A Second Stradivari Viola Finds a Home at the Library of Congress

The following is a guest blog by Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford, Curator of Musical Instruments.

Last month, through a remarkable collaboration, the Music Division celebrated a historic acquisition: a 1690 viola made by none other than the famous Cremonese luthier, Antonio Stradivari. Known as the Tuscan-Medici viola, the instrument was commissioned by Ferdinando de’ Medici, the grand prince of Tuscany and patron of music in Florence. By the late 1700s, it had arrived in England and remained there until 1924 when it was sold to American amateur musician and Macy’s department store heir Herbert N. Straus.

In 1957, violist, philanthropist and educator Cameron Baird purchased the instrument from the Straus estate. After Baird’s death, his wife Jane placed the viola on loan with the Library of Congress in 1977 in a collaborative custodial arrangement that made the Tuscan-Medici viola available to musicians, instrument makers and audiences through the Music Division’s performance events.

Now, through an extraordinary gift to the nation from David and Amy Fulton and the Baird family’s Tuscan Corporation, the viola joins the Library’s world-renowned instrument collection, anchored by the five Stradivari instruments donated by Gertrude Clarke Whittall in 1935, which includes the Cassavetti viola, constructed in 1727.

When Whittall donated these astounding instruments to the Library of Congress, she stipulated that the strings must be accessible to the public through performance and in the creation of new works as well as interpretations of classic repertoire. The Library takes that mandate to heart, as when it co-commissioned Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon to write a concerto specifically for the Tuscan-Medici viola. Violist Roberto Díaz premiered the piece at the Library in 2015, and it went on to win the 2018 Grammy Award for best contemporary classical composition. Watch the premiere performance by clicking on the video preview below (the Higdon concerto starts at 24:15 in this video).

As the viola celebrates its 335^th birthday this year, one can only speculate how it has survived more than three centuries. Perhaps because it was such a special instrument from the beginning – its deep beauty and rich sound, the chosen wood and Stradivari craftsmanship, its de’ Medici family heritage – many have tried to save and secure it. And because the Baird family wanted it to have a home at the Library, to be preserved. And because David Fulton wanted the same – as did the Library. All of these owners believed in its cultural heritage value.

In commemoration of this historic acquisition, the previously named Tuscan-Medici viola is now rechristened Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1690, viola, Fulton, ex Baird, Tuscan-Medici. Look for the viola to be featured in performance during the 2025-26 season, and the 100^th anniversary, of the Concerts from the Library of Congress series.