Chapter IV: The Greeks

Many musical instruments of the ancient Greeks are known to us by name; but respecting their exact construction and capabilities there still prevails almost as much diversity of opinion as is the case with those of the Hebrews.

It is generally believed that the Greeks derived their musical system from the Egyptians. Pythagoras and other philosophers are said to have studied music in Egypt. It would, however, appear that the Egyptian influence upon Greece, as far as regards this art, has been overrated. Not only have the more perfect Egyptian instruments--such as the larger harps, the tamboura--never been much in favour with the Greeks, but almost all the stringed instruments which the Greeks possessed are stated to have been originally derived from Asia. Strabo says: “Those who regard the whole of Asia, as far as India, as consecrated to Bacchus, point to that country as the origin of a great portion of the present music. One author speaks of ‘striking forcibly the Asiatic kithara,’ another calls the pipes Berecynthian and Phrygian. Some of the instruments also have foreign names, as Nabla, Sambuka, Barbiton, Magadis, and many others.”

We know at present little more of these instruments than that they were in use in Greece. Of the Magadis it is even not satisfactorily ascertained whether it was a stringed or a wind instrument. The other three are known to have been stringed instruments. But they cannot have been anything like such universal favourites as the lyre, because this instrument and perhaps the _trigonon_ are almost the only stringed instruments represented in the Greek paintings on pottery and other monumental records. If, as might perhaps be suggested, their taste for beauty of form induced the Greeks to represent the elegant lyre in preference to other stringed instruments, we might at least expect to meet with the harp; an instrument which equals if it does not surpass the lyre in elegance of form.

The representation of Polyhymnia with a harp, depicted on a splendid Greek vase now in the Munich museum, may be noted as an exceptional instance. This valuable relic dates from the time of Alexander the great. The instrument resembles in construction as well as in shape the Assyrian harp, and has thirteen strings. Polyhymnia is touching them with both hands, using the right hand for the treble and the left for the bass. She is seated, holding the instrument in her lap. Even the little tuning-pegs, which in number are not in accordance with the strings, are placed on the sound-board at the upper part of the frame, exactly as on the Assyrian harp. If then we have here the Greek harp, it was more likely an importation from Asia than from Egypt. In short, as far as can be ascertained, the most complete of the Greek instruments appear to be of Asiatic origin. Especially from the nations who inhabited Asia-minor the Greeks are stated to have adopted several of the most popular. Thus we may read of the short and shrill-sounding pipes of the Carians; of the Phrygian pastoral flute, consisting of several tubes united; of the three-stringed _kithara_ of the Lydians; and so on.

The Greeks called the harp _kinyra_, and this may be the reason why in the English translation of the Bible the _kinnor_ of the Hebrews, the favourite instrument of king David, is rendered _harp_.

The Greeks had lyres of various kinds, shown in the accompanying woodcuts, more or less differing in construction, form, and size, and distinguished by different names; such as _lyra, ithara_, _chelys_, _phorminx_, etc. _Lyra_ appears to have implied instruments of this class in general, and also the lyre with a body oval at the base and held upon the lap or in the arms of the performer; while the _kithara_ had a square base and was held against the breast. These distinctions have, however, not been satisfactorily ascertained. The _chelys_ was a small lyre with the body made of the shell of a tortoise, or of wood in imitation of the tortoise. The _phorminx_ was a large lyre; and, like the _kithara_, was used at an early period singly, for accompanying recitations. It is recorded that the _kithara_ was employed for solo performances as early as B.C. 700.

The design on the Grecian vase at Munich (already alluded to) represents the nine muses, of whom three are given in the engraving, viz., Polyhymnia with the harp, and Kalliope and Erato with lyres. It will be observed that some of the lyres engraved in the woodcuts on page 29 are provided with a bridge, while others are without it. The largest were held probably on or between the knees, or were attached to the left arm by means of a band, to enable the performer to use his hands without impediment. The strings, made of catgut or sinew, were more usually twanged with a _plektron_ than merely with the fingers. The _plektron_ was a short stem of ivory or metal pointed at both ends.

A fragment of a Greek lyre which was found in a tomb near Athens is deposited in the British museum. The two pieces constituting its frame are of wood. Their length is about eighteen inches, and the length of the cross-bar at the top is about nine inches. The instrument is unhappily in a condition too dilapidated and imperfect to be of any essential use to the musical inquirer.

The _trigonon_ consisted originally of an angular frame, to which the strings were affixed. In the course of time a third bar was added to resist the tension of the strings, and its triangular frame resembled in shape the Greek delta. Subsequently it was still further improved, the upper bar of the frame being made slightly curved, whereby the instrument obtained greater strength and more elegance of form.

The _magadis_, also called _pektis_, had twenty strings which were tuned in octaves, and therefore produced only ten tones. It appears to have been some sort of dulcimer, but information respecting its construction is still wanting. There appears to have been also a kind of bagpipe in use called _magadis_, of which nothing certain is known. Possibly, the same name may have been applied to two different instruments.

The _barbiton_ was likewise a stringed instrument of this kind. The _sambyke_ is traditionally said to have been invented by Ibykos, B.C. 540. The _simmikon_ had thirty-five strings, and derived its name from its inventor, Simos, who lived about B.C. 600. It was perhaps a kind of dulcimer. The _nabla_ had only two strings, and probably resembled the _nebel_ of the Hebrews, of which but little is known with certainty. The _pandoura_ is supposed to have been a kind of lute with three strings. Several of the instruments just noticed were used in Greece, chiefly by musicians who had immigrated from Asia; they can therefore hardly be considered as national musical instruments of the Greeks. The _monochord_ had (as its name implies) only a single string, and was used in teaching singing and the laws of acoustics.

The flute, _aulos_, of which there were many varieties, as shown in the woodcut p. 31, was a highly popular instrument, and differed in construction from the flutes and pipes of the ancient Egyptians. Instead of being blown through a hole at the side near the top it was held like a flageolet, and a vibrating reed was inserted into the mouth-piece, so that it might be more properly described as a kind of oboe or clarionet. The Greeks were accustomed to designate by the name of _aulos_ all wind instruments of the flute and oboe kind, some of which were constructed like the flageolet or like our antiquated _flûte à bec_. The single flute was called _monaulos_, and the double one _diaulos_. A _diaulos_, which was found in a tomb at Athens, is in the British museum. The wood of which it is made seems to be cedar, and the tubes are fifteen inches in length. Each tube has a separate mouth-piece and six finger-holes, five of which are at the upper side and one is underneath.

The _syrinx_, or Pandean pipe, had from three to nine tubes, but seven was the usual number. The straight trumpet, _salpinx_, and the curved horn, _keras_, made of brass, were used exclusively in war. The small hand-drum, called _tympanon_, resembled in shape our tambourine, but was covered with parchment at the back as well as at the front. The _kymbala_ were made of metal, and resembled our small cymbals. The _krotala_ were almost identical with our castanets, and were made of wood or metal.

THE ETRUSCANS AND ROMANS.

The Romans are recorded to have derived some of their most popular instruments originally from the Etruscans; a people which at an early period excelled all other Italian nations in the cultivation of the arts as well as in social refinement, and which possessed musical instruments similar to those of the Greeks. It must, however, be remembered that many of the vases and other specimens of art which have been found in Etruscan tombs, and on which delineations of lyres and other instruments occur, are supposed to be productions of Greek artists whose works were obtained from Greece by the Etruscans, or who were induced to settle in Etruria.

The flutes of the Etruscans were not unfrequently made of ivory; those used in religious sacrifices were of box-wood, of a species of the lotus, of ass’ bone, bronze and silver. A bronze flute, somewhat resembling our flageolet, has been found in a tomb; likewise a huge trumpet of bronze. An Etruscan _cornu_ (engraved) is deposited in the British museum, and measures about four feet in length.

To the Etruscans is also attributed by some the invention of the hydraulic organ. The Greeks possessed a somewhat similar contrivance which they called _hydraulos_, _i.e._ water-flute, and which probably was identical with the _organum hydraulicum_ of the Romans. The instrument ought more properly to be regarded as a pneumatic organ, for the sound was produced by the current of air through the pipes; the water applied serving merely to give the necessary pressure to the bellows and to regulate their action. The pipes were probably caused to sound by means of stops, perhaps resembling those on our organ, which were drawn out or pushed in. The construction was evidently but a primitive contrivance, contained in a case which could be carried by one or two persons and which was placed on a table. The highest degree of perfection which the hydraulic organ obtained with the ancients is perhaps shown in a representation on a coin of the emperor Nero, in the British museum. Only ten pipes are given to it and there is no indication of any key board, which would probably have been shown had it existed. The man standing at the side and holding a laurel leaf in his hand is surmised to represent a victor in the exhibitions of the circus or the amphitheatre. The hydraulic organ probably was played on such occasions; and the medal containing an impression of it may have been bestowed upon the victor.

During the time of the republic, and especially subsequently under the reign of the emperors, the Romans adopted many new instruments from Greece, Egypt, and even from western Asia; without essentially improving any of their importations.

Their most favourite stringed instrument was the lyre, of which they had various kinds, called, according to their form and arrangement of strings, _lyra_, _cithara_, _chelys_, _testudo_, _fidis_ (or _fides_), and _cornu_. The name _cornu_ was given to the lyre when the sides of the frame terminated at the top in the shape of two horns. The _barbitos_ was a kind of lyre with a large body, which gave the instrument somewhat the shape of the Welsh _crwth_. The _psalterium_ was a kind of lyre of an oblong square shape. Like most of the Roman lyres, it was played with a rather large plectrum. The _trigonum_ was the same as the Greek _trigonon_, and was probably originally derived from Egypt. It is recorded that a certain musician of the name of Alexander Alexandrinus was so admirable a performer upon it that when exhibiting his skill in Rome he created the greatest _furore_. Less common, and derived from Asia, were the _sambuca_ and _nablia_, the exact construction of which is unknown.

The flute, _tibia_, was originally made of the shin bone, and had a mouth-hole and four finger-holes. Its shape was retained even when, at a later period, it was constructed of other substances than bone. The _tibia gingrina_ consisted of a long and thin tube of reed with a mouth-hole at the side of one end. The _tibia obliqua_ and _tibia vasca_ were provided with mouth-pieces affixed at a right angle to the tube; a contrivance somewhat similar to that on our bassoon. The _tibia longa_ was especially used in religious worship. The _tibia curva_ was curved at its broadest end. The _tibia ligula_ appears to have resembled our flageolet. The _calamus_ was nothing more than a simple pipe cut off the kind of reed which the ancients used as a pen for writing.

The Romans had double flutes as well as single flutes. The double flute consisted of two tubes united, either so as to have a mouth-piece in common or to have each a separate mouth-piece. If the tubes were exactly alike the double flute was called _Tibiæ pares_; if they were different from each other, _Tibiæ impares_. Little plugs, or stoppers, were inserted into the finger-holes to regulate the order of intervals. The _tibia_ was made in various shapes. The _tibia dextra_ was usually constructed of the upper and thinner part of a reed; and the _tibia sinistra_, of the lower and broader part. The performers used also the _capistrum_,--a bandage round the cheeks identical with the _phorbeia_ of the Greeks.

The British museum contains a mosaic figure of a Roman girl playing the _tibia_, which is stated to have been disinterred in the year 1823 on the Via Appia. Here the _holmos_ or mouth-piece, somewhat resembling the reed of our oboe, is distinctly shown. The finger-holes, probably four, are not indicated, although they undoubtedly existed on the instrument.

Furthermore, the Romans had two kinds of Pandean pipes, viz. the _syrinx_ and the _fistula_. The bagpipe, _tibia utricularis_, is said to have been a favourite instrument of the emperor Nero.

The _cornu_ was a large horn of bronze, curved. The performer held it under his arm with the broad end upwards over his shoulder. It is represented in the engraving, with the _tuba_ and the _lituus_.

The _tuba_ was a straight trumpet. Both the _cornu_ and the _tuba_ were employed in war to convey signals. The same was the case with the _buccina_,--originally perhaps a conch shell, and afterwards a simple horn of an animal,--and the _lituus_, which was bent at the broad end but otherwise straight. The _tympanum_ resembled the tambourine and was beaten like the latter with the hands. Among the Roman instruments of percussion the _scabillum_, which consisted of two plates combined by means of a sort of hinge, deserves to be noticed; it was fastened under the foot and trodden in time, to produce certain rhythmical effects in musical performances. The _cymbalum_ consisted of two metal plates similar to our cymbals. The _crotala_ and the _crusmata_ were kinds of castanets, the former being oblong and of a larger size than the latter. The Romans had also a _triangulum_, which resembled the triangle occasionally used in our orchestra. The _sistrum_ they derived from Egypt with the introduction of the worship of Isis. Metal bells, arranged according to a regular order of intervals and placed in a frame, were called _tintinnabula_. The _crepitaculum_ appears to have been a somewhat similar contrivance on a hoop with a handle.

Through the Greeks and Romans we have the first well-authenticated proof of musical instruments having been introduced into Europe from Asia. The Romans in their conquests undoubtedly made their musical instruments known, to some extent, also in western Europe. But the Greeks and Romans are not the only nations which introduced eastern instruments into Europe. The Phœnicians at an early period colonized Sardinia, and traces of them are still to be found on that island. Among these is a peculiarly constructed double-pipe, called _lionedda_ or _launedda_. Again, at a much later period the Arabs introduced several of their instruments into Spain, from which country they became known in France, Germany, and England. Also the crusaders, during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, may have helped to familiarize the western European nations with instruments of the east.