The descendants of Italy's famed violin-making Stradivarius family are dismissing research that purportedly explains the sweet music the instruments produce.
Researchers in the United States said this week they believed a Stradivarius owes its distinct sound to chemicals used to kill woodworm and fungi when the exquisite instruments were made in the 1700s.
But the BBC reported Saturday from the northern Italian town of Cremona, where the Stradivari family made the instruments, that family members scoff at the idea their family secret has been decoded.
Many of the techniques to produce the instruments may never be fully understood by modern science, the report said. It is known that the wood used included spruce for the harmonic top and internal parts, and maple for the back, strip and neck; and that the wood was treated with several chemicals, including potassium borate, sodium and potassium silicate.
One current violinmaker told the BBC that trying to figure out the exact secrets of the Stradivarius was "like trying to fathom the depths of Michelangelo's genius."
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