An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin Rohan Kriwaczek Duckworth, 210pp, £14.99

It is hard to know how to review a serious book that has as its subject something that does not exist. Presented in what can only be described as an academic tone, this book purports to tell the history of the Guild of Funerary Violinists, an organisation that makes the Masons seem progressive. Yet they do not exist: googling the subject leads to a MySpace page and other sites linked to the author.

The book tells how the funerary violin, a sole violinist playing at a funeral, evolved with the Protestant Reformation to replace the "pomp and splendour" of the Catholic rite. The 17th and 18th centuries were, apparently, a golden age for funerary violinists; they performed at numerous pre-eminent funerals and inspired many of the great composers.

A comparison between the works of a certain Ulmer Dietrich and Beethoven is remarkable,
Kriwaczek claims. And the reason Beethoven is a household name and Dietrich not? The great
funerary purges of 1830-40, when the Vatican ruthlessly cracked down on the deviant practice.
This truly is a bizarre book, written with all the semblance of a factual work, yet with a subject that would not look out of place in the next Dan Brown thriller.
What an elaborate fiddle.

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