Eight photos portraying eight artisans – 1983

Concept and participation, exhibition in the Käfigturm and Kornhaus in Bern

From tree to the finished instrument – 1984/85

Photo exhibition together with Heinz Studer in the Swiss Open-Air Museum in Ballenberg

Viola by Hans Krauchtaler, dated 1699, Historical Museum in Bern, restored in 1986

In view of the various earlier interventions, the idea of carrying out a pure conservation of the instrument was no longer possible. I restored, or rather reconstructed the instrument in accordance with historical principles and findings together with specialists from the Historical Museum in Bern and curators of the instrument collection of the Prussian Cultural Heritage (preussischer Kulturbesitz) in Berlin. Every plausible restoration, however, ultimately remains an interpretation. The viola can now be played again. Colour photos by Stefan Rebsamen.

Study visit to the Istituto Svizzero di Roma

In 1988, I was awarded a grant by the Swiss Federal Office of Cultural Affairs to study in Rome. In the 'eternal city' I discovered the ideal conditions for my comparative research into architecture and violin making. 

My daily routine: Caffè con brioche in the Bar Ludovisi, reading newspapers in the institute library, walks through the city – sometimes planned, at other times out of necessity; visits to churches, palazzi, museums; whiling away time on a piazza; reading in the Vatican library; guided excursions with members of the institute management into the surrounding countryside; evaluation of what I had observed, heard, drawn and read in my own workshop at the institute; tour guide through the city for visitors from Switzerland; aperitivo on the terrace of the institute tower; a plate of pasta in the Trastevere district and from time to time a grappa in the via di Veneto. 

The practical evaluation of all these experiences decisively influenced my violin making and teaching.

Wood Shape Sound / The Pleasure of Handwork / Violin Viola Cello – Violin making in Brienz, 1988

Series 'Kultur im Berner Oberland', (Culture in the Bernese Oberland) Arts and Craft. Vol. 3 – Texts and design by Hans Rudolf Hösli, cover with 'Text Image' by Rudolf Mumprecht. 

Four violin makers, four quartets – 1991/1995

In 1991, on the occasion of the festivities of the Eidgenössischen Orchesterverbands (Swiss Federal Orchestra Association) to mark the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation, I had the privilege to provide a personal insight into contemporary violin making in the form of a small exhibition at the Palais Besenval in Solothurn. Among my colleagues who joined me were Lorenzo Marchi from Cremona and Marc Soubeyran from London, both of whom have a direct link with Switzerland. In gratitude to our unknown patron, we included in our violin-maker quartet Hugo Auchli, former long-time teacher at the School of Violin Making in Brienz. 

The event was restaged in 1995 with accompanying concerts at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma and in the Oratorio di Confalone in Rome. B/W photos von Jakob Jenzer.

Der Goldene Bogen (Golden Bow), since 2000

At the initiative of the foundation of the Swiss School of Violin Making in Brienz (Stiftung Geigenbauschule Brienz) an event known as the Goldene Bogen (Golden Bow) was established in partnership with the Meiringen Music Festival Week in 2000. With this prize the Foundation honours individuals for outstanding achievements connected with string instruments. The prize, a high quality gold mounted bow, has been made since year by the bow makers, Bogenwerkstätte Brienz AG.

> Der Goldene Bogen – geigenbauschule.ch / musikfestwoche-meiringen.ch / finkelbows.ch

Film: ‘the violin – sound & vision’, 2008/2011

Five masters – Susanne Gebhardt, Simon Glaus, Hans Rudolf Hösli, Lorenzo Marchi, Marc Soubeyran – made a violin in six days. Recording of a concert by Alexandre Dubach during the Meiringen Music Festival Week in 2008. Idea, scenario and script by Hans Rudolf Hösli, photography and editing by Christoph Frutiger, sound by Gerald Hahnefeld.

Swiss School of Violin Making in Brienz – Baroque, 2013

Diversity in unity, unity in diversity, reproduction of 14 Baroque instruments as a gift to the CAMERATA BERN to mark its 50th anniversary. At the initiative of the Hans und Verena Krebs Foundation, I developed the project with the name 'Swiss School of Violin Making in Brienz – Baroque', in which, together with master violin makers Simon Glaus and Marc Soubeyran, the then apprentices Mihail Dron, Andreas Hochuli, Rahel Marti, Seraina Montigel, Linda Wangler, Matthias Wolff, Svea Nissen and Martin Opstrup were involved. The project was funded by companies and guilds from the Bern municipal region, the Hans and Verena Krebs Foundation and the Stiftung Geigenbauschule Brienz (Foundation for the Swiss School of Violin Making in Brienz). The catalogue was compiled by the 'Swiss School of Violin Making in Brienz – Baroque'.

Stainer project 2014-2019

This project involved interdisciplinary research in a collaboration between Dr. Rudolf Hopfner, curator of the collection of old musical instruments of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Prof. Gerhard Weber, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology of the University of Vienna and Hans Rudolf Hösli, Swiss School of Violin Making in Brienz.

The possibilities for observation aided by Micro-CT Scans opened up new dimensions for violin making and restoration. At the initiative of Dr. Hopfner and with input from Prof. Weber I set up the Stainer project, in which the Swiss School of Violin Making in Brienz was substantially involved as a partner.

Two apprentices from the school, Rahel Widmer and Marie Rossier, made a copy of a violin by Jakob Stainer (1619-1683) in accordance with the Baroque concept and later 'modernised' the instrument in the style of the early 19th century.

The violin has to date been measured nine times with the Micro-CT Scan. The evaluations are pending; further scans are planned in the coming years. Scans by Micro-CT Lab, Vienna.

Transformation and expansion of the Swiss School of Violin Making in Brienz

I was commissioned by the Stiftung Geigenbauschule Brienz to lead a project to transform and expand the school of violin making in collaboration with the school’s teachers Simon Glaus, Jean-Jacques Fasnacht and Erika Akane Schutter, together with architects Hanspeter Bysäth, Alois Linke, Stephan Glaus, Stephan Rutishauser and Iris Kaufmann from the firm ARGE. The following photos were taken by James Robert Batten.