Chapter I: Preface

No prefatory remarks are necessary to introduce the reader to the following pages. They emanated, in the first place, from a desire for personal instruction, and what the French term _le soulagement du coeur_, a combination--according to Vauvenargues--calculated to prove useful to one’s fellows, _car personne est seul de son espéce_. Those who live on my plane of thought will welcome this volume, and those who do not, will easily find a way out of the difficulty presented to them by their attempted perusal of its pages: most modern houses are now provided with wastepaper baskets of ample proportions!

My true reason for allowing myself to wander into the paths of a preamble, springs from a desire to thank my friends and colleagues for their assistance in supplying me with many interesting facts.

In particular I am indebted to Sir George Donaldson for permission to reproduce his Duiffoproucart Viol; to Dr William H. Cummings for the use of his interesting old engraving of Benjamin Hallet; to Mr W. E. Whitehouse for notes concerning Signor Piatti; to Mr Edward Heron Allen for courteous admittance to his valuable library, and for permission to reproduce the handsome carved violoncello by Galli; to Mr John Bridges for his photographs of “The King” Amati, and for supplying me with many points relating to its history; and to Miss Gertrude Roberts for helpful research at the British Museum.

Also I waft hearty acknowledgments to that great host of musical historians--my predecessors--to whose various records from century to century we owe our present knowledge.

OLGA RACSTER.

CONTENTS

CHAT THE FIRST

PAGE

Fog--The South Kensington Museum--The Ravanastron--Arabia--The
Kemangeh à Gouze--Egypt and the Rabab 1

CHAT THE SECOND

Lunch, and the Emperor Albinus--The Crwth--The immature Bow
Instruments which preceded the Fifteenth-century Viol--M.
Coutagne and Gaspard Duiffoproucart 43

CHAT THE THIRD

The Renaissance--The Influence of the Netherlands School--A
brief Outline of the growing Use of the Viol in Germany,
Italy, England, France 81

CHAT THE FOURTH

Andrea Amati--“The King” and its History--Gasparo da Salo--Woods
employed by Ancient _Luthiers_--Paolo Maggini and the “Dumas”
Bass--Monsieur Savart’s Experiments--Freaks--Stradivarius
Violoncellos--Signor Piatti’s Violoncellos--The Bass of
Spain--Davidoff’s Violoncello--Herr Klengel’s Amati--A neat
Swindle--Stradivarius’ Contemporaries--Owners of Rugger
Violoncellos--George IV.’s pseudo Stradivarius--The earliest
Treatise on the Violoncello as a Solo Instrument--Mr
Andrew Forster’s Gamba--The Prince Consort’s “Ancient
Instruments” Concert--Development of the Technique of
Violoncello Playing 109

CHAT THE FIFTH

Two Eighteenth-century Women Players of the
Viola da Gamba 185

CHAT THE SIXTH

An Eighteenth-century Violoncello Prodigy 211

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Artist’s Wife. A Van Dyck _Frontispiece_

Sir George Donaldson’s Duiffoproucart Viola
da Gamba, sketched by D. Freeborn Roberts _To face page_ 74

“The King” Violoncello by Andreas Amati ” 110

“The King,” Side View ” 114

Back of the “Vaslin” Violoncello ” 124

Back of Carved Violoncello by Galli ” 174

Viola di Bordone from the South Kensington
Museum, from a Painting by D. Freeborn Roberts ” 184

Benjamin Hallet ” 210

Ravanastron 21

Ancient Egyptian Guitars 22

Rabab 29

Kemangeh à Gouze 32

The Rebec 44

Spanish Minstrel 46

Figure from St Georges de Boscerville 49

Bas-relief, Cologne Cathedral 50

Nun playing Marine Trumpet. Sketch by Author 59

Example from Simpson’s “Division-Viol” 80

Chats on Violoncellos

CHAT THE FIRST