Musical Instruments

Contemporary Czech violin-makers VIII. Tom Honk, Tom Honk Junior, Jakub Honk
Rafael Brom
In spite of the global changes in all crafts and arts violin-making sure preserves its specifics. As a handcraft and art form that resembles woodcarving, it continues to bring us ever more fascinating and unrepeatable objects. If I would say that violin-making in contrast with the woodcarving craft has been solved long ago I probably wouldn`t be saying the truth. Although it brings us always the same result, an ingeniously designed instrument with a construction that perfectly suits its purpose to give the best sound performance. Generations of past and contemporary violinmakers were constructing this instrument, but it was always the player who has completely fulfilled its destiny. It is not predetermined to be an art object of its own, but always was trying to be. After all, we may see it as one, in the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk or total art sense. It is and always will be a challenge for a creative craftsman to reveal all the hidden patterns of its construction, and to tune up all the details to create a perfect final product. It was also the reason for Dr. Alois Vincenc Honk, a remarkable member of the violin-making community, to continue for more than 70 years in his research and violin-making activities with endless passion and enthusiasm. His descendents now continue in this legacy. His son Dr. Tom Honk (born in 1950) was abroad during this interview. With his two grandsons Tom (1981) and Jakub (1984) I was talking about violin-making in their family. Their answers sounded at times like an unisono and at other times like a canon, when one added details to what the other said. Your farther Dr. Tom Honk is besides being a surgeon, which he was doing at hospital na Frantiku and then later as a chief cardiac surgeon in university hospital Motol, also a violin-maker where did he learn the craft? It was in the workshop of our grandfather in Divadeln Street No. 22, where he lived for many years. Our grandfather dr. Alois Vincenc Honk was from Dhylov in Silesia, which is not far from Ostrava. He was lead to become a violin-maker since

Alois Vincenc Honk

he was 8 years. He was taught by his father, Alois Honk. He passed the exams at Josef Rika in Opava and he was awarded the certificate on his 18th birthday on October 25th 1929. 3 years after graduating from high school he left for studies in Prague. Not that he wanted to stop making violins, but he was attracted by the city. He graduated from medical school, even though he wanted to study architecture prior to that. As we know he was working on his violins early in the morning even before he went to work. He started as early as 4 oclock. He was a remarkable surgeon and soon became head of the department at hospital Na Frantiku, but he was known to be a hardworking and passionate craftsman as well. He was used to sleep very little and when older he didnt need more sleep either. Our father told us that when he became a chief surgeon in Carls Bad after the war, they had few surgeons and he had to stay awake for many nights. As we know he was supposed to go there for a few months and stayed for seven years. Then in the 1950s he was imprisoned for

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2 years in a political trial led by the communist government. In the jail he had plenty of time to think about the mystery of violins origin. After he was released he returned back to Prague and since then he lived in Divadeln Street No. 22, where was also his workshop. So our father began with the craft when he was 6 years old. He learned violin-making there, but without any certificate, because he as well chose to study medicine and became a surgeon. He studied the Faculty of Medicine in Prague between 1968 and 1974, but throughout the years he was still making violins. It is more of a hobby than a profession in our family and we say that it is better to do the craft just because of the passion and love for violin-making. If we make our living with other professions we can take the time to do the instrument in the highest quality we can. You are making instruments as a hobby but on the other hand you must feel the long family tradition. When was this tradition founded? In our family the first certified violin-maker was our great-grandfather Alois Honk, but first he began as a finish carpenter. Later he was learning the craft in Brno at master Kliment and later in Wien at master Haudek. After he came back home in 1907 he continued to build instruments until 1920, when he bought some woodworking machinery and expanded his business. Then he was making violins only from time to time. Our grandfather was also a certified violin-maker and later he became a member of Kruh Umlc Housla (an organization uniting top Czech violin-makers). He was doing the craft practically until he died in the year 2002. When did you start in his workshop in Divadeln Street No. 22? In our family we have always worked all together. Our father was helping his father since he was a young boy they have worked together on many instruments already in late 1960s. He stayed home for a long time and right when he finished medical school he was working together with our grandfather in the workshop. I started going there as I was 6 years old and I started to learn this beautiful craft right away. Later my younger brother Jakub joined us. Our grandfather was always very patient with us and often gave us material with a defect so we could learn without damaging his instruments, which we by the way have done many times. But eventually we have learned how to make violins after all. We both have finished our first instruments at the age of fifteen. Do you still keep the first violin your father made? No, we dont have the violin any more, its already being played somewhere. But we have his instrument from 1979. Our father was always very handy and made a big storage of wood that he brought with our grandfather. Later he bought some machinery for cutting and planing plates, so this work became easier. Otherwise we of course use hand gouges, which we sharpen only on a classical violin-makers sharpener. The expert on sharpening in our family is Jakub. Our father learned sharpening at a knife sharpener, Mr. Hochman. We use a leg driven wheel grinding stone. It is much better for the gouges then the electrical one. Most of the gouges we are using for more than fifty years. Do you make also other string instruments besides violins? Do you repair instruments as well? We dont make repairs, only occasionally on our own instruments. We make violins, violas, cellos and even double basses. Now we have two double basses at home. Because Jakub is a bass player we made him a tailored one. Otherwise we did about eight double basses all together. Some of them are in the Prague Symphonic Orchestra FOK or in the National Theatre Orchestra. How many instruments has your father completed? Well, our grandfather did more than ninety instruments. But we should mention that he was mainly interested in the construction of the back and front plates, and he left us a large number of semifinished plates. Our father has finished more than twenty instruments on his own. But on many instruments worked the both of them and they were usually signed as A. V. Honek. They have often worked together. We have a cello here that was done this way and also on the two double basses all of us have done our share of work. It is really a family business in our family. We also have a family archive, where every instrument is listed. It is interesting that now with the internet we get to know the faith of some of our instruments in detail. For example lately we found out about two instruments, that someone bought in the US and about a cello that someone bought in Italy. Usually we are also able to find out the origin of the wood the instrument is made of, if the original signature has been preserved. This well developed system of archives was founded by the grandfather. We have several books that he wrote and now we are continuing to add new instruments. What about the model? You sure base it on the family research. Our grandfather, who was a very curious almost a renaissance man, devoted all his live to research in

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history of violin construction. He published an article about the Italian violin-maker Bagatella in the German magazine Das Musikinstrument and another article about objective measurement of tonal quality in the Strad magazine. According to old Latin documents he developed his own way of making the instruments. The model is a Guarneri style model. His templates are unique nowadays, although you can see similar ones in the Stradivari museum in Cremona. His intention was to get back to the original methods and proceedings of the old masters. We begin with the geometrical model and it is worth noting that in his calculations he found out that the violin has proportions that exactly match the old measure of the Czech elbow. He was always emphasizing the fact that although the instruments of Stradivari are perfect it doesnt make sense to copy them, because they have changed their original shape and dispositions over the centuries. It is obvious that with a new instrument you cannot match the appearance of the three hundred years old original. Do you have your own secrets for mixing the varnishes? We use an oil based varnish and we usually use the modern yellow-red tone it is again our family matter. Our grandfather was once experimenting with varnishes and in the end he concluded, that it hasnt a strong influence on the quality of the instrument, so he began paying attention more to its esthetical appearance. We think that the secret is in the construction of the plates, in the resonation body of the instrument. If the wood is properly aged and has proper density and the wood we are using is older than 25 years then the construction and shape are the key elements that determine the quality of the instrument. Did you have the desire to do violin-making as your only profession? We remember that our grandfather was advising us not to. He was saying that the competition is big and we can say now that it is possible to reach the porfessionality in the retirement. Grandfather was a doctor at first and later on he became a professional violin-maker, our father still has a few years before he can start making violins full time. Tom Honk Junior was the first one to break the family tradition in medicine and this year he finished his studies in Economics. The younger brother Jakub studies medicine. Tom Honk Senior has participated in the International Louis Spohr Violin-making Competition, organized by German Violin-making Association in 1983. In the same competition have also placed two violas of Alois Vincenc Honk. The first one won 4th place for workmanship and the second 10th place for tonal quality and workmanship. Instruments from the Honk workshop are owned by the kampa Quartet. A violoncello is played by Martin Bzirsk, currently the concertmaster of the cello section in Bohuslav Martin Philharmonic Orchestra in Zln. Another instrument is owned by the violoncellist and viola da gamba player Petr Hejn, member of the Martin Quartet. A viola made by Tom Honk is played in the United States (where another viola made by A. V. Honk was shipped recently) and for so far his last instrument came a violinist from Polish Krakow, a famous violin-making center. His instruments are also played by a talented nine years old violinist Filip Zaykov, laureate of the 1st prize in Josef Muzika International Violin Competition and Pilsen National Violin Competition and 4th place in Kocian international violin competition in the category 9 11 years. He plays a violin and a one is already prepared for him in the Honk workshop.

Tom Honk making a violin