Chapter IV: Part 4

An interesting drawing of an Anglo-Saxon fiddle――or _fithele_, as it was called――is given in a manuscript of the eleventh century in the British Museum (Cotton, Tiberius, c. 6). The instrument is of a pear shape, with four strings, and the bridge is not indicated. A German fiddle of the ninth century, called _lyra_, copied by Gerbert from the manuscripts of St. Blasius, has only one string. Other records of the employment of the fiddle-bow in Germany in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are not wanting. For instance, in the famous “Nibelungenlied” Volker is described as wielding the fiddle-bow not less dexterously than the sword. And in “Chronicon picturatum Brunswicense” of the year 1203, the following miraculous sign is recorded as having occurred in the village of Ossemer: “On Wednesday in Whitsunweek, while the parson was fiddling to his peasants who were dancing, there came a flash of lightning and struck the parson’s arm which held the fiddle-bow, and killed twenty-four people on the spot.”

Among the oldest representations of performers on instruments of the violin kind found in England those deserve to be noticed which are painted on the interior of the roof of Peterborough Cathedral. They are said to date from the twelfth century. One of these figures is particularly interesting on account of the surprising resemblance which his instrument bears to our present violin. Not only the incurvations on the sides of the body but also the two sound-holes are nearly identical in shape with those made at the present day. Respecting the reliance to be placed on such evidence, it is necessary to state that the roof, originally constructed between the years 1177 and 1194, was thoroughly repaired in the year 1835. Although we find it asserted that “the greatest care was taken to retain every part, or to restore it to its original state, so that the figures, even where retouched, are in effect the same as when first painted,” it nevertheless remains a debatable question whether the restorers have not admitted some slight alterations, and have thereby somewhat modernised the appearance of the instruments. A slight touch with the brush at the sound-holes, the screws, or the curvatures would suffice to produce modifications which might to the artist appear as being only a renovation of the original representation, but which to the musical investigator greatly impair the value of the evidence. Sculptures are, therefore, more to be relied upon in evidence than frescoes.

VIII.

EUROPEAN INSTRUMENTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. (_Continued._)

The construction of the _organistrum_ (Fig. 31) requires but little explanation. A glance at the finger-board reveals at once that the different tones were obtained by raising the keys placed on the neck under the strings, and that the keys were raised by means of the handles at the side of the neck. Of the two bridges shown on the body, the one situated nearest the middle was formed by a wheel in the inside, which projected through the sound-board. The wheel which slightly touched the strings vibrated them by friction when turned by the handle at the end. The order of intervals was _c_, _d_, _e_, _f_, _g_, _a_, _b-flat_, _b-natural_, _c_, and were obtainable on the highest string. There is reason to suppose that the other two strings were generally tuned a fifth and an octave below the highest. The _organistrum_ may be regarded as the predecessor of the hurdy-gurdy, and was rather a cumbrous contrivance. Two persons seem to have been required to sound it, one to turn the handle and the other to manage the keys. Thus it is generally represented in mediæval concerts.

The _monochord_ was mounted with a single string stretched over two bridges which were fixed on an oblong box. The string could be tightened or slackened by means of a turning screw inserted into one end of the box. The intervals of the scale were marked on the side, and were regulated by a sort of movable bridge placed beneath the string when required. As might be expected, the _monochord_ was chiefly used by theorists; for any musical performance it was but little suitable. About a thousand years ago when this monochord was in use the musical scale was diatonic, with the exception of the interval of the seventh, which was chromatic inasmuch as both _b-flat_ and _b-natural_ formed part of the scale.

This ought to be borne in mind in examining the representations of musical instruments transmitted to us from that period.

As regards the wind instruments popular during the Middle Ages, some were of quaint form as well as of rude construction.

The _chorus_, or _choron_, had either one or two tubes. There were several varieties of this instrument; sometimes it was constructed with a bladder into which the tube is inserted; this kind of _chorus_ resembled the bagpipe; another kind resembled the _pungi_ of the Hindus, mentioned on page 52. The name _chorus_ was also applied to certain stringed instruments. One of these had much the form of the _cithara_, page 84. It appears, however, probable that _chorus_ or _choron_ originally designated a horn (Hebrew, _keren_; Greek, _keras_; Latin, _cornu_).

The flutes of the Middle Ages were blown at the end, like the flageolet. Of the _syrinx_ there are extant some illustrations of the ninth and tenth centuries, which exhibit the instrument with a number of tubes tied together, just like the Pandean pipe still in use. In one specimen,[6] from a manuscript of the eleventh century, the tubes were inserted into a bowl-shaped box. This is probably the _frestele_, _fretel_, or _fretian_, which in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was in favour with the French ménétriers.

Some large Anglo-Saxon trumpets may be seen in a manuscript of the eighth century in the British Museum. The largest kind of trumpet was placed on a stand when blown. Of the _oliphant_, or hunting horn, some fine specimens are in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection. The _sackbut_ (Fig. 32), probably made of metal, could be drawn out to alter the pitch of sound. The sackbut of the ninth century had, however, a very different shape to that in use about three centuries ago, and much more resembled the present _trombone_. The name _sackbut_ is supposed to be a corruption of _sambuca_. The French, about the fifteenth century, called it _sacqueboute_ and _saquebutte_.

The most important wind instrument――in fact, the king of all the musical instruments――is the organ.

The _pneumatic organ_ is sculptured on the base of an obelisk which was erected in Constantinople under Theodosius the Great towards the end of the fourth century. The bellows were pressed by men standing on them. This interesting monument also exhibits performers on the double flute. The _hydraulic organ_, which is recorded to have been already known about two hundred years before the Christian era, was according to some statements occasionally employed in churches during the earlier centuries of the Middle Ages. Probably it was more frequently heard in secular entertainments, for which it was more suitable; and at the beginning of the fourteenth century it appears to have been entirely supplanted by the pneumatic organ. The earliest organs had only about a dozen pipes. The largest, which were made about nine hundred years ago, had only three octaves, in which the chromatic intervals did not occur. Some progress in the construction of the organ is shewn in a psalter of Eadwine, in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge (Fig. 33). The instrument has ten pipes, or perhaps fourteen, as four of them appear to be double pipes. It required four men exerting all their power to produce the necessary wind, and two men to play the instrument. Moreover, both players seem also to be busily engaged in directing the blowers about the proper supply of wind. Six men and only fourteen pipes!

Another illustration is given of an organ of the 14th century (Fig. 34).

The pedal is generally believed to have been invented by Bernhard, a German, who lived in Venice about the year 1470. There are, however, indications extant pointing to an earlier date of its invention. Perhaps Bernhard was the first who, by adopting a more practicable construction, made the pedal more generally known. On the earliest organs the keys of the finger-board were of enormous size, compared with those of the present day; so that a finger-board with only nine keys had a breadth of from four to five feet. The organist struck the keys down with his fist, as is done in playing the _carillon_ still in use on the Continent, of which presently some account will be given.

Of the little portable organ, known as the _regal_ or _regals_, often tastefully shaped and embellished, some interesting sculptured representations are still extant in the old ecclesiastical edifices of England and Scotland. There is, for instance, in Beverley Minster a figure of a man playing on a single regal, or a regal provided with only one set of pipes; and in Melrose Abbey the figure of an angel holding in his arms a double regal, the pipes of which are in two sets. The regal generally had keys like those of the organ but smaller. A painting in the National Gallery, attributed to Melozzo da Forlì (1438-1494) contains a regal which has keys of a peculiar shape, rather resembling the pistons of certain brass instruments. (Fig. 1, _Frontispiece_.) To avoid misapprehension, it is necessary to mention that the name _regal_ (or _regals_, _rigols_) was also applied to an instrument of percussion with sonorous slabs of wood. This contrivance was, in short, a kind of harmonica, resembling in shape as well as in the principle of its construction the little glass harmonica, a mere toy, in which slips of glass are arranged according to our musical scale. In England it appears to have been still known in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Grassineau describes the “Rigols” as “a kind of musical instrument consisting of several sticks bound together, only separated by beads. It makes a tolerable harmony, being well struck with a ball at the end of a stick.” In the earlier centuries of the Middle Ages there appear to have been some instruments of percussion in favour, to which Grassineau’s expression “a tolerable harmony” would scarcely have been applicable. Drums, of course, were known; and their rhythmical noise must have been soft music, compared with the shrill sounds of the _cymbalum_ (a contrivance consisting of a number of metal plates suspended on cords, so that they would be clashed together simultaneously) or with the clangour of the _cymbalum_ constructed with bells instead of plates; or with the piercing noise of the _bunibulum_, or _bombulom_; an instrument which consisted of an angular frame to which were loosely attached metal plates of various shapes and sizes. The lower part of the frame constituted the handle; and to produce the noise it evidently was shaken somewhat like the sistrum of the ancient Egyptians.[7]

The _triangle_ nearly resembled the instrument of this name in use at the present day; it was more elegant in shape and had some metal ornamentation in the middle.

The _tintinnabulum_ consisted of a number of bells arranged in regular order and suspended in a frame.

IX.

EUROPEAN INSTRUMENTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. (_Continued_).

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 (Fig. 35). 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_; 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_ (_see_ p. 86). 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 [Music: Bass clef, quarter note D] 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: [Music: Bass clef, quarter notes G (low) G (high) Treble clef, quarter notes D (low) D (low)] Two other species, on which all the strings were placed over the finger-board, were tuned: [Music: Bass clef, quarter notes D G (low) G (high) Treble clef, quarter notes D (low) G] and: [Music: Bass clef, quarter notes G (low) C G (high) Treble clef, quarter notes D (low) G] A very beautiful _vielle_ is represented in Fig. 36. It is of French workmanship of about 1550, with monograms of Henri II., and is preserved in the Museum.

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 grand assemblage of musical performers is represented on the Portico della Gloria of the famous pilgrimage church of Santiago de 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 semi-circular 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 about the twelfth century. A cast of this sculpture is in the Museum (Fig. 37).

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 so 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 minstrel gallery of Exeter Cathedral (Fig. 38) 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 recognised; but, as far as may be ascertained, they appear to be as follows:――(1) The _lute_ or possibly _cittern_; (2) the _bagpipe_; (3) the _clarion_ or the _shalm_; (4) the _rebec_; (5) the _psaltery_ or the _harp_; (6) the _jew’s harp_ (?); (7) the _sackbut_ or the _clarion_; (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.

X.

POST-MEDIÆVAL INSTRUMENTS.

Attention must now be drawn to some instruments which originated during the Middle Ages, but which attained their highest popularity at a somewhat later period.

About 300 years ago the _lute_ (Fig. 39) was almost as popular as is the pianoforte at the present day. Originally it had eight thin catgut strings arranged in four pairs, each pair being tuned in unison; so that its open strings produced four tones; but in the course of time more strings were added. Until the sixteenth century twelve was the largest number, or rather, six pairs. Eleven appears for some centuries to have been the most usual number of strings; these produced six tones, since they were arranged in five pairs and a single string. The latter, called the _chanterelle_, was the highest. According to Thomas Mace, the English lute in common use during the seventeenth century had twenty-four strings, arranged in twelve pairs, of which six pairs ran over the finger-board and the other six by the side of it. This lute was therefore, more properly speaking, a theorbo. The neck of the lute, and also of the theorbo, had frets consisting of catgut strings tightly fastened round it at the proper distances required for ensuring a chromatic succession of intervals. The illustration (Fig. 40) represents a lute-player of the late fifteenth century. The order of tones adopted for the open strings varied in different centuries and countries; and this was also the case with the notation of lute music. The most common practice was to write the music on six lines, the upper line representing the first string; the second line, the second string, etc., and to mark with letters on the lines the frets at which the fingers ought to be placed――_a_ indicating the open string, _b_ the first fret, _c_ the second fret, and so on.

The lute was made of various sizes, according to the purpose for which it was intended in performance. The treble-lute was of the smallest dimensions, and the bass-lute of the largest. The _theorbo_, or double-necked lute which appears to have come into use during the sixteenth century, had in addition to the strings situated over the finger-board a number of others running at the left side of the finger-board which could not be shortened by the fingers, and which produced the bass tones.

The _archlute_ is a large theorbo with a peculiar arrangement of the strings (Fig. 41). Several of them were doubled, the additional string being tuned an octave higher than the other. The process of tuning such instruments was evidently troublesome and tedious. Mattheson, the quaint contemporary of Handel, in his “Das Neu-eröffnete Orchestre,” Hamburg, 1713, remarks:――“If a lutenist attains the age of eighty, you may be sure he has tuned sixty years; and the worst of it is that among a hundred players, especially of the amateurs, scarcely two are capable of tuning with accuracy. Now there is something amiss with the strings; now with the frets; and now again with the screws; so that I have been told that in Paris it costs as much money to keep a lute as to keep a horse.” Also Mace, an enthusiastic admirer of the lute, testifies to the difficulty of keeping the instrument in proper condition; for his treatise on the lute and theorbo (contained in “Musick’s Monument,” London, 1676) is replete with rules for stringing, tuning, cleaning, repairing, etc. And, as regards preserving the instrument, he gives the advice――“You shall do well, ever when you lay it by in the day-time, to put it into a bed that is constantly used, between the rug and blanket.”

The _chitarrone_ is a theorbo with an extraordinarily long neck, by which the length of the eight bass strings is considerably increased (Fig. 42). The largest instruments of this kind were made some centuries ago, in Rome. They were used in the theatre for accompanying the voice, before the Clavicembalo, or Harpsichord, was introduced for this purpose. The finest instruments of the lute kind were made in Italy, especially at Bologna, Rome, Venice, and Padua. Many of the manufacturers in Italy were, however, foreigners. Evelyn, in his Diary (May 21, 1645), speaking of Bologna, says, “This place has also been celebrated for lutes made by the old masters, Mollen [Maler ?], Hans Frey, and Nicholas Sconvelt, which were of extraordinary price; the workmen were chiefly Germans.” One of the earliest and most celebrated of these makers was Lucas Maler (or “Laux Maler” as he inscribed his name on his instruments). He lived at Bologna about 1415.

Other celebrated lute-makers[8] were:――

Ludwig Porgt, Regensburg, 1525.
Hanns Gerle, Nuremberg, b. about 1505, d. 1599.
Hans Neusedler, Nuremberg, d. 1563.
Sebastian Rauser, Verona, working about 1590 to 1605.
Mattheus Buchenberg, Rome, working about 1592-1619.
Hanns Fichtholdt, Ingoldstadt (?), about 1612; his lutes, the backs
of which are made with narrow strips of wood, in the Italian manner,
were formerly much prized by connoisseurs.
Paolo Belami, Paris, about 1612, probably an Italian. His lutes were
highly valued.
Joachim Tielke, Hamburg, b. 1641, d. 1719.
Antonio Castaro, Rome, about 1615.
Christofilo Rochi, Padua, about 1620.
Sebastian Rochi, Venice, about 1620.
Clays von Pommersbach, Cologne, probably during the sixteenth
century.
Magnus Tieffenbrucker, Venice, latter half of seventeenth century.
Wendelin Tieffenbrucker, Padua, working about 1572-1611, and
Leonhard Tieffenbrucker, Padua (?), during the sixteenth century;
their lutes were rather flat and long in body.
Michael Hartung, Padua, working about 1602 to 1624; he was a pupil
of Leonhard Tieffenbrucker.
Raphael Mest, Füssen, working about 1610 to 1650; said to have been
pupil of Michael Hartung.
Johann Christian Hoffmann, Leipzig, working about 1710 to 1750; his
lutes were exported to Holland and England.
Martin Schott, Prague, latter half of seventeenth century.
Sebastian Rauch, Prague, working about 1700 to 1724.
Matthias Hummel, Nuremberg, end of seventeenth century.
Sebastian Schelle, Nuremberg, working about 1700 to 1745; his lutes
were much valued, not only in Germany, but also in other European
countries.

There used to be in Italy various kinds of mandolines, of which the Milanese and the Neapolitan were the most common. The first-named had usually ten strings, constituting five pairs. The Neapolitan _mandolino_ had eight strings, constituting four pairs. The strings were usually twanged with a quill. Mozart, in his “Don Giovanni,” has made use of the Neapolitan _mandolino_ in the serenade; but, as the instrument has fallen into disuse, at least in most countries except Italy, the part written for it by Mozart is now generally played on the violin, _pizzicato_. The _mandolino_ is now often strung with catgut strings. It resembles a diminutive lute; but its fingerboard has metal frets, and its strings are fastened to little ivory pins at the end of the body, instead of being looped through holes in the bridge. The convex back of the mandoline is deeper than that of the lute. It is one of the handsomest musical instruments.

Besides the mandoline the Italians had various instruments in shape resembling the lute. Of this description are, for instance, the _mandora_, _mandorina_, and the _pandurina_. The mandoline differs from the pandurina chiefly in having a rounder and deeper body, and in having the tuning-pegs placed at the back of the head; while the _pandurina_ has a sort of scroll, with the tuning-pegs situated sideways, similar to the old English cither (Fig. 43). The _mandora_ had usually for each tone two strings, which were of catgut and wire; and there were eight pairs of them. The _mandorina_ had four wire strings.

The _guitar_ (Fig. 44) is evidently an importation from the East, but it has undergone various modifications since its adoption by European nations. It was an instrument of the Moors in Spain, and became known in France about the 11th century. The French called it formerly _guiterne_, and the English _gittern_, _ghittern_, and _gythorn_. At the time of Henry VIII. we find it occasionally called “the Spanish viol.” At an early period it probably had the oval shape of the _kuitra_, still in use by the Arab musicians in Tunis and Algiers. In Spain it had formerly also the name of _vihuela_.

Instruction books for the old Spanish guitar have been written by:――Ludovico Milan, Valencia, 1534; Sixtus Kargel, Mayence, 1569; Joannes Carolus, Lerida, 1626; Pietro Milioni, Rome, 1638; Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz, Madrid, 1672, etc. The number of guitar manuals published during the 18th century is enormous. Germany alone contributed above fifty.

The guitar was a fashionable instrument in England, played by ladies, in the time of Charles II. On the Continent it generally had ten catgut strings, of which two were always tuned in unison. At the present day it has six strings, the two of which are of silk covered with silver wire, and the others are of catgut.

A species of guitar is the _quinterna_, or _chiterna_, somewhat resembling a violin in shape (Fig. 45). It was used about two centuries ago, especially in Italy, by the lower orders of musicians and comedians for accompanying their vocal performances. It was played with the fingers instead of a plectrum.

The _cithern_, _cittern_, or _cither_ (Fig. 46), which during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was a popular instrument in England, where it was often played in the barbers’ shops, had four pairs of wire strings.

Its top generally terminated in a grotesquely-carved human head. The cithers made in England during the eighteenth century have generally at the top some inlaid ornamentation in ivory, mother-of-pearl, or fancy wood.

Although not well suited for the performance of harmonious combinations, since its wire strings are twanged with a quill, and therefore only such chords can be properly produced as are on strings following each other in uninterrupted succession, the cither, nevertheless, possesses considerable charms.

There are several conjectures as to the derivation of the German name _zither_ or _zitter_. Some suppose it to be from “_zittern_,” on account of the peculiarly trembling sound of the instrument. During the first centuries of the Christian era the word _cythera_ (_cithara_) implied almost any stringed instrument, especially if the strings were twanged with a plectrum, or with the fingers. It is also noteworthy, though perhaps only as a singular coincidence, that the Persians and Hindus have a three-stringed species of _zither_, which they call _sitar_, from the Persian word _si_, “three,” and _tar_, “a string.” The Hindu _sitar_ is, however, now usually mounted with five strings.

The _harp-guitar_ and _harp-theorbo_ (Fig. 47) were manufactured in England with the intention of improving the sound of the guitar and theorbo by adopting for them the body of the harp.

There was also another invention of this kind, called the _harp-lute_.

The _harp-ventura_ (Fig. 48) was invented at the beginning of the last century by Signor Angelo Benedetto Ventura, professor of music, and teacher of the guitar and harp-lute to the Princess Charlotte of Wales. The example given has a back of satin wood, and sides of turtle shell; the belly and pillar are painted and gilt. It has nineteen catgut strings, six of which are covered with wire.

The _banduria_ (Fig. 49) a lyre-shaped guitar, was often strung with wire instead of catgut, and played with a plectrum generally made of tortoise-shell. The specimen illustrated is made of various woods, has three sound-holes, a machine head, and twelve catgut strings tuned in pairs.

The Spanish peasants call their rustic guitar _vihuela_; and it appears probable that the “gittrons that are called Spanish vialls,” mentioned in the list of musical instruments of Henry VIII. (Harl. MSS. 1419, p. 202) were small guitars of this description.

The Irish harp (_clarseth_) illustrated in Fig. 50, belonged formerly to a celebrated Irish harper. A similar one, which is in the possession of the Marquess of Kildare, bears the date 1671.

Considering the scarcity of the old Irish _clarseth_, mention may be made of a fine specimen formerly in the collection of Irish antiquities belonging to Thomas Crofton Croker, from which it was purchased, in the year 1854, at an auction in London, by Thomas Bateman, Esq. It bears on its front the inscription, _Made by John Kelly for the Rev. Charles Bunworth Baltdaniel, 1734_. At the contentions or meetings of the bards of Ireland, between the years 1730 and 1750, which were generally held at Bruree, county Limerick, the Rev. Charles Bunworth was five times chosen umpire, or president. Although this harp is not of high antiquity, it is an interesting example of the ancient form and construction, and likewise of the ancient manner of ornamenting the instrument. A wood engraving of it, from a drawing by Maclise, is given in “A Descriptive Catalogue of the Antiquities and Miscellaneous Objects preserved in the Museum of Thomas Bateman, at Lomberdale House, Derbyshire,” Bakewell, 1855. An account of the Irish harps deposited in the Museum of Dublin is to be found in “A Descriptive Catalogue of the Antiquities in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy,” by W. R. Wilde, Dublin, 1863. The illustrations of the Irish harp in the works of Bunting and similar writers may be supposed to be known to musicians.

The number of strings appears to have been greater on the older specimens recorded than on the later ones. Prætorius, in his “Syntagma musicum,” etc., vol. ii., Wolfenbüttel, 1619, gives an illustration of the Irish harp, in which it is represented with forty-three strings. He describes the instrument as having a pleasant resonance, and being constructed with a considerable degree of ingenuity. The illustration exhibits the same shape, with the fore-bar bent outwards, which is shown in the present specimen.

Some harps after the model of the old Irish _clarseth_, which are painted and gilt, were made in Dublin in the beginning of the last century.

The small harp of the middle ages of Central and Western Europe, depicted in old sculptures and paintings, generally exhibits the front-bar of its frame somewhat bent outwardly, much as is the case with the Irish _clarseth_. Gradually the number of its strings was increased; and, likewise the strength of the frame for resisting the tension of the strings. The front-bar of our harp is straight, or a front-pillar. Until the seventeenth century only the diatonic series of intervals was properly obtainable on the instrument. The performer had, however, a method of producing occasionally a semitone by pressing the finger against the string towards the end, much in the same manner in which the Burmese produce chromatic intervals on the _soung_. Towards the end of the seventeenth century the Tyrolian harp makers adopted little plates with hooks, which could be moved so as to press upon the strings, and thereby shorten them, for the production of the semitones, more rapidly and unerringly than could be done by the fingers. A French harp of the period of Louis XVI. is illustrated (Fig. 51). It is carved and gilt in the style of Gouthière, and decorated with oak foliage and acorns; at the top of the pillar is a figure of a Cupid.

Students who examine the old instruments above described will probably wish to know something about their quality of tone. “How do they sound? Might they still be made effective in our present state of the art?” are questions which naturally occur to the musical inquirer having such instruments brought before him. A few words bearing on these questions may therefore not be out of place here.

It is generally and justly admitted that in no other branch of the art of music has greater progress been made during the last century than in the construction of musical instruments. Nevertheless, there are people who think that we have also lost something here which might with advantage be restored. Our various instruments by being more and more perfected are becoming too much alike in quality of sound, or in that character of tone which the French call _timbre_, and the Germans _Klangfarbe_, and which professor Tyndall in his lectures on sound has translated _clang-tint_. Every musical composer knows how much more suitable one _clang-tint_ is for the expression of a certain emotion than another. Our old instruments, imperfect though they were in many respects, possessed this variety of _clang-tint_ to a high degree. Neither were they on this account less capable of expression than the modern ones. That no improvement has been made during the last two centuries in instruments of the violin class is a well-known fact. As to lutes and cithers the collection at South Kensington contains specimens so rich and mellow in tone as to cause musicians to regret that these instruments have entirely fallen into oblivion.

As regards beauty of appearance our earlier instruments were certainly superior to the modern. Indeed, we have now scarcely a musical instrument which can be called beautiful. The old lutes, cithers, viols, dulcimers, etc., are not only elegant in shape but are also often tastefully ornamented with carvings, designs in marquetry, and painting.

Of the stringed instruments used in our orchestra, the _violin_ (Fig. 52) is the one which has been longest preserved entirely unaltered. Its name (Italian, _violino_), a diminutive of _viola_, suggests that our _tenor_ (_viola di braccio_) is the older instrument of the two. The _viol_ (Fig. 53, facing p. 104) in use about three centuries ago, was however somewhat different in shape. As the oldest-known instruments played with a bow, which in European countries preceded the violin, may be mentioned:――The _rebec_, which, it appears, was first popular in Spain; the _crwth_ of the Welsh; the _fidla_ of the Norwegian, which, in shape somewhat resembled the _crwth_, and which, with some slight modifications, is still occasionally to be found in Iceland, where it is called _langspiel_; and the _fithele_ of the Anglo-Saxons.

Such were the instruments from which our violin has gradually been developed, until it attained, in the seventeenth century, that degree of perfection which has never since been surpassed. The violin makers whose instruments are still most highly valued are:――Antonio Amati, whose most flourishing period dates between the years 1592 and 1619; Nicolo Amati, the nephew of the preceding, 1662-1692; Giuseppe Guarneri, 1690-1707; Antonio Stradivari, 1700-1725; and Jakob Stainer, 1650-1670. All these celebrated makers, except Jakob Stainer, were Italians, living at Cremona. Jakob Stainer (or Jacobus Steiner) was a native of Absam, a village near Innsbruck in the Tyrol. Few musical instruments have experienced so great an increase in price as the violins of these celebrated makers. Stainer used himself to carry his violins to the monasteries situated in the neighbourhood of Absam, where he lived. He sold them at 40 florins apiece. It was not until after his death that his workmanship was duly appreciated.

The _viola da gamba_ (French, _basse de viole_; German, _Kniegeige_) derives its name from its being held between the knees of the performer (Figs. 54 and 55). It was the predecessor of the violoncello, and was made with frets. It was a favourite instrument in England at the time of Queen Elizabeth, and even ladies played it occasionally. In England it was called _base viol_, and also _viol-de-gambo_. Sir Toby Belch, in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” says of Sir Andrew Aguecheek:――

“He plays o’ the viol-de-gamboys, and speaks three or four languages word for word without book, and hath all the good gifts of nature.”

Among the English public performers on the _viola da gamba_ are recorded a Mrs. Sarah Ottey, in the year 1723, and a Miss Ford in 1760. Carl Friedrich Abel, a German, who lived in London during the latter half of the eighteenth century, was the last performer of celebrity on this instrument. Johann Sebastian Bach has employed it in his admirable “Passionsmusik des Matthæus”; and there are some fine “Suites,” still occasionally to be met with, composed for it by M. de Caix d’Herveloix, published in the year 1710. The tone of the _viola da gamba_ is rather nasal, but sweet and expressive; indeed, it is to be regretted that this charming instrument has fallen into disuse. There is, however, a _gamba_ stop in the organ, which resembles the famous _vox humana_ stop, and which has recently been much favoured by organ builders.

The _violoncello_ came into competition with the _viola da gamba_ at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and has now entirely superseded its predecessor.

A _viola di bardone_ in the Museum (Fig. 56) has a neck of carved and pierced box-wood, terminating in a figure of Apollo playing the lyre; the principal finger-board is of ivory, engraved and inlaid with ebony and tortoiseshell, with figures of Jupiter and Juno, and a lady playing a lute; the second finger-board is also of pierced and engraved ivory. The instrument has four catgut and fourteen metal sympathetic strings, and a double wrest. It was made by Jaques Sainprae, of Berlin, and is said to have belonged to Quanz, music master of Frederick the Great.

The most accomplished performers on the _viola di bardone_ were Anton Lidl of Vienna (to whom is sometimes erroneously ascribed the invention of this instrument) and Karl Franz, a musician of the band of Prince Esterhazy, about the middle of the 18th century. Lidl played on the _viola di bardone_ in concerts in England during the year 1776. Joachim Tielke of Hamburg, the manufacturer of a specimen in the Museum, was an instrument maker whose lutes were much esteemed on account of their fine tone, and their elegant ornamentation. He made them of ebony inlaid with ivory, mother-of-pearl, silver, and gold.

Joseph Haydn wrote sixty-three compositions for the _viola di bardone_ by order of Prince Esterhazy, who was himself a performer on this instrument, and who admired it greatly. Its tone is soft and very expressive, but rather tremulous; owing to this quality, probably, it was also called _viola di fagotto_. It never became very popular, since its rather complicated construction offered too many difficulties in its treatment. In Germany it was generally called _Baryton_.

The _viola d’amore_ (Fig. 57) was often strung entirely with wire. It appears to have been a novelty to Evelyn, for he records in his Diary of November 20th, 1679, “I dined with Mr. Slingsby, Master of the Mint, with my wife, invited to hear music, which was exquisitely performed by four of the most renowned masters: Du Prue, a Frenchman, on the lute; Signor Bartholomeo, an Italian, on the harpsichord; Nicholao, on the violin; but above all, for its sweetness and novelty, the _viol d’amore_ of five wire strings played on with a bow, being but an ordinary violin played on lyre-way by a German.” Mattheson (“Das Neu-Eröffnete Orchestre,” Hamburg, 1713) describes the _viola d’amore_ as being mounted with four wire strings, and with one catgut string for the highest tone.

He praises its sweetness of sound, but does not mention the sympathetic strings. The transformation of the wire-strung _viola d’amore_ into the so-called psaltery or sultana, which has no sympathetic strings, is indicated in the following statement by Sir John Graham Dalyell (“Musical Memoirs of Scotland,” Edinburgh, 1849), “The instrument was first introduced in public in London during the year 1715, when it was heard between the acts of an opera. It was known in Scotland in the middle of the century, and a taste for it was probably encouraged by the performance of Passerini, an Italian resident in Edinburgh, in the year 1752, when it was said to be a new instrument called _viole d’amour_. Passerini was manager of the Gentleman’s and St. Cecilia Concert, where he and his wife had a permanent engagement as skilled musicians. He played solos and accompanied singing with the instrument. Perhaps the _viole d’amour_ underwent several modifications, as its name was changed to _psaltery_, in the belief of its being the ancient instrument so denominated, which is quite different according to most authorities, not belonging to the fidicinal tribe. In 1754 a concert for the new instrument called the _psaltery_ was announced for Signor Carusi’s benefit concert in Edinburgh, and performed by Pasquali, another Italian musician, also resident there. From its soft and simple nature it was eulogised in 1762 as unequalled for delicacy and sweetness. I knew a lady many years ago in Edinburgh who played melodies with great delicacy on this instrument, which was strung with wire, and had frets on the finger-board.” From these accounts it would appear that the _viola d’amore_ strung entirely with wire was not much used in England before the year 1700, although it evidently existed in this country in the seventeenth century.

The _double-bass_ (Italian, _contrebasso_, _violone_; French, _contrebasse_; German, _grosse Bassgeige_, _Kontrabass_) is either four-stringed or three-stringed. A three-stringed example known as “The Giant” presented by Dragonetti to the Duke of Leinster, and given by the latter to the Museum, is illustrated in Fig. 58.

Dragonetti, the celebrated _virtuoso_ on the double-bass, came to England in the year 1794. His favourite instrument, upon which he played in public concerts, was a “Gaspar di Salo,” which he obtained from the Convent of St. Pietro at Vicenza, and which he never could be induced to part with, although £800, it is said, was offered him for it by one of his rich and enthusiastic pupils in England. After the death of Dragonetti this bass, and another valuable one by Stradivarius, were sent back to Italy, he having bequeathed them in his will to the town of Venice. Dragonetti died in the year 1846 at his house in Leicester Square, at the age of eighty-three. A year before his death he was still able to assist in the public performances at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. His friend H. Philipps mentions in his “Musical Recollections” that the ends of Dragonetti’s fingers had gradually become quite flat and deformed from playing.

Some double-basses of extraordinarily large size are known to have been made in England. William Gardiner (“Music and Friends,” London, 1838, p. 70) mentions such an instrument, made by Martin in Leicester, which he saw in the year 1786, and which, if his statement may be relied upon, “was of such height that Mr. Martin was obliged to cut a hole in the ceiling to let the head through; so that it was tuned by going upstairs into the room above.”

A _sordino_ (French, _pochette_; German, _Taschengeige_) is illustrated in Fig. 59. About 300 years ago the _sordino_ was kept by gentlemen in a case resembling a pen case, which they put in the pocket when they went to a singing party; and they used the instrument for insuring correct intonation while singing madrigals and catches. Kircher, in his “Musurgia Universalis,” Romæ, 1650, calls it _linterculus_, no doubt from its resemblance to a small boat.

Fig. 60 represents a _bûche_ (German, _Scheitholz_) made by Fleurot, of the Val d’Ajol, in the Vosges Mountains, early in the last century.

Victoria and Albert Museum.]

At the present day the people twang the bûche with a quill; but in olden time it was played thus:――The performer, having placed the instrument on a table, twanged the strings with the thumb of his right hand, while he used his left hand in pressing down, by means of a little stick, those strings which are placed over the frets, and which, being tuned in unison, serve for producing the melody. The other strings, tuned a _fifth_ lower, were occasionally struck as an accompaniment.

Primitive in construction, and imperfect for our present musical performances as the _Scheitholz_ is, it nevertheless is interesting, not only on account of its popularity three centuries ago, but also because it is the prototype of the horizontal cither, which has come somewhat into vogue in the last century.

The most popular instruments played with a bow, in the seventeenth century, were the _treble-viol_, the _tenor-viol_, and the _bass-viol_. It was usual for viol players to have “a chest of viols,” a case containing four or more viols, of different sizes. Thus, Thomas Mace in his directions for the use of the viol, “Musick’s Monument” 1676, remarks, “Your best provision, and most complete, will be a good chest of viols, six in number, viz., two basses, two tenors, and two trebles, all truly and proportionately suited.” The violist, to be properly furnished with his requirements, had therefore to supply himself with a larger stock of instruments than the violinist of the present day.

The _virginal_ (Figs. 61 and 62) is said to have obtained its name from having been intended especially to be played by young ladies. The statement of some writers that it was called virginal in compliment to Queen Elizabeth, is refuted by the fact of its being mentioned among the musical instruments of King Henry VIII., in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Probably the name was originally given to it in honour of the Virgin Mary, since the _virginal_ was used by the nuns for accompanying their hymns addressed to the Holy Virgin. It was made of various sizes, but generally small in comparison with our square pianoforte. The Italians, about three hundred years ago, constructed a small portable instrument of this kind, which they called _ottavino_ (or _octavina_) because its pitch was an octave higher than that of the clavicembalo, or harpsichord.

Queen Elizabeth was a performer on the _virginal_ (_see_ Fig. 61) as well as on the lute. Sir James Melville, the Scotch ambassador, records in his memoirs an interview with Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1564, in which he heard her play upon the virginal:――“Then sche asked wither the Quen (Mary of Scotland) or sche played best. In that I gaif hir the prayse.” During the Shakesperian age a virginal generally stood in the barbers’ shops for the amusement of the customers. The instrument had evidently retained its popularity at the time of the Great Fire of London; for Pepys (Diary, September 2nd, 1666) records:――“River full of lighters and boats taking in goods, and good goods swimming in the water; and only I observed that hardly one lighter or boat in three that had the goods of a house in, but there was a pair of virginalls in it.”

The instrument has metal strings, one for each tone, which are twanged by means of small portions of quill, attached to slips of wood called “jacks,” and provided with thin metal springs. Its construction is therefore similar to that of the spinet and harpischord. Crowquills were most commonly used in the construction of such instruments; but other materials, as for instance leather, whalebone, and even elastic strips of metal, were occasionally adopted instead.

There evidently prevailed, some centuries ago, much vagueness in the designation of certain stringed instruments with a key-board. The term _clavichord_ seems to have not unfrequently been applied to any stringed instrument with a key-board, no matter what its interior construction might be. Johann Walther, in his “Musicalisches Lexicon,” Leipzig, 1732, describes the _virginal_ (or “Virginale,” as he calls it), in these words:-“Ein Clavier vors Frauenzimmer” (_a clavichord for ladies_). The following brief explanation of the difference between the spinet and the clavichord may therefore be of interest to some inquirers.

The _spinet_ (Italian, _spinetta_ or _spinetto_; French, _épinette_) is said to have derived its name from the little quill (_spina_) used in its mechanism, which is the same as that of the harpsichord and the virginal, described before.

The more commonly-known spinet (Figs. 63 and 64) resembles in shape the harpsichord and the grand piano. It is, however, smaller than the harpsichord, and its key-board is placed in a somewhat oblique direction. The tone of the spinet was generally a _fifth_ higher than that of the harpsichord.

The _clavichord_ (Italian, _clavicordo_; German, _Clavier_, or _Klavier_), differs from the spinet inasmuch as it is of an oblong-square shape (Fig. 65), and especially in its being constructed with so-called _tangents_, _i.e._, metal pins which press under the strings when the keys are struck. The strings are of thin brass wire. The oldest specimens of the clavichord still extant are from three to four feet in length, and about two feet in width. The lower keys are black, and the upper ones are white. There is only a single string for each tone and its upper semitone; thus, there is but one string for _C_ and _C-sharp_, and likewise for _D_ and _D-sharp_, and so on. The semitone is produced by a second tangent, which touches the string at a place a little distant from that at which it is touched by the tangent producing the whole-tone. On being pressed under the string, the tangent divides it into two vibrating parts, one of which is considerably longer than the other and gives the sound. The other part is too short to be distinctly audible, and therefore does not very perceptibly interfere with the clearness of the sound. Moreover, its vibration is checked by a strip of cloth interlaced with the strings. It will easily be understood that of the two tangents, the one which most shortens the sounding part of the string, must produce a tone of a higher pitch than the other.

Such was the construction of the _clavichord_ until about the year 1700, when it was improved in so far as that each key was supplied with a separate string. The clavichord is pre-eminently a German instrument. Although now almost entirely supplanted by the pianoforte, it is still occasionally to be met with in the house of the German village schoolmaster and of the country parson. Though but weak in sound, it admits of much expression; and most of the German classical composers who lived before the invention of the pianoforte preferred the clavichord to the harpsichord. In England it has never become popular. Considering the simplicity of its construction, it might be surmised that the price of a clavichord was generally very moderate. In the latter half of the eighteenth century the prices charged for such instruments by some of the best manufacturers were as follows:――Carl Lemme, in Brunswick, made clavichords of various qualities, which fetched from three to twelve Louis d’ors a-piece; he also made, for exportation to Batavia, clavichords with a compressed sounding-board, invented by his father in the year 1771; Krämer, in Göttingen, charged from four to fourteen Louis d’ors, according to size and finish; and Wilhelmi, in Cassel, charged from twenty to fifty thalers,――from about £3 to £7 10s.