Quiet please: Italian town takes vow of silence as violins recorded

'The town has blocked streets and a piazza off to traffic and urged residents to go about their business with as little noise as possible as the music made by four violins is digitally recorded' Stock photo

Nick Squires

A town in northern Italy that makes the world's finest violins has taken a collective vow of silence so that the mellifluous sounds of the instruments can be recorded for posterity.

Cremona has been known for centuries as the home of violin making, including the Stradivarius instruments produced by Antonio Stradivari, considered the finest exponent of the art.