becker joined William Lewis under an arrangement that allowed him a three month leave of absence each summer. It was then when he established the Becker tradition of spending those months at the Family's summer home in Pickerel, Wisconsin, where instrument making alternated with fishing. Before then. Becker's instruments had been made at night or over weekends. He lost no time in setting up this new establishment, remembers his son: “That April. he bought the Pickerel Lake property from a cellist he knew. He had to get there by boat because there was no road. He had a cottage built that spring and then took some instruments with him that summer.” Ever since, de Beckers have worked and played in such Fashion. In that way, each generation has had an easy introduction to the tasks of the workshop and the nature of the work. Carl F. Becker recalls that it was that first summer in Pickerel that he began to frequent his father's shop.

「流行」這一詞是最不適於貝克家族傳統的，貝克家族已經忘記了這一詞。在充滿了狐狸的世界裏，貝克家族甘願做藏在樹叢裏的豪豬。

 1921年，卡爾・G・貝克加入William Lewis工作，該公司允許他每年夏天休三個月的假。就在那時，他建立了貝克家族每年夏天在威斯康辛州Pickerel的木屋住三個月的傳統。在這裏，家族成員進行樂器製作和釣魚活動。在此之前，Becker的樂器是在晚上或周末製作的。卡爾・G・貝克抓緊時間建立新住所。卡爾・G・貝克的兒子回憶說：「那年四月，他從認識的大提琴手購買了位於Pickerel湖泮的地産。由於沒有道路，他只能坐船到達那裏。那年春天，他蓋了一個小屋，當年夏天就帶了些樂器去那裏。」自從那以後，貝克家族就按照這種方式進行工作和娛樂。這樣，每一代都輕鬆地瞭解了工作坊的任務和工作的性質。卡爾・F・貝克回憶說正是在Pickerel度過的第一個夏天，他開始頻繁進入父親的工作坊。


"I was in there From the age of 6, making wooden toys and then model airplanes. I started my First violin at 13 but had trouble with the purfling and put it on the shelf. never to be completed. By the summer of my 16th year. I was helping my father with cellos. I made my first set of cello ribs without a form. It was an exercise to show what could be done if every-thing was worked on the square. He deliberately had me do it the hard way as a test of workmanship, but I was pleased with the results even if it did take me a good part of that summer.

「從6歲開始我就在那裏，製作木制玩具和飛機模型。在13歲的時候我開始製作第一把小提琴，但是在鑲邊方面遇到了問題，因此擱置下來，一直未完成。到了我16歲那年的夏天，我幫父親製作大提琴。我製作了第一套琴身側板而沒用模具。這是一個鍛煉，使我認識到如果誠實地做每件事，能夠取得什麽成果。父親故意讓我用艱難的方式進行這項工作，目的是檢驗我的手藝。即使這項工作使我花費了那個夏天的大部分時間，但結果還是很滿意的。」


By then, the younger Carl was at a crossroads. ‘I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I didn't feel strongly about going to college. So my father suggested that I join him at Lewis'. All he said was: "Why don't you try it and see if you like it?" He didn't pressure me in the least, just left everything very open-ended. I started in the repair department, setting up commercial instruments and gradually learning something about repairs. About 1939 I was allowed to join in the restoration of a Nicholas Amati. It involved inlaying about 21 pieces in the top and a Full-length patch about two inches wide down the middle of the instrument. Part of the top was down to about 1/4mm thick. While reconstructing the ribs on a form. I learned my lesson about taking my Father's advice. I had these ribs fastened to the form at the corners and I had the ends free. My father cautioned me: "You'd better fasten those ends down or you're liable to have an accident": Wall, I didn't take his advice seriously enough and, before you know it. one of the ribs snapped off right near the corner. I had to repair it, put the ribs on the form again and then the same thing happened all over again. That was a bitter lesson! But I learned something from it and the fiddle did turn out well.'

那時，小卡爾正處於人生的十字路口上。「我不確定自己想從事什麽工作。我上大學的意願並不強烈，所以父親建議我和他一樣加入Lewis。」他只說了：「爲什麽不試試看你是不是喜歡這項工作呢？」 他一點都沒有強迫我，只是順其自然。我一開始在維修部工作，開始製作商業樂器，並逐漸學習了一些維修知識。大約在1939年，我被允許加入修復阿瑪蒂（Nicholas Amati）提琴的工作。該工作涉及在樂器頭部鑲嵌大約21個碎片，在中部安裝大約2英寸的補丁。琴頭的某部分只有四分之一毫米厚。一次在模具上修理琴身側板時，由於未採納父親的建議，而承受了教訓。我把琴身側板的角固定在模具上，然後將末端放鬆。父親警告我說：「你要確實把末端綁緊，否則會出事的。」我沒有重視他的警告。還沒等我反應過來，一片側板在角處斷裂了。除了將側板重新固定到模具上，我還必須進行多一層的修理。這是一個非常痛苦的教訓，但是我從中學到了一些東西，那把小提琴後來修復得很好。


During World War II, young Carl Becker saw service as an infantryman and later became an Air Corps fight instructor. It was then that the Becker dynasty might have been broken. ‘I met some fellows in the service who had been civilian pilots and were qualified to give a test for obtaining a commercial licence. I took the test and acquired it. All I needed to become an airline pilot was a little more might training. The thing that made the difference for me, however, was not whether I should go back to Lewis’ but being able to go to Pickerel Lake in the summertime to make violins; that’s what turned that tide as far as I was concerned!’

二戰期間， 卡爾・F・貝克在部隊服役，起初擔任步兵，後來成爲空軍飛行教員。此時貝克家族在樂器製作方面的輝煌年代本可能會就此結束。「我遇到了一些在部隊中服役的人，他們以前曾經是民用飛機飛行員，這些人有資格主持一種頒發商業執照的考試。我參加了考試並獲得了執照。我只要再進行一些訓練就能夠成爲飛行員了。但是我所關心的不是是否需要回到Lewis，而是能夠在夏天回到Pickerel湖製作小提琴，對我來說那是至關重要的。」


Rejoing his father at Lewis’ in 1946, the following year Carl F. Becker began the first violin made entirely by his own hands ‘I began it during the summer of 1949 and finished it the following year. I wanted to have at least one instrument on record that I had made. I still have that violin. I took it to the American Federation meeting in San Francisco in 1991, not having another, and one of the other violin makers came up and said: “That’s your first violin? Were you born with a plane in your hand?”

1946年，卡爾・F・貝克回到Lewis，重新加入父親的工作。第二年，卡爾・F・貝克開始首次完全獨立地製作小提琴。「我從1947年的夏天開始著手製作我的第一把小提琴，第二年完成。我希望在記錄中至少有一把我自己製作的小提琴。現在我仍然保留著這把提琴。1991年我僅拿著這把小提琴曲去舊金山參加美國聯盟會議。另一位小提琴製作者走上來對我說『這是你的第一把小提琴麽？你是不是一生下來手裏就拿著鉋子？』」



So -- Whose is the best? Jennifer, Carl and Paul Becker
所以--誰的最好？珍妮弗、卡爾、保羅・貝克



After 1947, Carl Becker violins were the joint creations of father and son. Before that date, the senior Becker had made and sold 488 numbered instruments and about another 100 or so produced before 1925 that carried no numbers. The series reached over 760 before the elder Becker eventually withdrew from the workbench. ‘After Lewis’ closed, we first went to my father’s house and worked there until 1971. By then he was 87 and his health and mind were beginning to fail a bit. He continued to do repairs throughout the spring and during the summer he worked on three violins. The first two had been ordered but the third one, he said, he was making for ”his wife”. I found that curious, since he always referred to my mother as “Mom” in conversation between us. It was really remarkable that he was able to work at all.’

1947年以後，貝克父子共同製作卡爾・貝克小提琴。在此之前，老貝克一共製作和出售了488把有編號的樂器，而在1925年前，他還製作了另外大約100把沒有編號的樂器。在老貝克最終離開工作臺之前，他製作的提琴數量超過了760把。「在Lewis關閉之後，我們先回到父親的房子，一直在那裏工作到1974年。那時，父親已經87歲了，他的健康和思維開始有些衰退了。春天，他繼續進行修復工作。夏天，他承擔三把小提琴的製作工作。前兩把提琴被買主定購了，據父親說第三把是爲他的妻子製作的。」我覺得很好奇，因爲在我們父子的對話中，他總稱呼我的母親爲「媽媽」。父親如此高齡還能堅持工作真實太神奇了。


By 1966, Carl Senior had noticed that the family talent was already evident in the next generation. He encouraged his grand-daughter, Jennifer, whose first efforts at violin making began with an instrument made of cardboard and wooden strips. Today, as Jennifer Becker Jurewiez, she has her own repair and instrument business in Minneapolis and has completed 18 violins. Her brother, Paul, who works with their father in Chicago, has by his own admission had to follow a more roundabout path to the family calling. His craftsmanship manifested itself in an alliance between lutherie and the wider realm of woodworking by his establishment and operation of a cabinet shop where he specialized in hand-carving and special shapes. ‘I started the shop to do something different from what I do here, as a place for release, in which I could let loose. I worked with talented people who produced some beautiful things. One is a long-tome friend who teachers at the American Academy of Art. He’d design a piece three dimensionally and I’d make it. We did some pretty unusual pieces, more artwork than cabinetry. ‘Paul is currently devoting himself to the violin shop, sales, repairs and making new instruments with his father.’

到1966年，老卡爾注意到家族的下一代已明顯具備了家族天賦。他鼓勵孫女Jennifer從事提琴製作。Jennifer從一把由紙板和木板製成的小提琴入手。如今， Jennifer Becker Jurewicz在明尼阿波利斯擁有自己的修理和製作行，並完成了18把小提琴。Jennifer的弟弟Paul在芝加哥與父親一起工作生活，Paul必須以更曲折的道路繼承家族職業。他在提琴製作和木藝領域發揮自己的手藝。他還經營者一個家具店，在這裏他專門從事手工雕刻和特殊形狀工作。「因爲我想做一些與這裏不同的事情，所以開了這個店，把它作爲一個放鬆的地方。在這裏我會得到輕鬆的感覺。我與有天賦的人一起工作，他們生産一些漂亮的作品，其中一位元是我一生的朋友，他在美國藝術學院（American Academy of Arts）授課。他進行三維設計，我進行製作，我們一起製作非凡的作品，這些作品不光是家具，包含更多的藝術品成分。」


The Becker’s reputation for high quality repairs has had a drastic impact on their new instrument output. Says Cal Becker with a sigh: ‘I’m afraid that the bottom has dropped out. But we plan to change that this summer [1991] and put as much repair work as we can “on hold”. If we can get back into making more, maybe I’ll be able to catch up on a considerable number of pending orders for cellos, violas and violins.’

In 1987, a Becker violin cost $12,000; a viola about 20 percent more; a cello (many of which are exceptionally prized) $25,000. No doubt inflation has raised those prices, but if you have placed an order for a Becker instrument you’re probably still waiting for it. Carl Becker explained the procedure. ‘We list the customer’s name and what qualities he wants in an instrument. We don’t take a down payment, and we explain that it will be some years before the instrument is ready, so we’re not under any binding financial agreement and we don’t look in a price.’

貝克家族因高質量的修復工作而聞名，這對他們的新樂器生産産生了嚴重影響，卡爾・貝克感慨說：「我擔心我們已經脫離了根本。但是我們計劃在這個夏天（1991年）改變這種狀況，我們將會儘量減少樂器修復工作。」如果我們能夠製作更多作品，可能我們就能履行大量待處理的大提琴、中提琴和小提琴定單。

1987年，一把貝克製作的小提琴的價格是12000美元，中提琴的價格比小提琴高20%，大提琴（許多大提琴被定了出奇高的價格）的價格是25000美元。毫無疑問，通貨膨脹已經提高了這些樂器的價格，但是如果你定購了貝克的小提琴，那麽很可能還在等待交貨。貝克這樣解釋他們履行的程序。「我們列出客戶的名字和他們希望獲得的品質。我們不收定金，我們向客戶解釋說，需要等幾年才能交貨，所以我們不承擔有約束力的經濟約定，而且我們不鎖定價格。」


No word would seem more incongruous when applied to the Becker tradition than ‘fashion’, to which it is simply oblivious. Underlying my talk with all of them was a sense that in a world of foxes, the Beckers are unashamed hedgehogs. ‘They know a great deal about one big thing making instruments of the highest quality. The tone seems to have been set by Carl Senior, as his son recalls him. ‘He was a real man’s man’, a fine person who had the courage of his convictions. If he felt that something should be done a certain way, he did it with no compromises. When he encountered prejudice against new instruments, he was hurt, but he wasn’t swayed from what he believed in. I grew up with that training and I feel that same way. So do my children. My father had a way of stimulating an interest in a piece of work. His underlying approach was that here was an interesting problem; how can we solve it? By attention to detail and working for the best possible result. We applied this both to new work and to repairs. If we could do something better, then that was the way we did it. It wasn’t so much a technique as an entire approach. When repairing, we have often had to devise a new technique or even a new tool to solve a particular problem.

「流行」這一詞是最不適於貝克家族傳統的，貝克家族已經忘記了這一詞。我這句話的含義是，在狐狸的世界裏，貝克家族甘願做刺蝟。貝克家族對製作最高品質的樂器這一重要問題瞭解的非常多。如老卡爾的兒子回憶，這種風格似乎是老卡爾確定的。「他是一位真正的偉人」，他有勇氣堅持自己的信念。如果他認爲應該按照某種方式做某件事，他會毫不妥協地去做。當遭遇人們對新樂器偏見的時候，他感到很傷心，但他毫不動搖地堅持自己的信念。我在這種訓練中長大，和父親有同樣的感覺。我的孩子情況也是如此。我父親有一套激勵別人對作品興趣的方法。他的潛在方法是：這又一個有趣的問題，我們怎麽能夠解決？通過重視細節並努力實現最好的效果。我們把這種方法應用於製作新作品和修復工作。如果我們能夠有更好的方法，那麽我們就採用這種方法。作爲整體方法，它並沒有包含很多技術成分。在進行修理的時候，爲了解決特定問題，我們經常必須設計新的技術甚至是新的工具。


Alteration of the traditional instrumental shapes, however, he regards with contempt. ‘History has proved that many ideas have been tried and discarded. Traditional shapes persist not because of tradition but because they work, The size of the instrument is current for the player, so you have to make an instrument that people can play. The form cannot be fundamentally improved. As soon as you move away from the form of traditionally excellent instruments you are getting something less good. I’m thoroughly satisfied that violins and cellos are set in their dimensions. Vilas offer a little more room for experimentation and one must still keep an open mind. There is always an opportunity to refine or further your understanding of your work, which you must continue to reflect on and review. There might be little changes in arching, graduation, varnish or other details that would contribute to the fine quality of the instrument.’

但是他蔑視改變傳統樂器形狀的做法。「歷史表明，人們嘗試並放棄了許多想法。傳統形狀不是由於它們歷史久而保留下來而是由於它們確實是行得通的。樂器的尺寸必須適合演奏者，所以必須製作人們能夠演奏的樂器。我們無法從根本上改進樂器的外形。一旦偏離樂器傳統的好外形，那麽就會製作出質量較差的樂器。我非常滿意小提琴和大提琴的尺寸被固定下來。中提琴提供了更多的試驗空間，我們仍必須採取開放的態度。始終存在優化或加深我們對工作的理解的機會，我們必須不斷對工作進行思考和審視。在曲面、分度線、漆或其他能對樂器的出色品質做出貢獻的因素可能不會有什麽大變化。」



Cover photo: by S.E. Fohrman of Chicago master

luthier, Carl F. Becker, and his son Paul in front of Rabbit Lodge' Pickerel Lake, Wisconsin.
Carl, now nearing 73, started working in the but as a boy, making wooden toys and aeroplanes.

封面照片為卡爾・F・貝克和他兒子保羅在威斯康辛州Pickerel湖邊 Rabbit Lodge 前。卡爾當時73歲，他從兒童時代就開始在此小屋中製作木制玩具和飛機模型。