Authors: Elena Benelli Domiziana Leorin
Source: SPARQL endpoint
Export
{'sparql_endpoint': 'https://query.wikidata.org/sparql', 'template_mode': 'statistics', 'title': 'Exploring musical instruments: the violin', 'color_code': ['#89ecea', '#403de6'], 'user_name': 'Elena875', 'id': '1687511855.883448', 'subtitle': "An overview about the violin's main features, its history and the violinists who have made the history of music", 'curator': 'Elena Benelli Domiziana Leorin', 'description': 'The purpose of this story is to provide a general insight of a very renowned musical instrument that has marked an important turning point in the history of music: the violin. In particular, in the following story we will observe and analyse the main features and the history of this splendid instrument. In addition, we will also look more closely at the most influential and talented violinists that, by virtue of their remarkable works, achieved lasting fame and played a fundamental role in the history of violin music.', 'dynamic_elements': [{'position': 0, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="color: rgb(239, 239, 239); background-color: transparent;">At the beginning, we proceeded with an exploration of WikiData in order to discover the amount of string instruments that were mentioned inside the knowledge base. A string instrument can be defined as any musical instrument having strings as the medium of sound production.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 1, 'operations': [], 'type': 'count', 'count_query': 'SELECT (COUNT(?StringInstrument) AS ?count) \r\nWHERE { \r\n \t?StringInstrument ?a wd:Q1798603 . # stringed instrument \r\n} ', 'count_label': 'String instruments in WikiData', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 2, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="color: rgb(239, 239, 239); background-color: transparent;">Then we narrowed-down our research and we proceeded with the exploration of the number of bowed string instruments: t</span><span style="color: rgb(217, 217, 217); background-color: transparent;">hey owe their name to the fact that the sound is produced by rubbing the strings by means of horsehair stretched on a bow.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 3, 'operations': [], 'type': 'count', 'count_query': 'SELECT (COUNT(?BowedStringInstrument) AS ?count) \r\nWHERE { \r\n \t?BowedStringInstrument ?a wd:Q192096 . # bowed string instrument \r\n}', 'count_label': 'Bowed string instruments in WikiData', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 4, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="color: rgb(217, 217, 217); background-color: transparent;">At this point, we looked for a bowed string instrument that had a lot of information both in WikiData and in the Polifonia corpus, and we ultimately chose the violin. </span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 5, 'operations': [], 'type': 'table', 'table_title': 'The violin', 'table_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?image WHERE { wd:Q8355 wdt:P18 ?image . }', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 6, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="color: rgb(217, 217, 217); background-color: transparent;">The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola, cello and double bass.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(217, 217, 217); background-color: transparent;">A violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, no matter what kind of music is played on it. The word "violin" comes to us through the Romance languages from the Middle Latin word vitula, meaning "stringed instrument"; this word may also be the source of the Germanic "fiddle". A person who plays the violin is called a violinist or fiddler, and a person who makes or repairs them is called a luthier, or simply a violin maker.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(217, 217, 217); background-color: transparent;">\ufeff</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(217, 217, 217); background-color: transparent;">The violin has been traditionally used as an accompaniment to singing and dancing. It is also an important classical solo instrument, as well as taking pride of place at the front of orchestras.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(217, 217, 217); background-color: transparent;">The violin is both an object of great beauty and symmetry as well as an ingenious work of mechanical design. In the following table, we will look more closely at the main parts that make up this instrument.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 7, 'operations': [], 'type': 'table', 'table_title': 'Violin components', 'table_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?components ?componentsLabel ?image \r\nWHERE { \r\nwd:Q8355 wdt:P527 ?components .\r\nOPTIONAL { ?components wdt:P18 ?image . }\r\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en".}\r\n}\r\n LIMIT 9', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 8, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); background-color: transparent;">The violin has represented orchestral music in the general public for a very long time. However, many people aren’t music enthusiasts and they don’t know that violins exist in many different types. This instrument has changed during its lifespan for various reasons, leading to the production of different models.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); background-color: transparent;">In the table below you can find some of the most famous variants, from the first standard violins that already existed in the sixteenth century, such as the baroque violin (which is considered to be the forefather of the modern violin), to more modern variants: for example, the neolin, an electro-acoustic violin which incorporates a fretted fingerboard, cutaway body, and tremolo mechanism based on the electric guitar.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 9, 'operations': [], 'type': 'table', 'table_title': 'Violin types', 'table_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?ViolinType ?ViolinTypeLabel ?image\r\nWHERE {\r\n ?ViolinType wdt:P279 wd:Q8355 . \r\n OPTIONAL { ?ViolinType wdt:P18 ?image . }\r\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en".}\r\n}\r\n LIMIT 10', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 10, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="color: rgb(217, 217, 217); background-color: transparent;">As previously mentioned, the current popularity of the violin is also due to all the incredible musicians that, thanks to their virtuosity and outstanding works, managed to play a crucial role in violin history, leaving an heritage to future generations. At this stage of the research, we looked for the number of male and female violinists inside WikiData. </span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 11, 'operations': [], 'type': 'count', 'count_query': 'SELECT (COUNT(?violinist) AS ?count)\r\nWHERE {\r\n?violinist wdt:P106 wd:Q1259917 .\r\n?violinist wdt:P21 wd:Q6581097 .\r\n}', 'count_label': 'Male violinists', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 12, 'operations': [], 'type': 'count', 'count_query': 'SELECT (COUNT(?violinist) AS ?count)\r\nWHERE {\r\n?violinist wdt:P106 wd:Q1259917 .\r\n?violinist wdt:P21 wd:Q6581072 .\r\n}', 'count_label': 'Female violinists', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 13, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Then we narrowed down our research, focusing on the influence that these artists still have in musical history and practice. As a consequence, we searched for the ten most influential violinists.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 14, 'operations': [], 'type': 'chart', 'chart_type': 'doughnutchart', 'chart_title': 'Top ten most influential violinists', 'chart_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?label (COUNT(?violinist) AS ?count) \r\nWHERE { \r\n ?violinist wdt:P106 wd:Q1259917. \r\n ?violinist wdt:P737 ?influencer .\r\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en" . \r\n ?violinist rdfs:label ?label .\r\n }\r\n}\r\nGROUP BY ?label ?count\r\nORDER BY DESC(?count) \r\nLIMIT 10', 'chart_series': '', 'chart_legend': {'x': '', 'y': ''}, 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 15, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(183, 183, 183);">We also made a comparison between the number of musical compositions that several famous violinists composed during the course of their lives.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 16, 'operations': [], 'type': 'chart', 'chart_type': 'barchart', 'chart_title': 'Number of works composed by violinists', 'chart_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?label (COUNT(?item) AS ?count)\r\nWHERE {\r\n ?violinist ?a wd:Q1259917 . # violinist\r\n ?violinist wdt:P800 ?item . \r\n ?item wdt:P31 wd:Q105543609 . \r\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en".\r\n ?violinist rdfs:label ?label.\r\n }\r\n\r\n\r\n}\r\nGROUP BY ?label\r\nORDER BY DESC(?count)\r\nLIMIT 15', 'chart_series': '', 'chart_legend': {'x': 'Violinist name', 'y': 'Number of works'}, 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 17, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(183, 183, 183);">The map below is useful to have an idea of the number and distribution of violinists around the world. By means of this useful instrument, it is possible to observe that the largest number of violinists is concentrated in Europe, notably in the area between Germany, Austria and Czech Republic.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 18, 'operations': [], 'type': 'map', 'map_title': 'Violinists around the world', 'map_points_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?point ?pointLabel ?countryLabel ?lat ?long\r\nWHERE {\r\n?point wdt:P106 wd:Q1259917 .\r\n?point wdt:P27 ?country .\r\n?country p:P625 ?statement . \r\n?statement psv:P625 ?node. ?node wikibase:geoLatitude ?lat ; wikibase:geoLongitude ?long.\r\nSERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en". } }\r\nLIMIT 300', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 19, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p>Click on the text search below to find other famous violinists according to their birth place. For each violinist, It is also possible to observe their most famous works, if the data are available in the WikiData knowledge base.</p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 20, 'operations': [], 'type': 'textsearch', 'textsearch_userinput': '', 'textsearch_title': 'Here you can find violinists by searching for their birthplace', 'textsearch_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?violinist ?violinistLabel ?birthPlace ?birthPlaceLabel ?pic\r\nWHERE {\r\n SERVICE wikibase:mwapi {\r\n bd:serviceParam wikibase:endpoint "www.wikidata.org" ;\r\n \twikibase:api "EntitySearch" ;\r\n \tmwapi:search <<searchterm>> ;\r\n \tmwapi:language "en".\r\n ?birthPlace wikibase:apiOutputItem mwapi:item.\r\n }\r\n \r\n ?violinist wdt:P106 wd:Q1259917 .\r\n ?violinist wdt:P19 ?birthPlace .\r\n OPTIONAL {?violinist wdt:P18 ?pic}\r\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en".}\r\n FILTER regex(str(?pic), "jpg").\r\n} \r\nORDER BY ?violinist\r\nLIMIT 10', 'textsearch': {'violinist': ['Notable works']}, 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 21, 'operations': [], 'type': 'action', 'action_title': 'Notable works', 'action_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?notablework ?notableworkLabel\r\nWHERE { \r\n <<item>> wdt:P800 ?notablework .\r\nSERVICE wikibase:label { \r\n bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "[AUTO_LANGUAGE],en"\r\n }\r\n}', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 22, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(183, 183, 183);">Among the influential violinists who have been mentioned during the course of this research, there is one famous musician that deserves our attention: George Frideric Handel.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 23, 'operations': [], 'type': 'table', 'table_title': 'George Frideric Handel', 'table_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?image WHERE { wd:Q7302 wdt:P18 ?image . }', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 24, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(217, 217, 217);">George Frideric Handel was a German-British composer and violinist. Born and raised in Halle (Germany), Handel showed interest in musical instruments and composition since the early stages of his life. After receiving his training, he worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he lived for the rest of his life.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 25, 'operations': [], 'type': 'table', 'table_title': "Handel's biography", 'table_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT (year(xsd:dateTime(?BirthDate)) as ?Birth) (year(xsd:dateTime(?DeathDate)) as ?Death) ?BirthPlace ?BirthPlaceLabel ?DeathPlace ?DeathPlaceLabel\r\n\r\n\r\nWHERE { \r\nwd:Q7302 wdt:P569 ?BirthDate . \r\nwd:Q7302 wdt:P570 ?DeathDate . \r\nwd:Q7302 wdt:P19 ?BirthPlace . \r\nwd:Q7302 wdt:P20 ?DeathPlace . \r\nSERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en".}\r\n} \r\n', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 26, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(183, 183, 183);">Handel was a composer of the late Baroque era, and he\'s deemed to be one of the most prominent composers of his time, influencing a whole generation of composers with his unique blend of Italian, German, and English musical styles. Handel’s works spanned a variety of musical genres, including opera, orchestral music, chamber music, and choral works. He is most famous for his oratorios, which are large-scale musical works for choirs, soloists, and orchestras.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 27, 'operations': [], 'type': 'table', 'table_title': 'Music genres', 'table_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?MusicGenre ?MusicGenreLabel\r\nWHERE {\r\n wd:Q7302 wdt:P136 ?MusicGenre. # music genre\r\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en".}\r\n}', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 28, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p>Handel’s musical style was heavily influenced by the Italian Baroque style, which he encountered during his time in Italy. He incorporated elements of the Italian style into his own compositions, blending them with elements of German and English musical traditions. In the following table, some of his most notable works can be observed.</p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 29, 'operations': [], 'type': 'table', 'table_title': 'Main works', 'table_query': 'SELECT DISTINCT ?musicalwork ?musicalworkLabel ?publicationdate\r\nWHERE {\r\n wd:Q7302 wdt:P800 ?musicalwork. # musical work\r\n ?musicalwork wdt:P577 ?publicationdate. #publication date\r\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en".}\r\n}', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}, {'position': 30, 'operations': [], 'type': 'text', 'text': '<p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Handel’s musical style was influential in his time and continues to be celebrated today for its combination of beauty, grandeur, and emotional depth. His works are considered milestones of the Baroque era and are an enduring testament to his mastery of the musical arts.</span></p>', 'extra_queries': [], 'map_filters': []}]}
The purpose of this story is to provide a general insight of a very renowned musical instrument that has marked an important turning point in the history of music: the violin. In particular, in the following story we will observe and analyse the main features and the history of this splendid instrument. In addition, we will also look more closely at the most influential and talented violinists that, by virtue of their remarkable works, achieved lasting fame and played a fundamental role in the history of violin music.