Claude Lebet, Luthier (1988)

Claude Lebet

Claude Lebet, luthier, had originally wanted to be a parson, like his father before him. However, after one year in theological school, he left to study violin making in Cremona, Italy. Later, he returned to Switzerland, where he founded his workshop at La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Jura mountains. The "Musici di Roma" launched his career by buying the first violin he made, then helping him acquire his house. For Lebet, a violin takes a month and a half to make, and requires the smoothest maple and spruce, which he selects himself, along with the finest shellacs. In the film, we watch as he makes a violin for a musician who comes to try it out and to choose from various woods. It takes but six weeks for Lebet to fashion the violin, but the relationship of musician and luthier lasts a lifetime.