(Continued from page 140.)
The monaulos, or single flute, called by the Egyptions photinx, was
probably one of the most ancient instruments used either by them or any
other nation. From various remains of ancient sculpture, it appears to
have been shaped like a bull’s horn, and was at first, it may be
supposed, no other than the horn itself.---Before the invention of
flutes, as no other instruments except those of percussion were known,
music must have been little more than metrical, when the art of refining
and lengthening sounds was first discovered, the power of Music over
mankind, from the agreeable surprize occasioned by soft and extended
notes was probably irresistable. At a time when all the rest of the
world was involved in savage ignorance, the Egyptians were possessed of
musical instruments capable of much variety and expression.----Of this
the astonishing remains of the city of Thebes, still subsisting, afford
ample evidence. In a letter from Mr. Bruce, ingrossed in Dr. Burney’s
history of Music, there is given a particular description of the Theban
harp, an instrument of extensive compass, and exquisite elegance of
form. It is accompanied with a drawing taken from the ruins of an
ancient sepulchre at Thebes, supposed by Mr. Bruce, to be that of the
father of Sesostris.
On the subject of this harp, Mr. Bruce makes the following striking
observation. “It overturns all the accounts of the earliest state of
ancient music, and instruments in Egypt, and is altogether in its form,
ornaments, and compass, an incontestable proof, stronger than a thousand
Greek quotations, that geometry, drawing, mechanics, and music, were at
the greatest perfection when this harp was made; and that what we think
in Egypt was the invention of arts, was only the beginning of the era of
their restoration.”
Indeed, when the beauty and powers of this harp, along with the very
great antiquity of the painting which represents it, are considered,
such an opinion as that which Mr. Bruce hints at, does not seem to be
devoid of probability.
It cannot be doubted, that during the reigns of the Ptolemies, who were
voluptuous Princes, Music must have been much cultivated and encouraged.
The father of Cleopatra, who was the last of that race of Kings, derived
his title of Auletes, or flute player, from excessive attachment to the
flute. Like Nero, he used to array himself in the dress of a Tibicien,
and exhibited his performance in the public musical contests.
The Greeks are indebted to the Egyptians for their knowledge of music;
Homer, the most ancient author unconnected with the sacred writers, has
given us very striking descriptions of the efficacy of music. We are
told Apollo invented the Lyre, and instructed Orpheus to play upon it.
The Lyric and Dramatic poets were all after the time of Homer,
proficients in music, and in all probability contributed much to the
perfection of that art in Greece. We are well assured, that in the days
of Philip, and his son Alexander the Great, Music had arrived to its
highest degree of perfection. From Greece it made its way to Rome, and
from Rome it spread abroad over all the countries of Europe.