This representative example of Tourte’s pre-1800 period is certainly a great asset for a professional musician with the highest demands. Its clear overtones and focused sound give any player a multitude of options in regards to colours of sound and dynamic range. It is articulate and very reliable.

Provenance
Benedict Cruft (1949-2022) studied at the Royal College of Music, where he won the top prize for violinists at the age of 19. After graduating he joined the London Symphony Orchestra, the fourth generation of his family to do so, and became a member of the London String Quartet. A decade later he moved to Hong Kong to become associate concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and a professor at the Hong Kong conservatory. He returned to London a few years later and spent twenty years working as a freelance musician, giving recitals and teaching. In 2003 he returned to Hong Kong as Dean of Music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He was particularly renowned for his performances of Bach's unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas, and in 2012 he was awarded a fellowship of the Royal College of Music.