Chapter IX

Respecting the orchestras, or musical bands, represented on monuments of the middle ages, there can hardly be a doubt that the artists who sculptured them were not unfrequently led by their imagination rather than by an adherence to actual fact. It is, however, not likely that they introduced into such representations instruments that were never admitted in the orchestras, and which would have appeared inappropriate to the contemporaries of the artists. An examination of one or two of the orchestras may therefore find a place here, especially as they throw some additional light upon the characteristics of the instrumental music of mediæval time.

A very interesting group of music performers dating, it is said, from the end of the eleventh century is preserved in a bas-relief which formerly ornamented the abbey of St. Georges de Boscherville and which is now removed to the museum of Rouen. The orchestra comprises twelve performers, most of whom wear a crown. The first of them plays upon a viol, which he holds between his knees as the violoncello is held. His instrument is scarcely as large as the smallest viola da gamba. By his side are a royal lady and her attendant, the former playing on an _organistrum_ of which the latter is turning the wheel. Next to these is represented a performer on a _syrinx_ of the kind shown in the engraving p. 112; and next to him a performer on a stringed instrument resembling a lute, which, however, is too much dilapidated to be recognisable. Then we have a musician with a small stringed instrument resembling the _nablum_, p. 87. The next musician, also represented as a royal personage, plays on a small species of harp. Then follows a crowned musician playing the viol which he holds in almost precisely the same manner as the violin is held. Again, another, likewise crowned, plays upon a harp, using with the right hand a plectrum and with the left hand merely his fingers. The last two performers, apparently a gentleman and a gentlewoman, are engaged in striking the _tintinnabulum_,--a set of bells in a frame.

In this group of crowned minstrels the sculptor has introduced a tumbler standing on his head, perhaps the vocalist of the company, as he has no instrument to play upon. Possibly the sculptor desired to symbolise the hilarious effects which music is capable of producing, as well as its elevating influence upon the devotional feelings.

The two positions in which we find the viol held is worthy of notice, inasmuch as it refers the inquirer further back than might be expected for the origin of our peculiar method of holding the violin, and the violoncello, in playing. There were several kinds of the viol in use differing in size and in compass of sound. The most common number of strings was five, and it was tuned in various ways. One kind had a string tuned to the note running at the side of the finger-board instead of over it; this string was, therefore, only capable of producing a single tone. The four other strings were tuned thus: Two other species, on which all the strings were placed over the finger-board, were tuned: and: The woodcut above represents a very beautiful _vielle_; French, of about 1550, with monograms of Henry II. This is at South Kensington.

The contrivance of placing a string or two at the side of the finger-board is evidently very old, and was also gradually adopted on other instruments of the violin class of a somewhat later period than that of the _vielle_; for instance, on the _lira di braccio_ of the Italians. It was likewise adopted on the lute, to obtain a fuller power in the bass; and hence arose the _theorbo_, the _archlute_, and other varieties of the old lute.

A. REID. DEL.

ORCHESTRA, TWELFTH CENTURY, AT SANTIAGO.]

A grand assemblage of musical performers is represented on the Portico della gloria of the famous pilgrimage church of Santiago da Compostella, in Spain. This triple portal, which is stated by an inscription on the lintel to have been executed in the year 1188, consists of a large semicircular arch with a smaller arch on either side. The central arch is filled by a tympanum, round which are twenty-four life-sized seated figures, in high relief, representing the twenty-four elders seen by St. John in the Apocalypse, each with an instrument of music. These instruments are carefully represented and are of great interest as showing those in use in Spain at about the twelfth century. A cast of this sculpture is in the Kensington museum.

In examining the group of musicians on this sculpture the reader will probably recognise several instruments in their hands, which are identical with those already described in the preceding pages. The _organistrum_, played by two persons, is placed in the centre of the group, perhaps owing to its being the largest of the instruments rather than that it was distinguished by any superiority in sound or musical effect. Besides the small harp seen in the hands of the eighth and nineteenth musicians (in form nearly identical with the Anglo-saxon harp) we find a small triangular harp, without a front-pillar, held on the lap by the fifth and eighteenth musicians. The _salterio_ on the lap of the tenth and seventeenth musicians resembles the dulcimer, but seems to be played with the fingers instead of with hammers. The most interesting instrument in this orchestra is the _vihuela_, or Spanish viol, of the twelfth century. The first, second, third, sixth, seventh, ninth, twentieth, twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth musicians are depicted with a _vihuela_ which bears a close resemblance to the _rebec_. The instrument is represented with three strings, although in one or two instances five tuning-pegs are indicated. A large species of _vihuela_ is given to the eleventh, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth musicians. This instrument differs from the _rebec_ in as far as its body is broader and has incurvations at the sides. Also the sound-holes are different in form and position. The bow does not occur with any of these viols. But, as will be observed, the musicians are not represented in the act of playing; they are tuning and preparing for the performance, and the second of them is adjusting the bridge of his instrument.

The minstrels’ gallery of Exeter cathedral dates from the fourteenth century. The front is divided into twelve niches, each of which contains a winged figure or an angel playing on an instrument of music. There is a cast also of this famous sculpture at South Kensington. The instruments are so much dilapidated that some of them cannot be clearly recognized; but, as far as may be ascertained, they appear to be as follows:--1. The _cittern_. 2. The _bagpipe_. 3. The _clarion_, a small trumpet having a shrill sound. 4. The _rebec_. 5. The _psaltery_. 6. The _syrinx_. 7. The _sackbut_. 8. The _regals_. 9. The _gittern_, a small guitar strung with catgut. 10. The _shalm_. 11. The _timbrel_; resembling our present tambourine, with a double row of gingles. 12. _Cymbals._ Most of these instruments have been already noticed in the preceding pages. The _shalm_, or _shawm_, was a pipe with a reed in the mouth-hole. The _wait_ was an English wind instrument of the same construction. If it differed in any respect from the _shalm_, the difference consisted probably in the size only. The _wait_ obtained its name from being used principally by watchmen, or _waights_, to proclaim the time of night. Such were the poor ancestors of our fine oboe and clarinet.