Chapter II: Part 2

We know at present little more of these instruments than that they were in use in Greece. The Magadis is described as having twenty strings. 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 a Muse with a harp, depicted on a splendid Greek vase now in the Munich Museum (_Mun. Vase Cat. No. 805_), may be noted as an exceptional instance. This valuable relic dates from the end of the fifth century B.C. The instrument resembles in construction as well as in shape the Assyrian harp, and has fifteen strings. The Muse 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. 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 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; of the three-stringed _kithara_ of the Lydians; and so on.

The Greeks had lyres of various kinds, more or less differing in construction, form, and size, and distinguished by different names; such as _lyra_, _kithara_, _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 in the arms of the performer; while the _kithara_ had a square base and was held against the side by a sash around it. 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 Greek vase at Munich (already alluded to) represents the nine Muses, of whom three are given in the engraving (Fig. 6), viz., one with the harp, and two others with lyres. Some of the lyres were provided with a bridge, while others were without it. The largest was 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 18 inches, and the length of the cross-bar at the top is about 9 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 _barbitos_ was likewise a stringed instrument of this kind. The _sambyke_ is traditionally said to have been invented by Ibykos, about 560 B.C. The _simikon_ had thirty-five strings, and derived its name from its inventor, Simos, who lived about 600 B.C. It was perhaps a kind of dulcimer. The _nabla_ had ten, or according to Josephus, twelve strings, and probably resembled the _nevel_ 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 as a tuning string.

The _aulos_, of which there were many varieties, 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 clarinet. 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_ (Fig. 7), and the double one _diaulos_ (Fig. 8). 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, and 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_ 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 _hydraulis_, _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 keyboard, 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_, and _fidis_ (or _fides_). 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_. 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 wall painting (Fig. 9) representing a Roman youth playing the double pipes, 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 (Fig. 10), 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 _scabellum_, 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.

V.

ORIENTAL.

THE CHINESE.

Allowing for any exaggeration as to chronology, natural to the lively imagination of Asiatics, there is no reason to doubt that the Chinese possessed long before our Christian era musical instruments to which they attribute a fabulously high antiquity. There is an ancient tradition, according to which they obtained their musical scale from a miraculous bird, called _fêng-huang_, which appears to have been a sort of phœnix. When Confucius, who lived about B.C. 551-479, happened to hear on a certain occasion some Chinese music, he is said to have become so greatly enraptured that he could not take any food for three months afterwards. The sounds which produced this effect were those of K’uei, the Orpheus of the Chinese, whose performance on the _ch’ing_――a kind of harmonicon constructed of slabs of sonorous stone――would draw wild animals around him and make them subservient to his will. As regards the invention of musical instruments the Chinese have other traditions. In one of these we are told that the origin of some of their most popular instruments dates from the period when China was under the dominion of heavenly spirits, called Ch’i. Another assigns the invention of several stringed instruments to the great Fu-hsi who was the founder of the empire and who lived about B.C. 3000, which was long after the dominion of the Ch’i, or spirits. Again, another tradition holds that the most important instruments and systematic arrangements of sounds are an invention of Nü-wa, sister and successor of Fu-hsi.

According to their records, the Chinese possessed their much-esteemed _ch’ing_ 2200 years before our Christian era, and employed it for accompanying songs of praise. It was regarded as a sacred instrument. During religious observances at the solemn moment when the _ch’ing_ was sounded sticks of incense were burnt. It was likewise played before the emperor early in the morning when he awoke. The Chinese have long since constructed various kinds of the _ch’ing_, by using different species of stones. Their most famous stone selected for this purpose is called _yü_. _Yü_ includes the two varieties of jade, nephrite and jadeite. It is not only very sonorous but also beautiful in appearance. It is found in mountain streams and crevices of rocks. The largest known specimens measure from two to three feet in diameter, but examples of this size rarely occur. The _yü_ is very hard and heavy. Some European mineralogists, to whom the missionaries transmitted specimens for examination, pronounce it to be a species of agate (_ma-nao_). It is found of different colours, and the Chinese appear to have preferred in different centuries particular colours for the _ch’ing_.

The Chinese consider the _yü_ especially valuable for musical purposes, because it always retains exactly the same pitch. All other musical instruments, they say, are in this respect doubtful; but the tone of the _yü_ is influenced neither by cold nor heat, nor by humidity, nor dryness.

The stones used for the _ch’ing_ have been cut from time to time in various grotesque shapes. Some represent animals: as, for instance, a bat with outstretched wings; or two fishes placed side by side: others are in the shape of an ancient Chinese bell. The angular shape appears to be the oldest form and is still retained in the ornamental stones of the _pien-ch’ing_, which is a more modern instrument than the _ch’ing_. The tones of the _pien-ch’ing_ are attuned according to the Chinese intervals called _lü_, of which there are twelve in the compass of an octave. The same is the case with the other Chinese instruments of this class. They vary, however, in pitch. The pitch of the _sung-ch’ing_, for instance, is four intervals lower than that of the _pien-ch’ing_.

Sonorous stones have always been used by the Chinese also singly, as rhythmical instruments. Such a single stone is called _t’ê-ch’ing_.

The ancient Chinese had several kinds of bells, frequently arranged in sets so as to constitute a musical scale. The Chinese name for the bell is _chung_. At an early period they had a somewhat square-shaped bell called _t’ê-chung_. Like other ancient Chinese bells it was made of copper alloyed with tin, the proportion being one part of tin to six of copper. The _t’ê-chung_, which is also known by the name of _piao_, was principally used to indicate the time and divisions in musical performances. It had a fixed pitch of sound, and several of these bells attuned to a certain order of intervals were not unfrequently ranged in a regular succession, thus forming a musical instrument which was called _pien-chung_. The musical scale of the sixteen bells which the _pien-chung_ contained was the same as that of the _ch’ing_ before mentioned.

The _hsüan-chung_ was, according to popular tradition, included with the antique instruments at the time of Confucius, and came into popular use during the Han dynasty (from B.C. 200 until A.D. 200). It was of a peculiar oval shape and had nearly the same quaint ornamentation as the _t’ê-chung_; this consisted of symbolical figures, in four divisions, each containing nine mammals. The mouth was crescent-shaped. Every figure had a deep meaning referring to the seasons and to the mysteries of the Buddhist religion. The largest _hsüan-chung_ was about twenty inches in length; and, like the _t’ê-chung_, was sounded by means of a small wooden mallet with an oval knob. None of the bells of this description had a clapper. It would, however, appear that the Chinese had at an early period some kind of bell provided with a wooden tongue: this was used for military purposes as well as for calling the people together when an imperial messenger promulgated his sovereign’s commands. An expression of Confucius is recorded to the effect that he wished to be “A wooden-tongued bell of Heaven,” _i.e._, a herald of heaven to proclaim the divine purposes to the multitude.

The _fang-hsiang_ was a kind of wood-harmonicon. It contained sixteen wooden slabs of an oblong square shape, suspended in a wooden frame elegantly decorated. The slabs were arranged in two tiers, one above the other, and were all of equal length and breadth but differed in thickness. The _ch’un-tu_ consisted of twelve slips of bamboo, and was used for beating time and for rhythmical purposes. The slips being banded together at one end could be expanded somewhat like a fan. The Chinese state that they used the _ch’un-tu_ for writing upon before they invented paper.

The _yü_, likewise an ancient Chinese instrument of percussion and still in use, is made of wood in the shape of a crouching tiger. It is hollow, and along its back are about twenty small pieces of metal, pointed, and in appearance not unlike the teeth of a saw. The performer strikes them with a sort of plectrum resembling a brush, or with a small stick called _chên_. Occasionally the _yü_ is made with pieces of metal shaped like reeds.

The ancient _yü_ was constructed with only six tones which were attuned thus――_f_, _g_, _a_, _c_, _d_, _f_. The instrument appears to have deteriorated in the course of time; for, although it has gradually acquired as many as twenty-seven pieces of metal, it evidently serves at the present day more for the production of rhythmical noise than for the execution of any melody. The modern _yü_ is made of a species of wood called _k’iu_ or _ch’iu_; and the tiger rests generally on a hollow wooden pedestal about three feet six inches long, which serves as a sound-board.

The _chu_, likewise an instrument of percussion, was made of the wood of a tree called _ch’iu-mu_, the stem of which resembles that of the pine and whose foliage is much like that of the cypress. It was constructed of boards about three-quarters of an inch in thickness. In the middle of one of the sides was an aperture into which the hand was passed for the purpose of holding the handle of a wooden hammer, the end of which entered into a hole situated in the bottom of the _chu_. The handle was kept in its place by means of a wooden pin, on which it moved right and left when the instrument was struck with a hammer. The Chinese ascribe to the _chu_ a very high antiquity, as they almost invariably do with any of their inventions when the date of its origin is unknown to them.

The _po-fu_ was a drum, about one foot four inches in length, and seven inches in diameter. It had a parchment at each end, which was prepared in a peculiar way by being boiled in water. The _po-fu_ used to be partly filled with a preparation made from the husk of rice, in order to mellow the sound. The Chinese name for the drum is _ku_.

The _chin-ku_, a large drum fixed on a pedestal which raises it above six feet from the ground, is embellished with symbolical designs. A similar drum on which natural phenomena are depicted is called _lei-ku_; and another of the kind, with figures of certain birds and beasts which are regarded as symbols of long life, is called _ying-ku_, and also _tsu-ku_.

The flutes, _ti_, _yüeh_, and _ch’ih_ were generally made of bamboo. The _kuan-tzŭ_ was a Pandean pipe containing twelve tubes of bamboo. The _hsiao_, likewise a Pandean pipe, contained sixteen tubes. The _p’ai-hsiao_ differed from the _hsiao_ inasmuch as the tubes were inserted into an oddly-shaped case highly ornamented with grotesque designs and silken appendages.

The Chinese are known to have constructed at an early period a curious wind-instrument, called _hsüan_ (the “Chinese ocarina”) (Fig. 11). It was made of baked clay and had five finger-holes, three of which were placed on one side and two on the opposite side, as in the cut. Its tones were in conformity with the pentatonic scale. The reader unacquainted with the pentatonic scale may ascertain its character by playing on the pianoforte the scale of C major with the omission of _f_ and _b_ (the _fourth_ and _seventh_); or by striking the black keys in regular succession from _f_-sharp to the next _f_-sharp above or below.

The _shêng_ (Fig. 12_b_) is one of the oldest instruments of the Chinese still in use, and may be regarded as the most ancient species of organ with which we are exactly acquainted. Formerly it had either thirteen, nineteen, or twenty-four tubes placed in a calabash; and a long curved tube served as a mouth-piece. A similarly-constructed instrument, though different in outward appearance, is the _ken_ of Siam and Burmah. The Siamese call the _ken_ “The Laos organ,” and it is principally used by the inhabitants of the Laos states. Moreover, there deserves to be noticed another Chinese instrument of this kind, simple in construction, which probably represents the _shêng_ in its most primitive condition. It is to be found among the Miao-tsze, or mountaineers, who are supposed to be the aboriginal inhabitants of China. They call it _sang_. This species has no bowl, or air-chest; it rather resembles the Panpipe, but is sounded by means of a common mouthpiece consisting of a tube, which is placed at a right angle across the pipes. The Chinese assert that the _shêng_ was used in olden time in the religious rites performed in honour of Confucius. Tradescant Lay, in his account of the Chinese, calls it “Jubal’s organ,” and remarks, “this seems to be the embryo of our multiform and magnificent organ.”

The ancient stringed instruments, the _ch’in_ (Fig. 12_a_) and _sê_, were of the dulcimer kind, they are still in use, and specimens of them are in the Museum.

The _yueh-ch’in_ (Fig. 12_c_) is a favourite instrument of the Chinese. The Canton pronunciation of _yueh-ch’in_ is _yuet-kum_, and this may be the reason why some European travellers in China have called the instrument _gut-komm_. The wood of which it is made is called by the Chinese _shwan-che_. The strings are twanged with a plectrum, or with the nails, which, it will be remembered, are grown by the Chinese to an extravagant length.

The Buddhists introduced from Tibet into China their god of music, who is represented as a rather jovial-looking man with a moustache and an imperial, playing the _p’i-p’a_, a kind of lute with four silken strings. Perhaps some interesting information respecting the ancient Chinese musical instruments may be gathered from the famous ruins of the Buddhist temples _Angcor-Wat_ and _Angcor-Thom_, in Cambodia. These splendid ruins are supposed to be above two thousand years old: and, at any rate, the circumstance of their age not being known to the Cambodians suggests a high antiquity. On the bas-reliefs with which the temples were enriched are figured musical instruments, which European travellers describe as “flutes, organs, trumpets, and drums, resembling those of the Chinese.” Faithful sketches of these representations, might, very likely, afford valuable hints to the student of musical history.

THE JAPANESE.

The Japanese musical instruments are in the main derived from those of China, and their names consequently represent the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese sounds.

The _biwa_ (Fig. 13_b_) is almost identical with the Chinese _p’i-p’a_. The example illustrated is of wood, lacquered black and ornamented with a band of Japanese design in gold lacquer. It has four silken strings, and two very small sound holes.

The _samisen_ (the Chinese _san-hsien_ or “three-stringed guitar”) is played especially by the Japanese ladies, and is as great a favourite with them as the lute was formerly with us. An example in the Museum (Fig. 13_c_) has three strings of silk. Both the _biwa_ and the _samisen_ are played with a wooden plectrum. The _ko-kiū_ is the Japanese violin, and resembles a small _samisen_, but has four strings. It is held head upwards and played with a loose-strung bow.

The Japanese have several instruments of the dulcimer class, called _koto_ (the Chinese _ch’in_) (Fig. 13_a_). Some species of the _koto_ are played with _plectra_ affixed to the fingers; and there are different successions of intervals adopted in the tuning of the several species.

The _ikuta-goto_ is provided with thirteen movable bridges, by means of which the pitch of the strings is regulated. The bridges are of wood, and about 2½ inches in height. The _ikuta-goto_ is learnt chiefly by Japanese ladies moving in the upper circles of society. It is a rather expensive instrument, and requires much practice. The performer places it on the floor, and, sitting in the usual Japanese attitude, bends over it and twangs the strings with her fingers, the tips of which are encased in _plectra_, resembling thimbles, which terminate in a little projecting piece of ivory in size and form like the finger nail.

Of wind instruments the Japanese use three principal kinds:――(1) The _fuye_, like our flute, with six or seven finger-holes; (2) the _hichiriki_, a reed-flageolet, with seven finger-holes and two thumb-holes; (3) the _shakuhachi_, a bamboo pipe 20 inches high.

The _shêng_ (described on p. 42) is also popular in Japan. The Japanese name for it is _shō_. The general name in Japanese for the drum is _taiko_ (= Chinese _ta ku_, “large drum”). The Japanese have a great variety of drums, some of which are used at religious ceremonies in the temples. The _shime-daiko_ is a shallow drum hung obliquely before the player in a low wooden frame. It is beaten with two plain sticks, and is used to accompany singers. The _tsudzumi_ is a small hand-drum with hour-glass-shaped body.

The Japanese have different kinds of gongs (_dora_ = Chinese _t’ung-lo_, “copper gong”), which are used in the service of the temple, in processions, at funerals, and on several other solemn occasions. The _dōhachi_ (= Chinese _t’ung po_, “copper bowl”) resembles a copper basin. Another consists of two metal basins suspended by cords on a frame composed of a pole and two cross-sticks.

The Japanese, as well as the Chinese, possess superbly ornamented gongs (_kei_) raised on a stand. Those of the former are perhaps the more magnificent.

The Japanese employ large bells (_kane_ or _tsuri-gane_ = Chinese _chung_) in their Buddhist worship. There is a famous bell, richly decorated, near the Daibutsu at Kiōto, which is struck, at different hours of the day, with a heavy wooden mallet; and its sound is said to be particularly sonorous, mellow, and far-reaching. Another celebrated Japanese bell is placed on a high hill near the town of Nara. It is suspended in a wooden shed, close to the Tōdaiji Temple. A thick pole, affixed to the rafters, is drawn backwards, and then, by being let loose, is made to rebound so as to hit the bell sideways in the usual manner. This bell is admired throughout the country, and pictures representing it are sold on the spot to the visitors, who have to ascend a long flight of narrow steps before they reach its station on the summit of the hill. Small bells (_rin_) are used by the Buddhist priests in Japan while officiating in the temple, just as is the case in China, Thibet and other districts of the Asiatic continent.

THE HINDUS.

In the Brahmin mythology of the Hindus the demi-god Nareda is the inventor of the _vina_, the principal national instrument of Hindustan. His mother, Saraswati, the consort of Brahma, may be regarded as the Minerva of the Hindus. She is the goddess of music as well as of speech. To her is attributed the invention of the systematic arrangement of the sounds into a musical scale. She is represented seated on a peacock and playing either on the southern _vina_ or the _bîn_, stringed instruments of the lute kind. Brahma himself we occasionally find depicted as a vigorous man with four handsome heads, beating with his hands upon a small drum; and Vishnu, in his incarnation as Krishna, is represented as a beautiful youth playing upon a flute. The Hindus construct a peculiar kind of flute, the _bansi_, which they consider as the favourite instrument of Krishna.

The _sankha_, or conch-shell trumpet of victory, one of the important attributes of Vishnu the preserver, and his consort Lakshmi, is occasionally represented in the possession of Siva, and other deities. Siva the destroyer, and his consort Parvati, also carry the _budbudika_, or _damaru_, a rattle-drum shaped like an hour-glass.

It is a suggestive fact that we find among several nations in different parts of the world an ancient tradition, according to which their most popular stringed instrument was originally derived from the water. Thus with Nareda and the _vina_, the latter has also the name _kach’-hapi_, signifying a tortoise (_testudo_), whilst _nara_ denotes in Sanskrit water, and _narada_, or _nareda_, the giver of water. Like Nareda, Nereus and his fifty daughters, the Nereïdes, were much renowned for their musical accomplishments; and Hermes (it will be remembered) made his lyre, the _chelys_, of a tortoise-shell. The Scandinavian god Odin, the originator of magic songs, is mentioned as the ruler of the sea, and as such he had the name of _Nikarr_. In the depth of the sea he played the harp with his subordinate spirits, who occasionally came up to the surface of the water to teach some favoured human being their wonderful instrument. Wäinämöinen, the divine player on the Finnish _kantele_ (according to the Kalewala, the old national epic of the Finns) constructed his instrument of fish-bones. The frame he made out of the bones of the pike; and the teeth of the pike he used for the tuning-pegs.

Jacob Grimm in his work on German mythology points out an old tradition, preserved in Swedish and Scotch national ballads, of a skilful harper who constructs his instrument out of the bones of a young girl drowned by a wicked woman. Her fingers he uses for the tuning screws, and her golden hair for the strings. The harper plays, and his music kills the murderess. A similar story is told in the old Icelandic national songs; and the same tradition has been preserved in the Faroe islands, as well as in Norway and Denmark.

May not the agreeable impression produced by the rhythmical flow of the waves and the soothing murmur of running water have led various nations, independently of each other, to the widespread conception that they obtained their favourite instrument of music from the water? Or is the notion traceable to a common source dating from a pre-historic age, perhaps from the early period when the Aryan race is surmised to have diffused its lore through various countries? Or did it originate in the old belief that the world, with all its charms and delights, arose from a chaos in which water constituted the predominant element?

Howbeit, Nareda, the giver of water, was the offspring of Brahma the creator; and Odin had his throne in the skies. Indeed, many of the musical water-spirits appear to have been originally considered as rain deities. Their music may, therefore, be regarded as derived from the clouds rather than from the sea. In short, the traditions respecting spirits and water are not in contradiction to the opinion of the ancient Hindus that music is of heavenly origin, but rather tend to support it.

The earliest musical instruments of the Hindus on record have, almost all of them, remained in popular use until the present day scarcely altered. Besides these, the Hindus possess several Arabic and Persian instruments which are of comparatively modern date in Hindustan: evidently having been introduced into that country scarcely 1,000 years ago, at the time of the Muhammadan irruption. There are several treatises on music extant, written in Sanskrit, which contain descriptions of the ancient instruments.

Of these the Bhârata Nâtya S’astra by Bhârata Muni (period: B.C. 200 to A.D. 100), and the Sangita Ratnâkara, are probably the oldest and most valuable. The latter, according to information supplied by the late Major C. R. Day, is an exhaustive work, consisting of seven ādhyayas, compiled by Sarnga Deva, son of Sotala Deva, King of Karnata, and grandson of Bhaskara, a Kashmirian (period: so far undetermined).

The _vina_ is undoubtedly of high antiquity. It has seven wire strings, and movable frets which are generally fastened with wax. Gourds, often tastefully ornamented, are affixed for the purpose of increasing the sonorousness. There are several kinds of the _vina_ in different districts.

Concerning the two principal present-day derivations from the ancient vina, the following abbreviated descriptions of the _rudra vina_ of Southern India and the _bîn_ or _mahati vina_ of Northern India, are obtained from “The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India,” by the late Major C. R. Day (London, 1891).

The _rudra vina_ (_see_ Fig. 14_b_) is composed of a pear-shaped body of thin wood, hollowed out of the solid; wooden belly; four principal metal strings passing over twenty-four frets and three shorter wires placed at the side of the finger-board; also a single detachable _burra_, or hollow gourd, fastened to the under-side of the neck, near the head, to increase the volume of sound. In the method of playing it differs from that of other Indian musical instruments, the left hand being employed to stop the strings on the frets, whilst the fingers, or rather the finger-nails, of the right hand are used, without plectra, for striking. The _bîn_, or _mahali vina_, differs from the _rudra vina_ in shape and in method of playing. Two large gourd-resonators replace the wooden body with its small _burra_; the side strings are placed two on the left side and one upon the right; the frets vary from nineteen to twenty-two in number; and in playing, the two first fingers of the right hand are armed with wire plectra.

The _sârangi_, or the common fiddle of Southern India (Fig. 14_c_) has a wooden body hollowed out of a single block, a parchment belly, three strings of thick gut, and usually fifteen sympathetic strings of wire, tuned chromatically. Sometimes a fourth principal string of wire, called _luruj_, is added. It is played with a bow, the instrument being held vertically, head uppermost; the tone resembling that of the viola. The _sârangi_ of Northern India, usually carved with a conventional swan-shaped head, has a rounded body, and possesses a lesser number of sympathetic wires.

The _sârinda_, or Bengal fiddle (Fig. 14_a_), another of the few bowed instruments of India, consists of a hollow wooden body, usually decorated with carving, a curious parchment belly covering only the lower half of the body, and three strings either of gut or silk.

The Hindus divided their musical scale into several intervals smaller than our modern semitones. They adopted twenty-two intervals called _s’ruti_ in the compass of an octave, which may therefore be compared to our chromatic intervals. As the frets of the _vina_ are movable the performer can easily regulate them according to the scale, or mode, which he requires for his music.

The harp has long been obsolete. If some Hindu drawings of it can be relied upon, it had at an early time a triangular frame and was in construction as well as in shape and size almost identical with the Assyrian harp.

The Hindus claim to have invented the violin bow. They maintain that the _ravanastra_, one of their old instruments played with the bow, was invented about 5,000 years ago by Ravana, a mighty king of Ceylon. However this may be, there is a great probability that the fiddle-bow originated in Hindustan; because Sanskrit scholars inform us that there are names for it in works which cannot be less than from 1,500 to 2,000 years old. The non-occurrence of any instrument played with a bow on the monuments of the nations of antiquity is by no means so sure a proof as has generally been supposed, that the bow was unknown. The fiddle in its primitive condition must have been a poor contrivance. It probably was despised by players who could produce better tones with greater facility by twanging the strings with their fingers, or with a plectrum. Thus it may have remained through many centuries without experiencing any material improvement. It must also be borne in mind that the monuments transmitted to us chiefly represent historical events, religious ceremonies, and royal entertainments. On such occasions instruments of a certain kind only were used, and these we find represented; while others, which may have been even more common, never occur. In 2,000 years’ time people will possibly maintain that some highly perfected instrument popular with them was entirely unknown to us, because it is at present in so primitive a condition that no one hardly notices it.

“What the _ravanastra_, or _râbanastra_, was like is rather doubtful, but at the present time there exists in Ceylon a primitive instrument played with a bow, called _vinavah_, which has two strings of different kinds, one made of a species of flax, and the other of horsehair, which is the material also of the string of the bow…. The hollow part of this instrument is half a cocoa-nut shell polished, covered with the dried skin of a lizard, and perforated below.” (Day, p. 102.)

This instrument again is almost identical with the Chinese fiddle called _ur-heen_, which also has two strings, and a body consisting of a small block of wood, hollowed out and covered with the skin of a serpent. The _ur-heen_ has not been mentioned among the most ancient instruments of the Chinese, since there is no evidence of its having been known in China before the introduction of the Buddhist religion into that country. From indications, which to point out would lead too far here, it would appear that several instruments found in China originated in Hindustan. They seem to have been gradually diffused from Hindustan and Thibet, more or less altered in the course of time, through the East as far as Japan.

Another curious Hindu instrument, probably of very high antiquity, is the _pungi_, or _jinagovi_, also called _toumrie_ and _magoudi_. It consists of a gourd or of the _cuddos_ nut, hollowed, into which two reed-pipes are inserted. The _pungi_ therefore, somewhat resembles in appearance a bagpipe. It is generally used by the _saperá_ or snake-charmer, who plays upon it when exhibiting the antics of the cobra. The name _magoudi_, given in certain districts to this instrument, rather tends to corroborate the opinion of some musical historians that the _magadis_ of the ancient Greeks was a sort of double-pipe, or bagpipe.

Many instruments of Hindustan are known by different names in different districts, and there are many varieties. On the whole, the Hindus possess about fifty instruments. To describe them properly would fill a volume. Some, which are in the Museum, will be found well described and illustrated in the previously mentioned work by the late Major C. R. Day, which, in addition to affording much valuable information to the student and collector, contains a lengthy bibliography of Indian music and musical instruments.

THE PERSIANS AND ARABS.

Of the musical instruments of the ancient Persians, before the Christian era, scarcely anything is known. It may be surmised that they closely resembled those of the Assyrians, and probably also those of the Hebrews.

The harp, _chang_, in olden time a favourite instrument of the Persians, has gradually fallen into desuetude. A small harp is represented in the celebrated sculptures which exist on a stupendous rock, called Tak-i-Bostan, in the vicinity of the town of Kermanshah. These sculptures are said to have been executed during the lifetime of the Persian monarch Chosroes II. (591-628). They form the ornaments of two lofty arches, and consist of representations of field sports and aquatic amusements. In one of the boats is seated a man in an ornamental dress, with a halo round his head, who is receiving an arrow from one of his attendants; while a female, who is sitting near him, plays on a Trigonon. Towards the top of the bas-relief is represented a stage, on which are performers on small straight trumpets and little hand drums; six harpers; and four other musicians, apparently females――the first of whom plays a flute; the second, a sort of Pandean pipe; the third, an instrument which is too much defaced to be recognisable; and the fourth, a bagpipe. Two harps of a peculiar shape were copied by Sir Gore Ousely from Persian manuscripts about four hundred years old, resembling, in the principle on which they are constructed, all other oriental harps. There existed evidently various kinds of the _chang_. It may be remarked here that the instrument _tschenk_ (or _chang_) in use at the present day in Persia, is more like a dulcimer than a harp. The Arabs adopted the harp from the Persians, and called it _junk_.

The Persians appear to have adopted, at an early period, smaller musical intervals than semitones. When the Arabs conquered Persia (A.D. 641) the Persians had already attained a higher degree of civilisation than their conquerors. The latter found in Persia the cultivation of music considerably in advance of their own, and the musical instruments superior also. They soon adopted the Persian instruments, and there can be no doubt that the musical system exhibited by the earliest Arab writers whose works on the theory of music have been preserved was based upon an older system of the Persians. In these works the octave is divided in seventeen _one-third-tones_――intervals which are still made use of in the East. Some of the Arabian instruments are constructed so as to enable the performer to produce the intervals with exactness. The frets on the lute and tamboura, for instance, are regulated with a view to this object.

The Arabs had to some extent become acquainted with many of the Persian instruments before the time of their conquest of Persia. An Arab musician of the name of Nadr Ben el-Hares Ben Kelde is recorded as having been sent to the Persian King Chosroes II., in the sixth century, for the purpose of learning Persian singing and performing on the lute. Through him, it is said, the lute was brought to Mekka. Saib Chatir, the son of a Persian, is spoken of as the first performer on the lute in Medina, A.D. 682; and of an Arab lutist, Ebn Soreidsch from Mekka, A.D. 683, it is especially mentioned that he played in the Persian style; evidently the superior one. The lute, _el-ood_, had before the tenth century only four strings, or four pairs producing four tones, each tone having two strings tuned in unison. About the tenth century a string for a fifth tone was added. The strings were made of silk neatly twisted. The neck of the instrument was provided with frets of string, which were carefully regulated according to the system of seventeen intervals in the compass of an octave before mentioned. Other favourite stringed instruments were the _tamboura_, a kind of lute with a long neck, and the _quanūn_, a kind of dulcimer strung with lamb’s gut strings (generally three in unison for each tone) and played upon with two little plectra which the performer had fastened to his fingers. The _quanūn_ is likewise still in use in countries inhabited by Muhammadans. The Persian _santir_, the prototype of our dulcimer, is mounted with wire strings and played with two slightly curved sticks. The musician depicted in the left-hand corner of Fig. 15_c_ is playing a _santir_.

Al-Farabi, one of the earliest Arabian musical theorists known, who lived in the beginning of the tenth century, does not allude to the fiddle-bow. This is noteworthy inasmuch as it seems in some measure to support the opinion maintained by some historians that the bow originated in England or Wales. Unfortunately we possess no exact descriptions of the Persian and Arabian instruments between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, otherwise we should probably have earlier accounts of some instrument of the violin kind in Persia. Ash-shakandi, who lived in Spain about A.D. 1200, mentions the _rabôb_, which may have been in use for centuries without having been thought worthy of notice on account of its rudeness. Persian writers of the fourteenth century speak of two instruments of the violin class, viz., the _rabôb_ and the _kemángeh_. As regards the _kemángeh_, the Arabs themselves assert that they obtained it from Persia, and their statement appears all the more worthy of belief from the fact that both names, _rabôb_ and _kemángeh_, are originally Persian.

The _nuy_, a flute (Fig. 15_b_), and the _surnai_, a species of oboe, are still popular in the East.

The _sitâra_ is a Persian three stringed instrument with a wooden body and a parchment belly (Fig. 15_a_).

The Arabs must have been indefatigable constructors of musical instruments. Kiesewetter gives a list of above two hundred names of Arabian instruments, and this does not include many known to us through Spanish historians. A careful investigation of the musical instruments of the Arabs during their sojourn in Spain is particularly interesting to the student of mediæval music, inasmuch as it reveals the Eastern origin of many instruments which are generally regarded as European inventions. Introduced into Spain by the Saracens and the Moors they were gradually diffused towards northern Europe. The English, for instance, adopted not only the Moorish dance (morris dance) but also the _kuitra_ (gittern), the _el-ood_ (lute), the _rabôb_ (rebec), the _naḳḳárah_ (naker), and several others. In an old Cornish sacred drama, supposed to date from the fourteenth century, we have in an enumeration of musical instruments the _nakrys_, designating “kettle-drums.” It must be remembered that the Cornish language, which has now become obsolete, was nearly akin to the Welsh. Indeed, names of musical instruments derived from the Moors in Spain occur in almost every European language.

Not a few fanciful stories are traditionally preserved among the Arabs testifying to the wonderful effects they ascribed to the power of their instrumental performances. One example will suffice. Al-Farabi had acquired his proficiency in Spain, in one of the schools at Cordova which flourished as early as towards the end of the ninth century, and his reputation became so great that ultimately it extended to Asia. The mighty Caliph of Bagdad himself desired to hear the celebrated musician, and sent messengers to Spain with instructions to offer rich presents to him and to convey him to the court. But Al-Farabi feared that if he went he should be retained in Asia, and should never again see the home to which he felt deeply attached. At last he resolved to disguise himself, and ventured to undertake the journey which promised him a rich harvest. Dressed in a mean costume, he made his appearance at the court just at the time when the caliph was being entertained with his daily concert. Al-Farabi, unknown to everyone, was permitted to exhibit his skill on the lute. Scarcely had he commenced his performance in a certain musical mode when he set all his audience laughing aloud, notwithstanding the efforts of the courtiers to suppress so unbecoming an exhibition of mirth in the royal presence. In truth, even the caliph himself was compelled to burst out into a fit of laughter. Presently the performer changed to another mode, and the effect was that immediately all his hearers began to sigh, and soon tears of sadness replaced the previous tears of mirth. Again he played in another mode, which excited his audience to such a rage that they would have fought each other if he, seeing the danger, had not directly gone over to an appeasing mode. After this wonderful exhibition of his skill Al-Farabi concluded in a mode which had the effect of making his listeners fall into a profound sleep, during which he took his departure.

It will be seen that this incident is almost identical with one recorded as having happened about twelve hundred years earlier at the court of Alexander the Great, and which forms the subject of Dryden’s “Alexander’s Feast.” The distinguished flutist Timotheus successively aroused and subdued different passions by changing the musical modes during his performance, exactly in the same way as did Al-Farabi.

VI.

AMERICAN INDIAN.