There are some early monuments of Christian art dating from the fourth century in which the lyre is represented. In one of them Christ is depicted as Apollo touching the lyre. This instrument occurs at an early period in western Europe as used in popular pastimes. In an Anglo-saxon manuscript of the ninth century in the British museum (Cleopatra C. VIII.) are the figures of two gleemen, one playing the lyre and the other a double-pipe. M. de Coussemaker has published in the “Annales Archéologiques” the figure of a crowned personage playing the lyre, which he found in a manuscript of the ninth or tenth century in the library at Angers. The player twangs the strings with his fingers, while the Anglo-saxon gleeman before mentioned uses a plectrum.
Citharawas a name applied to several stringed instruments greatly varying in form, power of sound, and compass. The illustration represents a cithara from a manuscript of the ninth century, formerly in the library of the great monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest. When in the year 1768 the monastery was destroyed by fire, this valuable book perished in the flames; fortunately the celebrated abbot Gerbert possessed tracings of the illustrations, which were saved from destruction. He published them, in the year 1774, in his work “De cantu et musica sacra.” Severalillustrations in the following pages, it will be seen, have been derived from this interesting source. As the older works on music were generally written in Latin we do not learn from them the popular names of the instruments; the writers merely adopted such Latin names as they thought the most appropriate. Thus, for instance, a very simple stringed instrument of a triangular shape, and a somewhat similar one of a square shape were designated by the name ofpsalterium; and we further give a woodcut of the square kind (p. 86), and of acithara(above) from the same manuscript.
This last instrument is evidently an improvement upon thetriangular psalterium, because it has a sort of small sound-board at the top. Scarcely better, with regard to acoustics, appears to have been the instrument designated asnablum, which we engrave (p. 87) from a manuscript of the ninth century at Angers.
A small psalterium with strings placed over a sound-board was apparently the prototype of thecitole; a kind of dulcimer which was played with the fingers. The names were not only often vaguely applied by the mediæval writers but they changed alsoin almost every century. The psalterium, or psalterion (Italiansalterio, Englishpsaltery), of the fourteenth century and later had the trapezium shape of the dulcimer.
The Anglo-saxons frequently accompanied their vocal effusions with a harp, more or less triangular in shape,—an instrument which may be considered rather as constituting the transition of the lyre into the harp. The representation of king David playing the harp is from an Anglo-saxon manuscript of the beginning of the eleventh century, in the British museum. The harp was especially popular in central and northern Europe, and was the favourite instrument of the German and Celtic bards and of the Scandinavian skalds. In the next illustration from the manuscript of the monastery of St. Blasius twelve strings and two sound holes are given to it. A harp similar in form and size, but without the front pillar, was known to the ancient Egyptians. Perhaps the addition was also non-existent in the earliest specimens appertaining to European nations; and a sculptured figure of a small harp constructed like the ancient eastern harp has been discovered in the old church of Ullard in the county of Kilkenny. Of this curious relic, which is said to date from a period anterior to the year 800, a fac-simile taken from Bunting’s “Ancient Music of Ireland” is given (p. 91). As Buntingwas the first who drew attention to this sculpture his account of it may interest the reader. “The drawing” he says “is taken from one of the ornamental compartments of a sculptured cross, at the old church of Ullard. From the style of the workmanship, as well as from the worn condition of the cross, it seems older than the similar monument at Monasterboice which is known to have been set up before the year 830. The sculpture is rude; the circular rim which binds the arms of the cross together is not pierced in the quadrants, and many of the figures originally in relievo are now wholly abraded. It is difficult to determine whether the number of strings represented is six or seven; but, as has been alreadyremarked, accuracy in this respect cannot be expected either in sculptures or in many picturesque drawings.” The Finns had a harp (harpu,kantele) with a similar frame, devoid of a front pillar, still in use until the commencement of the present century.
One of the most interesting stringed instruments of the middle ages is therotta(German,rotte; English,rote). It was sounded by twanging the strings, and also by the application of the bow. The first method was, of course, the elder one. There can hardly be a doubt that when the bow came into use it was applied to certain popular instruments which previously had been treated like thecitharaor thepsalterium. The Hindus at the present day use theirsurodasometimes as alute and sometimes as a fiddle. In some measure we do the same with the violin by playing occasionallypizzicato. Therotta(shown p. 91) from the manuscript of St. Blasius is called in Gerbert’s workcithara teutonica, while the harp is calledcithara anglica; from which it would appear that the former was regarded as pre-eminently a German instrument. Possibly its name may have been originallychrottaand the continental nations may have adopted it from the Celtic races of the British isles, dropping the guttural sound. This hypothesis is, however, one of those which have been advanced by some musical historians without any satisfactory evidence.
We engrave also another representation of David playing on therotta, from a psalter of the seventh century in the British museum (Cott. Vesp. A. I). According to tradition, this psalter is one of the manuscripts which were sent by pope Gregory to St. Augustine. The instrument much resembles the lyre in the hand of the musician (see p. 22) who is supposed to be a Hebrew of the time of Joseph. In therottathe ancient Asiatic lyre is easily to be recognized. An illumination of king David playing therottaforms the frontispiece of a manuscript of the eighth century preserved in the cathedral library of Durham; and which is musicallyinteresting inasmuch as it represents arottaof an oblong square shape like that just noticed and resembling the Welshcrwth. It has only five strings which the performer twangs with his fingers. Again, a very interesting representation (which we engrave) of the Psalmist with a kind ofrottaoccurs in a manuscript of the tenth century, in the British museum (Vitellius F. XI.). The manuscript has been much injured by a fire in the year 1731, but Professor Westwood has succeeded, with great care, and with the aid of a magnifying glass, in making out the lines of the figure. As it has been ascertained that the psalter is written in the Irish semi-uncial character it is highly probable that the kind ofrottarepresents the Irishcionar cruit, which was played by twanging the strings and also by the application of a bow. Unfortunately we possess no well-authenticated representation of the Welshcrwthof an early period; otherwise we should in all probability find it played with the fingers, or with a plectrum. Venantius Fortunatus, an Italian who lived in the second half of the sixth century, mentions in a poem the “Chrotta Britanna.” He does not, however, allude to the bow, and thereis no reason to suppose that it existed in England. Howbeit, the Welshcrwth(Anglo-saxon,crudh; English,crowd) is only known as a species of fiddle closely resembling therotta, but having a finger-board in the middle of the open frame and being strung with only a few strings; while therottahad sometimes above twenty strings. As it may interest the reader to examine the form of the moderncrwthwe give a woodcut of it. Edward Jones, in his “Musical and poetical relicks of the Welsh bards,” records that the Welsh had before this kind ofcrwtha three-stringed one called “Crwth Trithant,” which was, he says, “a sort of violin, or more properly a rebeck.” The three-stringedcrwthwas chiefly used by the inferior class of bards; and was probably the Moorish fiddle which is still the favourite instrument of the itinerant bards of the Bretons in France, who call itrébek. The Bretons, it will be remembered, are close kinsmen of the Welsh.
A player on thecrwthorcrowd(a crowder) from a bas-relief on the under part of the seats of the choir in Worcester cathedral (engraved p. 95) dates from the twelfth or thirteenth century; and we give (p. 96) a copy of an illumination from a manuscript in the Bibliothèque royale at Paris of the eleventh century. The player wears a crown on his head; and in the original some musicians placed at his side are performing on the psalterium and other instruments. These last are figured with uncovered heads; whence M. de Coussemaker concludes that thecroutwas consideredby the artist who drew the figures as the noblest instrument. It was probably identical with therottaof the same century on the continent.
An interesting drawing of an Anglo-saxon fiddle—orfithele, 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, calledlyra, copied by Gerbert from the manuscript of St. Blasius, has only one string. These are shown in the woodcuts (p. 97). 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 Whitsun-week, 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. Oneof 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 theevidence. Sculptures are, therefore, more to be relied upon in evidence than frescoes.
The construction of theorganistrumrequires 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 wasc,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. Theorganistrummay be regarded as the predecessor of the hurdy-gurdy, and was a rather 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.
Themonochord(p. 100) 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, themonochordwas chiefly used by theorists; for any musical performanceit 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 bothb-flatandb-naturalformed part of the scale. The notation on the preceding page exhibits the compass as well as the order of intervals adhered to about the tenth century.
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.
Thechorus, orchoron, had either one or two tubes, as in the woodcut page 101. There were several varieties of this instrument; sometimes it was constructed with a bladder into which the tube is inserted; this kind ofchorusresembled the bagpipe; another kind resembled thepoongiof the Hindus, mentioned page 51. The namechoruswas also applied to certain stringed instruments. One of these had much the form of thecithara, page 86. It appears however, probable thatchorusorchoronoriginally designated a horn (Hebrew,Keren; Greek,Keras; Latin,cornu).
The flutes of the middle ages were blown at the end, like the flageolet. Of thesyrinxthere 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 engraved (page 102) from a manuscript of the eleventh century the tubes were inserted into a bowl-shaped box. This is probably thefrestele,fretel, orfretiau, 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 theoliphant, or hunting horn, some fine specimens are in the South Kensington collection. Thesackbut(of which we give a woodcut) 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 presenttrombone. The namesackbutis supposed to be a corruption ofsambuca. The French, about the fifteenth century, called itsacquebouteandsaquebutte.
The most important wind instrument—in fact, the king of all the musical instruments—is the organ.
Thepneumatic organis sculptured on an obelisk which was erected in Constantinople under Theodosius the great, towards the end of the fourth century. The bellows were pressed by menstanding on them: see page 103. This interesting monument also exhibits performers on the double flute. Thehydraulic 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 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 ninehundred years ago, had only three octaves, in which the chromatic intervals did not occur. Some progress in the construction of the organ is exhibited in an illustration (engraved p. 104) dating from the twelfth century, in a psalter of Eadwine, in the library of Trinity college, Cambridge. 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! It must be admitted that since the twelfth century some progress has been made, at all events, in the construction of the organ.
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 thecarillonstill in use on the continent, of which presently some account will be given.
Of the little portable organ, known as theregalorregals, oftentastefully 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, by Melozzo da Forli who lived in the fifteenth century, contains a regal which has keys of a peculiar shape, rather resembling the pistons of certain brass instruments. The illustration has been drawn from that painting.To avoid misapprehension, it is necessary to mention that the nameregal(orregals,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 thecymbalum; a contrivance consisting of a number of metal plates suspended on cords, so that they could be clashed together simultaneously; or with the clangour of thecymbalumconstructed with bellsinstead of plates; or with the piercing noise of thebunibulum, orbombulom; 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. We give woodcuts of the three instruments.
Thetrianglenearly 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.
Thetintinnabulumconsisted of a number of bells arranged in regular order and suspended in a frame.
Respecting the orchestras, or musical bands, represented on monuments of the middle ages, there can hardly be a doubt that the artists who sculptured them were not unfrequently led by their imagination rather than by an adherence to actual fact. It is, however, not likely that they introduced into such representations instruments that were never admitted in the orchestras, and which would have appeared inappropriate to the contemporaries of the artists. An examination of one or two of the orchestras may therefore find a place here, especially as they throw some additional light upon the characteristics of the instrumental music of mediæval time.
A very interesting group of music performers dating, it is said, from the end of the eleventh century is preserved in a bas-relief which formerly ornamented the abbey of St. Georges de Boscherville and which is now removed to the museum of Rouen. The orchestra comprises twelve performers, most of whom wear a crown. The first of them plays upon a viol, which he holds between his knees as the violoncello is held. His instrument is scarcely as large as the smallest viola da gamba. By his side are a royal lady and her attendant, the former playing on anorganistrumof which the latter is turning the wheel. Next to these is represented a performer on asyrinxof the kind shown in the engraving p. 112; and next to him a performer on a stringed instrument resembling a lute, which, however, is too much dilapidated to be recognisable. Then we have a musician with a small stringed instrument resembling thenablum, p. 87. The next musician, also represented as a royalpersonage, 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 thetintinnabulum,—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 wasfive, and it was tuned in various ways. One kind had a string tuned to the noterunning at the side of the finger-board instead of over it; this string was, therefore, only capable of producing a single tone. The four other strings were tuned thus:Two other species, on which all the strings were placed over the finger-board, were tuned:and:The woodcut above represents a very beautifulvielle; French, of about 1550, with monograms of Henry II. This is at South Kensington.
The contrivance of placing a string or two at the side of the finger-board is evidently very old, and was also gradually adopted on other instruments of the violin class of a somewhat later period than that of thevielle; for instance, on thelira di braccioof the Italians. It was likewise adopted on the lute, to obtain a fuller power in the bass; and hence arose thetheorbo, thearchlute, and other varieties of the old lute.
A. REID. DEL.Orchestra, twelfth century, at Santiago.
A. REID. DEL.
Orchestra, twelfth century, at Santiago.
A grand assemblage of musical performers is represented on the Portico della gloria of the famous pilgrimage church of Santiago da Compostella, in Spain. This triple portal, which is stated by an inscription on the lintel to have been executed in the year 1188, consists of a large semicircular arch with a smaller arch on either side. The central arch is filled by a tympanum, round which are twenty-four life-sized seated figures, in high relief, representing the twenty-four elders seen by St. John in the Apocalypse, each with an instrument of music. These instruments are carefully represented and are of great interest as showing those in use in Spain at about the twelfth century. A cast of this sculpture is in the Kensington museum.
In examining the group of musicians on this sculpture the reader will probably recognise several instruments in their hands, which are identical with those already described in the preceding pages. Theorganistrum, 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. Thesalterioon 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 thevihuela, 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 avihuelawhich bears a close resemblance to therebec. The instrument is represented with three strings, although in one or two instances five tuning-pegs are indicated. A large species ofvihuelais given to the eleventh, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth musicians. This instrument differs from therebecin as far as its body is broaderand 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.
Front of the minstrels’ gallery, Exeter cathedral.XIVth century.
Front of the minstrels’ gallery, Exeter cathedral.XIVth century.
The minstrels’ gallery of Exeter cathedral dates from the fourteenth century. The front is divided into twelve niches, each of which contains a winged figure or an angel playing on an instrument of music. There is a cast also of this famous sculpture at South Kensington. The instruments are so much dilapidated that some of them cannot be clearly recognized; but, as far as may be ascertained, they appear to be as follows:—1. Thecittern. 2. Thebagpipe. 3. Theclarion, a small trumpet having a shrill sound. 4. Therebec. 5. Thepsaltery. 6. Thesyrinx. 7. Thesackbut. 8. Theregals. 9. Thegittern, a small guitar strung with catgut. 10. Theshalm. 11. Thetimbrel; resembling our present tambourine, with a double row of gingles. 12.Cymbals.Most of these instruments have been already noticed in the preceding pages. Theshalm, orshawm, was a pipe with a reed in the mouth-hole. Thewaitwas an English wind instrument of the same construction. If it differed in any respect from theshalm, the difference consisted probably in the size only. Thewaitobtained its name from being used principally by watchmen, orwaights, to proclaim the time of night. Such were the poor ancestors of our fine oboe and clarinet.
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.
Among the best known of these was thevirginal, of which we give an engraving from a specimen of the time of Elizabeth at South Kensington. Another was thelute, which about three hundred years ago was almost as popular as is at the present day the pianoforte. 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 appear 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 thechanterelle, 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 ofit. 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 on the next page represents a lute-player of the sixteenth century. The frets are not indicated in the old engraving from which the illustration has been taken. 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, &c., and to mark with letters on the lines the frets at which the fingers ought to be placed—aindicating the open string,bthe first fret,cthe 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. Thetheorbo, 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 largest kinds of theorbo were thearchluteand thechitarrone.
It is unnecessary to enter here into a detailed description of some other instruments which have been popular during the last three centuries, for the museum at Kensington contains specimens of many of them of which an account is given in the large catalogue of that collection. It must suffice to refer the reader to the illustrations there of the cither, virginal, spinet, clavichord, harpsichord, and other antiquated instruments much esteemed by our forefathers.
Students who examine these old relics 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 ofthe 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 since 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 calltimbre, and the GermansKlangfarbe, and which professor Tyndall in his lectures on sound has translatedclang-tint. Every musical composer knows how much more suitable oneclang-tintis for the expression of a certain emotion than another. Our old instruments, imperfect though they were in many respects, possessed this variety ofclang-tintto 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 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, spinets, viols, dulcimers, &c., are not only elegant in shape but are also often tastefully ornamented with carvings, designs in marquetry, and painting.
The player on theviola da gamba, shown in the next engraving, is a reduced copy of an illustration in “The Division Violist,” London, 1659. It shows exactly how the frets were regulated, and how the bow was held. The most popular instruments played with a bow, at that time, were thetreble-viol, thetenor-viol, and thebass-viol. It was usual for viol players to have “a chest of viols,” a casecontaining 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 proportionably suited.” The violist, to be properly furnished with his requirements, had thereforeto supply himself with a larger stock of instruments than the violinist of the present day.
That there was, in the time of Shakespeare, a musical instrument calledrecorderis undoubtedly known to most readers from the stage direction in Hamlet:Re-enter players with recorders. But not many are likely to have ever seen a recorder, as it has now become very scarce: we therefore give an illustration of this old instrument, which is copied from “The Genteel Companion; Being exact Directions for the Recorder: etc.” London, 1683.
Thebagpipeappears to have been from time immemorial a special favourite instrument with the Celtic races; but it was perhaps quite as much admired by the Slavonic nations. In Poland, and in the Ukraine, it used to be made of the whole skin of the goat in which the shape of the animal, whenever the bagpipe was expanded with air, appeared fully retained, exhibiting even the head with the horns; hence the bagpipe was calledkosa, which signifies a goat. The woodcut p. 120 represents a Scotch bagpipe of the last century.
The bagpipe is of high antiquity in Ireland, and is alluded to in Irish poetry and prose said to date from the tenth century. A pig gravely engaged in playing the bagpipe is represented in an illuminated Irish manuscript, of the year 1300: and we give p. 121 a copy of a woodcut from “The Image of Ireland,” a book printed in London in 1581.
Thebellhas always been so much in popular favour in England that some account of it must not be omitted. Paul Hentzner a German, who visited England in the year 1598, records in his journal: “The people are vastly fond of great noises that fill the ear, such as the firing of cannon, drums, and the ringing of bells; so that in London it is common for a number of them that have got a glass in their heads to go up into some belfry, and ring the bells for hours together for the sake of exercise.” This may be exaggeration,—not unusual with travellers. It is, however, a fact that bell-ringing has been a favourite amusement with Englishmen for centuries.
The way in which church bells are suspended and fastened, so as to permit of their being made to vibrate in the most effective manner without damaging by their vibration the building in which they are placed, is in some countries very peculiar. The Italiancampanile, or tower of bells, is not unfrequently separated from the church itself. In Servia the church bells are often hung in a frame-work of timber built near the west end of the church. In Zante and other islands of Greece the belfry is usually separatefrom the church. The reason assigned by the Greeks for having adopted this plan is that in case of an earthquake the bells are likely to fall and, were they placed in a tower, would destroy the roof of the church and might cause the destruction of the whole building. Also in Russia a special edifice for the bells is generally separate from the church. In the Russian villages the bells are not unfrequently hung in the branches of an oak-tree near the church. In Iceland the bell is usually placed in the lych-gate leading to the graveyard.
The idea of forming of a number of bells a musical instrument such as thecarillonis said by some to have suggested itself firstto the English and Dutch; but what we have seen in Asiatic countries sufficiently refutes this. Moreover, not only the Romans employed variously arranged and attuned bells, but also among the Etruscan antiquities an instrument has been discovered whichis constructed of a number of bronze vessels placed in a row on a metal rod. Numerous bells, varying in size and tone, have also been found in Etruscan tombs. Among the later contrivances of this kind in European countries the sets of bells suspended in a wooden frame, which we find in mediæval illuminations, deserve notice. In the British museum is a manuscript of the fourteenth century in which king David is depicted holding in each hand a hammer with which he strikes upon bells of different dimensions, suspended on a wooden stand.
It may be supposed that the device of playing tunes by means of bells merely swung by the hand is also of ancient date. In Lancashire each of the ringers manages two bells, holding one in either hand. Thus, an assemblage of seven ringers insures fourteen different tones; and as each ringer may change his two notes by substituting two other bells if required, even compositions with various modulations, and of a somewhat intricate character, may be executed,—provided the ringers are good timeists; for each has, of course, to take care to fall in with his note, just as a member of the Russian horn band contributes his single note whenever it occurs.
Peal-ringing is another pastime of the kind which may be regarded as pre-eminently national to England. The bells constituting a peal are frequently of the number of eight, attuned to the diatonic scale. Also peals of ten bells, and even of twelve, are occasionally formed. A peculiar feature of peal-ringing is that the bells, which are provided with clappers, are generally swung so forcibly as to raise the mouth completely upwards. The largest peal, and one of the finest, is at Exeter cathedral: another celebrated one is that of St. Margaret’s, Leicester, which consists of ten bells. Peal-ringing is of an early date in England; Egelric, abbot of Croyland, is recorded to have cast about the year 960 a set of six bells.
Thecarillon(engraved on the opposite page) is especially popular in the Netherlands and Belgium, but is also found inGermany, Italy, and some other European countries. It is generally placed in the church tower and also sometimes in other public edifices. The statement repeated by several writers that the first carillon was invented in the year 1481 in the town of Alost is not to be trusted, for the town of Bruges claims to have possessed similar chimes in the year 1300. There are two kinds of carillons in use on the continent, viz.: clock chimes, which are moved by machinery, like a self-acting barrel-organ; and such as are provided with a set of keys, by means of which the tunes are played by a musician. The carillon in the ‘Parochial-Kirche’ at Berlin, which is one of the finest in Germany, contains thirty-seven bells; and is provided with a key-board for the hands and with a pedal, which together place at the disposal of the performer a compass of rather more than three octaves. The keys of the manual are metal rods somewhat above a foot in length; and are pressed down with the palms of the hand. The keys of the pedal are of wood; the instrument requires not only great dexterity but also a considerable physical power. It is astonishing how rapidly passages can be executed upon it by the player, who is generally the organist of the church in which he acts ascarilloneur. When engaged in the last-named capacity he usually wears leathern gloves to protect his fingers, as they are otherwise apt to become ill fit for the more delicate treatment of the organ.
The want of a contrivance in thecarillonfor stopping the vibration has the effect of making rapid passages, if heard near, sound as a confused noise; only at some distance are they tolerable. It must be remembered that thecarillonis intended especially to be heard from a distance. Successions of tones which form a consonant chord, and which have some duration, are evidently the most suitable for this instrument.
Indeed, every musical instrument possesses certain characteristics which render it especially suitable for the production of some particular effects. The invention of a new instrument of music has, therefore, not unfrequently led to the adoption of neweffects in compositions. Take the pianoforte, which was invented in the beginning of the eighteenth century, and which has now obtained so great a popularity: its characteristics inspired our great composers to the invention of effects, or expressions, which cannot be properly rendered on any other instrument, however superior in some respects it may be to the pianoforte. Thus also the improvements which have been made during the present century in the construction of our brass instruments, and the invention of several new brass instruments, have evidently been not without influence upon the conceptions displayed in our modern orchestral works.
Imperfect though this essay may be it will probably have convinced the reader that a reference to the history of the music of different nations elucidates many facts illustrative of our own musical instruments, which to the unprepared observer must appear misty and impenetrable. In truth, it is with this study as with any other scientific pursuit. The unassisted eye sees only faint nebulæ where with the aid of the telescope bright stars are revealed.