The history of the violin 

is a succession of great 

players and great works 

spanning the whole 

development of  Western 

music. Since it first 

sprang fully formed from Northern Italy during the 1500s,

the instrument has undergone few changes; it hasn't

needed them. The size  and string tension is ideal for the

hand, giving maximum potential for technical facility; on

the viola for example, which is only slightly longer,

violin-style pyrotechnics are virtually impossible. The bow

gives the facility for rapidly repeated notes or sustained

notes of any length, giving tremendous variety of

expressive effects. And the sound quality can be exploited

by sensitive players to give the same emotion as the human

voice; it is an instrument "built for singing", as one player

put it. So composers and players have been able for

hundreds of years to concentrate on the music, unfettered

by instrumental limitations, making the violin one of the

most stable currencies of musical thought.