Stradivarius Fetches a Record $889,240

A Stradivarius violin fetched a world record auction price for a musical instrument of $889,240 at a Sotheby’s sale today, the auctioneers said. The buyer was an unidentified South American.

The violin, made in 1709 by Italian craftsman Antonio Stradivari, is called the Marie Hall, after the master English violinist who acquired it in 1905. Composer Vaughan Williams composed “The Lark Ascending” for Hall, which she first performed in 1920. About 700 of 1,116 violins by Stradivari have survived.