José Contreras
1767 Madrid

José Contreras
El Granadino

Since 2025 I have had the privilege of playing a violin made by José Contreras in Madrid

in 1767, one of the most representative examples of the artistic maturity of the famous

Spanish violin maker.

José Contreras (Granada ca. 1710 – Madrid 1780) is regarded as the most important Spanish violin maker of the 18th century.

Active for decades in Madrid, he was appointed luthier of the Real Capilla and official restorer of the instruments of the Real Colección. In contemporary documents he is often referred to as “Josephus Contreras” or “Joseph Contreras”; moreover, on the labels of his instruments he added the word Granadino, highlighting his Andalusian origins.

One of the most fascinating aspects of his career was his direct contact with the great Italian instruments: thanks to his role at the Spanish Court, Contreras was able to examine, study, and restore numerous masterpieces of Italian violin making, including works by Stradivari, Guarneri, and Amati belonging to the royal collection.

In addition to minor repairs, Contreras also replaced the soundboard of at least two Stradivari instruments: a violin, the Royal Spanish link , and a cello, the Amaryllis Fleming link.

Such radical interventions were probably made necessary by the damage suffered by the instruments during their journey from the humid climate of the Po Valley to the dry air of the Castilian meseta. At a time when conservation techniques were still in their infancy, solutions of this kind were often unavoidable. Yet these very works reveal Contreras’s sensitivity and craftsmanship: he sought to emulate as closely as possible the creations of the great Cremonese master, while never abandoning his own personality and aesthetic taste.

The three-dimensional quality of his golden-brown varnish, the Apollonian elegance of his outlines, and the round, crystalline tone were deeply explored and refined by Contreras, who succeeded in achieving results of extraordinary quality.

Contreras 1767

The Violins of Contreras

Contreras 1767

Contreras was not only a skilled restorer but also the creator of extraordinary original instruments.

In his violin making we can appreciate a synthesis between the refinement typical of the Italian school and a more Iberian sobriety: essential, rigorous, yet never lacking in elegance and charm.

Fully aware of the importance of materials in shaping the final timbre of an instrument, and determined to create instruments in line with the great Italian masterpieces preserved at court, Contreras had precious Alpine resonance spruce shipped to Madrid (we can only imagine the transport costs!).

Modern dendrochronology, the comparative study of tree-ring growth, has provided very useful information about the woods he employed: the spruce used by Contreras shows remarkable cross-matches with that used by some of the finest Italian luthiers, including Stradivari, Guadagnini, Santo Serafino, Gagliano, and others.

In particular, in one violin from his mature period, researchers even identified a same-tree match (wood coming from the very same trunk) with Guarneri del Gesù’s Olé Bull 1744 link, one of the most celebrated and famous instruments by the Cremonese master.

Thanks to these results, we can now better understand the extraordinary care with which Contreras selected the materials for his instruments.

The 1767 Contreras

The instrument I have the honor of playing, now part of the Tarapiella-Pamies Collection, features a top plate of Alpine spruce and a back of flamed maple, with an intense and transparent brown-orange varnish.
It has recently undergone a careful conservation restoration and an in-depth dendrochronological analysis, which has yielded highly significant results.

The soundboard rings have been dated as follows:

- from 1676 to 1749 on the bass side;

- from 1667 to 1750 on the treble side.

The spruce of the top plate shows dendrochronological matches (cross-matches) with instruments by Stradivari (1715), Guadagnini (1768), Landolfi, Giuseppe Gagliano, Emiliani, as well as with other contemporary instruments made by Contreras himself.

Main dimensions:

- Body length: 35.95 cm

- Width of upper bouts: 17.00 cm

- Width of lower bouts: 20.90 cm

Its proportions clearly follow the “Forma G” (large form) of A. Stradivari, typical of some instruments from his so-called Golden Period; exemplary in this regard are the “Parke” link, the “Lam, Scotland University” link, the “San Lorenzo” link, and especially the “Dancla” link.Contreras’s choice of such a generously proportioned model is still the subject of speculation today: it probably reflects the search for an even darker, deeper, and more “expansive” sound, particularly in the lower register of the instrument, perhaps in line with Contreras’s own artistic sensibility of that time or with a sound aesthetic fashionable at court.