MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
The evolution of the piano from the clavichord occupied the attention
of musicians for over three hundred years, or from 1404, when the
earliest record occurs, to 1720, when Cristofori's piano was completed
in Florence. The next instrument in the upward development after
the clavichord was the virginal, a parallelogram in shape, with a
projecting keyboard. Then came the spinet. The earliest of these now
in existence is in Paris, and was made at Verona in 1523. By 1703 two
Englishmen, Thomas and John Hitchcock, father and son, had made a great
advance in the construction of spinets, giving them a wide compass of
five octavos from G to G.
It was not until about 1660, after the restoration of the Stuarts,
that the name "harpsichord" was given to the long wing-shaped
instrument, similar to our grand piano, which had hitherto been
called _clavecembalo_ in Italy, _flügel_ in Germany, and _clavecin_
in France. Early in the sixteenth century the progressive Dutch had
put into use double keyboards and stops. These were imported into
England, and to John Haward is due the credit for the idea of pedals
for the harpsichord. This was in 1676. This Haward was a fashionable
instrument-maker in the days of the lively Pepys, who mentions him
several times. Thus in April, 1668, he records:
--"Took Aldgate Street in my way, and then did call upon one
Haward, who makes virginals, and there did like of a little
espinette, and will have him finish it for me; for I had a mind to
a small harpsicon, but this takes up less room."
The little espinette took some time to finish; for in July he says:
--"while I to buy my espinette, which I did now agree for, and
did at Haward's meet with Mr. Thacker, and heard him play on the
harpsicon so as I never heard man before, I think."
On the 15th of July the bargain is concluded; for he states, under that
date:
"At noon is brought home the espinette I bought the other day of
Haward; cost me £5."
A few days later he combines business with pleasure, for he notes:
"To buy a rest for my espinette at the ironmonger's by Holborn
Conduit, where the fair pretty woman is, that I have lately
observed there."
Figure 85 shows a very beautiful spinet made by Domenico di Pesaro, in
Italy, in 1661. The instrument can be taken from its outer case, is
of cedar wood, has a projecting keyboard, and is decorated with ivory
studs. The outer case is very handsome, decorated with _gesso_ work,
(which was so much copied by Robert Adam after his return from Italy)
this work being gold on a pale-green ground. The decoration on the
inside of the cover is a boating scene, the keys are of light wood, the
sharps being black. The instrument, triangular in shape, rests on three
richly carved and gilt legs, and is four feet eight inches long, by
nineteen inches wide. It looks very tiny, even beside a "baby grand."
The beauty and enrichment of the cases in which these instruments
were placed shows with what care and reverence they were regarded.
Harpsichords varied much in having one, two, or occasionally three
banks of keys, and being placed in upright cases, the covers of
which opened like a bookcase, or in a horizontal case, as in the one
shown in Figure 86. Each of the three banks of keys has a compass of
five octaves, from F to F. The entire case is gilt Louis XV. style,
decorated with elaborate carvings and with paintings of flowers and
figures in medallions and borders. On the outside of the cover is the
coat of arms of the Strozzi family. The name of the maker is engraved
on an ivory plate above the keyboards, and reads--
VICENTIUS SODI FLORENTIUS FECIT. ANNO DOMINI 1779.
The length of the case is seven feet; it is three feet wide, and nearly
ten inches deep.
The harpsichord held its own for fifty years after the invention of the
pianoforte, for Bartolommeo Cristofori published his invention as early
as 1711, although he did not perfect his piano till 1720. His action
has the escapement, without which there can be no vibrating note, and
the "check," which was an all-important step toward repeating notes.
There are preserved at Potsdam, Germany, three pianos which belonged
to Frederick the Great, and which were made by Silberman, who exactly
copied the action as well as the structure of Cristofori's invention.
In Figure 87 is shown the first piano made by Cristofori. Above the
front board is the following inscription:
BARTHOLOMÆUS DE CHRISTOPHORIS PATAVINUS INVENTOR
FACIERAT FLORENTIÆ MDCCXX
This instrument, as well as the two previously shown, belong to the
collection of musical instruments given by Mrs. Crosby Brown to the
Metropolitan Museum, New York.
[Illustration: Figure 84. ORGAN IN ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, CHARLESTON, S.
C.]
This crude instrument bears testimony to years of patient endeavour.
Like so many old and valuable treasures this one was harboured many
years for sentimental reasons only, and because it had been given to an
only daughter by her father. The story of the discovery of its value
came about as follows, as told in a letter by Signor Martelli, to whose
mother the piano belonged.
"For the sake of economy during the time that Florence was the
capital of Italy, we rented the first floor of our house, No.
3, Via del Melarancio, and occupied the second floor. In 1872
Signora Martelli (my mother) again changed her apartments from
the second to the first floor, and at the moment the transfer
of our furniture was taking place from one floor to the other,
Prof. Cosimo Conti, a scholar and intimate friend of ours, came
to visit us. The professor, who was in close correspondence with
Cavaliere L. Puliti, who was spending a great deal of his time in
trying to discover the origin of the piano, discovered on it to
his great surprise an inscription which attested that it had been
made by Bartolomeo Christofori. He immediately informed Cavaliere
L. Puliti of this fact, and he came at once to examine it. Then it
was ascertained that it was one of the rarest and most valuable
pianos in existence. We sent at once for a tuner and had it put
into good condition."
The piano was bought by Signora Martelli's father, about 1819, from
the Grand Ducal Palace at Siena, at an auction sale, held by order of
the Minister of the Household, of all such things as he considered
worthless and of no use. The piano was shuffled out of the Ducal
Palace, much as some of our interesting relics have been shuffled out
of the White House, and offered at auction.[1]
[Footnote 1: The writer has seen a very beautiful carved and gilt round
mirror, once the property of Dolly Madison, which was bought at a sale
of White House furniture for twenty-five dollars.]
The Christofori piano has a case of cedar, which is painted black
on the outside. It stands on three clumsy turned legs. The keys are
light-wood naturals and black sharps. The ivory knobs on the side
blocks may be withdrawn, and the action removed from the case. There
are two strings to each note, and the length of the instrument is seven
feet seven and a half inches. It is three feet three inches wide at the
front and nine and a half inches deep.
Keyed instruments at first found little favor in the ears of the
Italians, who much preferred the violin with its "singing voice" and
its superior capacity for expression. Yet they contributed much to the
early history of this branch of the art, though the Germans cultivated
more highly these instruments, which were, in their first state, very
defective in producing melody. It was Domenico Scarlatti who laid the
foundation of modern music for keyed instruments, and his music for the
harpsichord was not confined to fugues and fantasias, as was most of
the harpsichord music of early times. The real centre, however, in the
line of progress for music for this instrument proved to be Germany,
and Graun, Hasse, and John Christian Bach all wrote for the harpsichord.
In America some of the first instruments to come into use were small
organs. They are mentioned as early as 1711. Although large church
organs, with three rows of keys and pedals, were in use in Europe by
the opening of the sixteenth century, it was long before they were
found here.
[Illustration: Figure 85. SPINET.]
The rivalry which church music seems to inspire in the breasts of those
who render it has long existed, and extends even to those who make the
instruments. The following story from "Hawkin's History of Music"
bears out this statement.
"Bernard Smith, or more properly Schmidt, a native of Germany,
came to England with his nephews Gerard and Bernard, and to
distinguish him from them obtained the name of 'Father Smith.'
He was the rival of Harris from France and built an organ at
Whitehall too precipitately, to gain the start of them, as they
had arrived nearly at the same time in England. Emulation was
powerfully exerted. Dallans joined Smith, but died in 1672, and
Renatus Harris, son of the elder Harris, made great improvements.
The contest became still warmer. The citizens of London, profiting
by the rivalship of these excellent artists, erected organs in
their churches; and the city, the court, and even the lawyers were
divided in judgment as to the superiority. In order to decide the
matter, the famous contest took place in the Temple Church upon
their respective organs, played by eminent performers, before
eminent judges, one of whom was the too celebrated Jeffreys.
Blow & Purcell played for Smith, and Lully, organist to Queen
Catharine, for Harris. In the course of the contest Harris
challenged Father Smith to make, by a given time, the additional
stops of the vox humana, the cremona or viol stop, the double
courtel or bass flute, etc., which was accepted, and each exerted
his abilities to the utmost. Jeffreys at length decided in
favor of Smith, and Harris's organ was withdrawn. Father Smith
maintained his reputation and was appointed organ-builder to Queen
Anne. Harris went to Bristol."
In the first half of the eighteenth century the salaries paid to
organists were small indeed, and it was customary for them to add to
their modest stipend in various ways. In Charleston, S. C., in 1739,
the organist taught the art of psalmody. A dozen years before this the
organist at King's Chapel, Boston, Mass., taught dancing.
Mr. Drake, in his "History of Boston," says that King's Chapel was
enlarged and rebuilt in 1713, and an organ was presented by Mr. Thomas
Brattle. In 1756 the King's Chapel Society imported a new organ from
London, and the old one was sold to St. Paul's Church, Newburyport. It
was used there for eighty years, and then sold to St. John's Church,
Portsmouth, N. H. The original pipes and wind-chest remain to-day in
perfect condition.
The second church organ in New England was one in a case of English
oak, presented by Bishop Berkeley to Trinity Church, Newport, R. I., in
1733. It had twenty-three gilded pipes and was fourteen and a half feet
high, eight feet front, and eight feet deep. It was made by Richard
Bridge, London. This organ was used for a hundred and eleven years
by Trinity Church, till 1844, and after a sojourn of a few years in
Brooklyn, N. Y., it was bought for a church in Portsmouth, R. I., where
it still is, in excellent condition.
South Carolina, with her riches and her close communication with
England, had abundant masters to teach not only the more elementary
branches, but accomplishments as well. By 1774 there were two
hundred persons in the colony engaged in teaching, and according to
advertisements a knowledge of English, Latin, and Greek could be
obtained at any time after 1712. French and music were constantly
taught after 1733. Lessons on the harpsichord, spinet, violin,
violoncello, guitar, and flute were all to be had after 1733, and the
boys could be perfected in fencing and the girls in needlework before
the middle of the century. By 1734 a dancing-school was opened at
Charleston, and in 1760 Nicholas Valois gives notice that he still
receives pupils in dancing, and that he has received "40 of the newest
country dances, jiggs, rigadoons, etc., from London, which he
proposes to teach."
[Illustration: Figure 86. HARPSICHORD.]
In 1752 the vestry of St. Phillip's Church, Charleston, sent to London
for an organist. The parish guaranteed him £50 sterling. He was to
have the privilege of teaching the harpsichord or spinet, which would
add 150 guineas more per annum, and also to have "benefits of concerts
which his obliging behaviour to the gentlemen and ladies of the place
may amount to 300 or 400 guineas more." The years between 1728 and 1763
were a time of unprecedented prosperity in South Carolina. The luxuries
of the day were within reach of modest fortunes, and British modes and
manners were eagerly followed. Josiah Quincy, in describing his visit
to "Charles Town" in 1774, speaks of the famous St. Cecilia Society,
which began as a musical club, all the performers being amateurs. He
writes:
"The music was good, the two bass viols and French horns were
grand. There were upwards of two hundred and fifty ladies present
and it was called no great number. In loftiness of head-dress
these ladies stoop to the daughters of the North; in richness
of dress surpass them. The gentlemen, many of them dressed with
richness and elegance--uncommon with us; many with swords on."
The Carolinians travelled often to England. They were lively and
expensive in their dress, and an Englishman visiting Charleston in 1782
writes home that it "was the pleasantest and politest as it is one of
the richest cities in all America." The charming old city still retains
its two first recommendations, though, alas, the riches have flown. In
1768 the organ seen in Figure 84, was imported from England for St.
Michael's Church, Charleston. Within a little frame on one side of the
organ is an inscription as follows.
JNO SNETZLER FECIT, LONDONI, 1767.
This inscription was found on one of the pipes of the organ when it was
taken down during the bombardment of Charleston in the Civil War. At
this time the organ was stored away in the Sunday-school room of St.
Paul's Church, Radcliffeboro, for safe keeping. This is said to be the
largest old church organ in the country, and this church probably had
the first surpliced choir of boys. They are mentioned in the vestry
books as early as 1794. The photograph of this organ was procured
through the courtesy of Mr. Charles N. Beesley, of Charleston.
[Illustration: Figure 87. CRISTOFORI PIANO.]
In the homes in various parts of the country, besides the virginal,
were found the hand lyre, large and small fiddle, the recorder, flute,
and hautboy. Some of these were imported, some were home-made. The
first church organ built in New England was made for Christ Church,
Boston, by Thomas Johnson, in 1752, and indeed by this time music in
churches was pretty general all over the country. The puritans, with
their hatred of anything secular, or, as it seems now, of anything
that could ornament or beautify this none too joyous stay on earth,
condemned music. In his "History of Music in New England", Mr. Hood
says that before 1690 music was mostly written in psalm-books, the
number of tunes rarely exceeding five or six. At the beginning of the
eighteenth century New England congregations were rarely able to sing
more than three or four tunes, and even these were sung by the doleful
process of "lining out". The deacon would read one line of a psalm,
and the congregation would sing it. Then he would read the next, and so
on. About 1720 an effort was made to improve this method of singing,
but it met with violent opposition. Some of the objections advanced
were that "it grieved good men and caused them to behave disorderly;"
that it was "Quakerish and Popish"; that "the names of the notes were
blasphemous;" etc. Yet after a while the congregations were soothed
by the publication of several "Letters of Pacification", written by
ministers, and some books were published like that of the Rev. Thomas
Walter of Roxbury, Mass., entitled:
"The Grounds and Rules of Musick Explained. Or, An Introduction
to the Art of Singing by Note Fitted to the Meanest Capacity
By Thomas Walter, A.M. Recommended by Several Ministers, 'Let
everything that hath truth praise the Lord.' Ps. 150. 6. Boston."
Singing-Schools for the instruction of the young were opened, and
music, the only science allowed, crept into the church. "The Newport
Mercury" for January 8, 1770, contains the following:
"The Public are hereby informed That a Singing-School will be
opened at Mr. Bradford's Schoolhouse next Thursday evening by a
Person who has taught the various Branches of Psalmody in the
Provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut and those
Gentlemen and Ladies who have an inclination to improve in this
Excellent Art may expect all that Care and Dilligence which is
necessary to their being rightly instructed in the same."
William Tuckey of New York was a schoolmaster in that city about 1753,
and taught singing to children. In 1766 the trustees of Trinity Church
paid him £15 for performing the music for the opening of St. Paul's
Chapel in New York.
By 1775 choir singing had become more general, and the old system of
lining out was dying, but dying hard. In several parishes the singers,
male and female, were requested to sit in the gallery and "carry on the
singing in public worship." Many anecdotes are given in Dr. Ritter's
"Music in America", showing how the choir, once called into being, soon
became a thorn in the ministers flesh, sometimes being rebuked from the
pulpit, and in retaliation refusing to sing.
That the music was bad goes without saying, for the singers were
ill-trained under incompetent teachers, and the music was often
incorrect. Dr. Ritter gives the proportion of women voices to men as
about twenty to one hundred and thirteen. The proposition to let women
sing the air was not to be considered for a moment, since men had a
"prescriptive right to lead, and women were forbidden to take the first
part in song or any other religious service."
[Illustration: Figure 88. HARP.]
S. Howe published in 1804 the "Farmer's Evening Entertainment", and in
it gives directions for beating time:
"To beat crotchets in common Time, let the fingers fall on the
table six inches, then bring the heel of the hand down gently,
then raising it a little higher, throw open the fingers to begin
the next bar. For triple Time, let the fingers fall on the table,
then the heel of the hand, then raise the whole hand six inches,
keeping the fingers straight, which fills the bar."
But while religious music was undergoing violent changes, secular music
was having a more peaceful time, and instrument-builders were becoming
more numerous and successful. In 1774, in the "New York Gazette" is
this advertisement.
"John Shybli, Organ-builder at Mr. Samuel Princes' Cabinet-
makers in Horse-and-Cart St. New York. Makes, repairs and tunes
all sorts of organs, harpsichords and Fortepianos, on the most
reasonable terms. N. B. He has now ready for sale one neat chamber
organ, one hammer spinet, one common spinet.
Mr. Samuel Blyth of Salem, Mass., made "spinnetts" (they spelled them
with two n's in those days) and then gave instruction upon them. He did
not require cash payment either, as witness the following bill, now in
the possession of Mr. Henry Brooks, author of "Olden-Time Music."
Mrs. Margaret Barton to Sam Blyth Dr.
To making a spinnett for her daughter
Supra Cr. £18 0 0
By 34 oz 1¾ dwt of Old silver a. 6. pr. oz. £10 4 11
By cash to Ballance £7 15 1
--------
£18 0 0.
Salem 7th Feb'y 1786
Rec'd payment
Sam^l Blyth
At Mount Vernon is still to be seen the harpsichord bought for Nellie
Custis by General Washington. In 1798, writing to a young friend at
Philadelphia, she says:
"I am not very industrious, but I work a little, read a little,
play on the harpsichord, and find my time fully taken up with
daily employments."
There is an old song given in "Historic Landmarks of Maryland and
Virginia" as being one which Nellie Custis used to sing, accompanying
herself on the harpsichord. We wonder who selected for her.
"THE TRAVELER AT THE WIDOW'S GATE.
"A traveler stop't at a widow's Gate,
She kept an Inn and he wanted to bait;
She kept an Inn and he wanted to bait;
But the widow she slighted her guest,
But the widow she slighted her guest,
For when nature was forming an ugly race,
She certainly moulded the traveler's face
As a sample for all the rest, as a sample for all the rest.
The chambermaid's sides they were ready to crack
When she saw his queer nose and the hump on his back;
A hump isn't handsome, no doubt;
And though t'is confessed the prejudice goes
Very strongly in favor of wearing a nose,
A nose shouldn't look like a snout.
A bag full of gold on the table he laid,
'T had a wondrous effect on the widow and maid,
And they quickly grew marvelous civil;
The money immediately altered the case,
They were charmed with his hump and his snout and his face,
Though he still might have frightened the devil.
He paid like a prince, gave the widow a smack,
And flop'd on his horse at the door like a sack,
While the landlady, touching his chin,
Said, 'Sir, should you travel this country again,
I heartily hope that the sweetest of men
Will stop at the widow's to drink.'"
The names of some other popular songs of this period were "The White
Cockade," "Irish Howl," "Hessian Camp," "Nancy of the Mill," "Every
Inch a Soldier," "When Nichola First to Court Began," "Baron Steuben's
March," "Sweet Village of the Valley," "King of Sweden's March," etc.
The Revolutionary echoes seemed to be still reverberating.
[Illustration: Figure 89. BASS VIOL.]
In the "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson" there is a description
given of Monticello, which he built in 1770-1772, and a diagram of the
lower rooms showing where each piece of furniture stood. It seems very
sparsely fitted out, yet it had a great reputation for elegance.
The house was but a story and a half high, and on the ground floor was
a great hall, drawing-room, dining-room, tea-room, sitting-room, and
two bedrooms besides the one occupied by Jefferson himself. In this
latter room was a couch upon which Jefferson rested when studying,
a dressing-table and mirror, a chair near the wall, and beside it a
small bookcase. There was no closet, so in one corner was a rack upon
which his clothes where hung. The chief ornament to the drawing-room
was his daughter's, Mrs. Randolph's, harpsichord. Standing about were
many busts, of Alexander of Russia, Hamilton, Voltaire, Turgot, and
Napoleon, and portraits of Washington, Adams, Franklin, Madison, etc.
The house was at least abundantly furnished with chairs, for Jefferson
himself leaves an inventory which states that there were 36 of mahogany
and 44 of gold leaf. Of small tea and card tables there were 13. In
the dining-room, well toward its centre, stood Jefferson's chair and a
candle-stand. His particular hobby was blooded horses, and he used only
the finest Virginia stock.
This same harpsichord was, as early as 1785, in Jefferson's thoughts,
and he writes to his daughter, Polly, from France, that she shall be
taught to play on it, as well as to draw and dance, to read and talk
French, "and such other things as will make you more worthy of the
love of your friends." Even in remote places like Monticello, where
everything had to be transported by cart, or at Johnson Hall, Sir
John Johnson's home in the Mohawk valley, harpsichords, as well as
other expensive luxuries, were to be found. Sir John's harpsichord was
confiscated by the government in December, 1777, at the same time
with the table which is now at the Historical Rooms in Albany. While
musical instruments are only rarely mentioned in the inventories of the
great body of the people, yet we have seen that they were here both of
domestic manufacture and imported. Thomas Harrison, organist of Trinity
Church, advertises in the "New York Mercury" for 1761 that he has
"harpsichords and spinets imported and for sale."
The harp was not so often seen as other instruments, on account both
of the great cost of the instrument and of the difficulty of tuning
it. It was not until 1720 that the pedal harp was invented by a
Bavarian named Hochbrücker. By means of the pedal working a small
plate set with projecting pins, the performer was able to raise the
pitch of each string a semitone. The mechanism was concealed in the
front pillar, and each note was affected in all its octaves. Erard
made farther improvements. The harp shown in Figure 88 is in the
Metropolitan Museum, New York. It is a very handsome one, painted
blue, and resting on four claw feet. The pillar is fluted, and the
ornaments, three medallions of dancing girls, with wreaths below, are
executed in brass. It has forty-two strings of gut and seven pedals. It
was made by Naderman, Paris, France, late in the eighteenth century.
Naderman perfected the action of the first pedal harp invented by
Hochbrücker. In the South Kensington Museum, London, England, is a harp
which belonged to the ill-fated Marie Antoinette; it also was made by
Naderman in 1780.
[Illustration: Figure 90. GLASS HARMONICA.]
The harp in its various forms is an instrument of great antiquity. The
Greeks and Romans, ever alive to the possibilities of everything
that tended to grace and beauty, admired this instrument not only for
its sweet sound but for its pleasing form. We must look to Egypt for
the origin of the harp, as there are representations in their picture
writings of stringed instruments of a bow-form that support the idea
that the first conception of a harp was drawn from the tense string
of a warrior's bow. This very primitive instrument was borne on the
performer's shoulder and played horizontally. Between this crude
instrument and the splendid vertical harps shown in the frescoes of
the time of Rameses III., painted more than three thousand years ago,
there is a chain of pictures showing so many varieties of forms that
the growth from the bow-form into the triangular harp is explained.
The Assyrians, like the Egyptians, had harps without a front pillar,
but differing from them in using sound-holes, and having the sound
body uppermost. We assign to King David the harp, but mediæval artists
more frequently depicted him with the psaltery, a horizontal stringed
instrument, the parent of the piano.
The harp has always been the instrument of the Celtic race, and
harpists were held in peculiar veneration. For many a long year
harpists traveled from one castle to another, sure always of a welcome
and seat in a warm corner. In return they not only amused the company
with their songs, but brought the news, and isolated and remote
families often heard from the outer world by such uncertain means as
these. For centuries the English harpers were protected in many ways,
and no one has taken advantage of such a picturesque class with the
skill of Sir Walter Scott. The most renowned one he introduced as a
character was Blondel de Nesle, in the "Talisman," that wonderful
picture of the days of the Crusades. The first greeting to the youth
when he appeared at Richard's camp shows the estimation in which these
knights of the harp were held.
"Blondel de Nesle!" Richard exclaimed joyfully "welcome from
Cyprus, my king of minstrels! Welcome to the King of England, who
rates not his own dignity more highly than he does thine.... And
what news, my gentle master, from the land of the lyre? Anything
fresh from the trouveurs of Provence? Anything from the minstrels
of merry Normandy? Above all, hast thou thyself been busy?"
It is also said that Richard Coeur de Lion's place of confinement in
Germany on his return from the Holy Land was discovered when Blondel
sung beneath the Tower Tenebreuse a tenson which they had jointly
composed, and to which the king replied.
Edward I. and his Queen were fond of music and encouraged musicians, as
the following entries in their accounts of the household expenditures
show:
"To Melioro, the harper of Sir John Mantravers, for playing on the
harp when the king was bled, twenty shillings; likewise to Walter
Luvel, the harper of Chichester, whom the King found playing on
his harp before the tomb of St. Richard at Chichester Cathedral,
six shillings and eight pence."
Henry V. was a performer on the harp at an early age, and his wife,
Catherine of Valois, shared his taste, as an entry in the Issue Rolls
reads:
"By the hands of William Menston was paid £8 13_s_ 4_d_, for two
new harps purchased for King Henry and Queen Catherine."
These harps were tuned with a key like the more modern instruments, and
the player improvised his words to suit the taste of the company in
which he found himself. Harpists were employed much at courts, and
in 1666 Pepys says that for want of pay to the household--
--"many of the musique are ready to starve, they being five years
behind hand for wages; nay, Evens, the famous man upon the Harp,
having not his equal in the world, did the other day die for mere
want, and was fain to be buried at the almes of the parish, and
carried to his grave in the dark at night without one linke, but
that Mr. Hingston met it by chance, and did give 12_d._ to buy two
or three links."
At the present day, though at no instrument does a graceful woman look
more graceful, solo performers are very rare; but in the orchestra the
harp has an important place on account of its tone, such composers as
Gounod, Berlioz, Liszt, and Wagner using it freely in their scores. In
this country there are only occasional references in the old papers to
it, and an advertisement by Signor Pucci in 1815 that he gives concerts
on the "Fashionable and much admired King David's Pedal Harp", seems to
be an effort to introduce it to the notice of music-lovers of the day.
[Illustration: Figure 91. GEIB PIANO.]
Madame Malibran, who achieved such a success in opera in New York about
1825, used to accompany herself on the harp when she sang in response
to an encore. But it can never be considered a popular instrument.
In Dwight's "History of Music in Boston", he says that at the beginning
of the nineteenth century the population of Boston numbered about six
thousand families, and that not fifty pianos could be found. Only a few
of Boston's churches had organs, while those in country parishes were,
almost without exception, without them. The use of instruments had
crept slowly into the choir, and if they had a flute and a bass viol
they considered they did well. Very often a clarinet usurped the place
of the flute. The bass viol was, however, the most popular instrument,
and when, some years later, concerts began to be given, and musical
societies formed, the bass viol was lugged about, notwithstanding its
ponderous size, and duly performed its part in the accompaniment.
The bass viol shown in Figure 89 is an interesting one. It was made
by Deacon Justin Hitchcock, and used by him in the choir of the
Congregational Church, Deerfield, Mass., in 1778. Both it and the
pitch-pipe used by him as leader of the choir are now resting silent in
Memorial Hall. Deacon Justin did not confine his musical performances
to psalmody and the accompanying of hymns. Like all the Deerfield men
of that day he was a fighter, as who should not be who was brought
up among those silent hills which had seen so much of "ye barbarous
enemy" and knew the tales of French invasion? The stories of warfare
and captivity were still fresh in the minds of the people of Deerfield
when Deacon Justin responded to the Lexington alarm. His fife it was
that inspired the weary Deerfield minute-men to press on to Boston to
meet the British. Nor was this the only campaign in which he played a
part, for he never wearied of displaying the trophies captured after
the disastrous experience of Burgoyne, when, harrassed and in flight,
he abandoned his baggage.
[Illustration: Figure 92. NUNS PIANO.]
A very similar bass-viol, but of German manufacture, was played during
the latter part of the eighteenth century in a church in Stonington,
Connecticut. The sisters of the Hospital General in Montreal, before
the conquest of Canada, imported several of these instruments from
France for use in the convent choir. So they must have been played upon
by women sometimes.
An instrument that is interesting rather than handsome is the glass
harmonica shown in Figure 90. It has thirty-five bowls or glasses
arranged on a central rod. Some of the glasses are now missing, but
originally it had a compass of three octaves. The case is three feet
nine and a half inches long, and one foot four and three quarters
inches wide. The interest in this class of instruments arises from
the fact that it was invented by Benjamin Franklin. It has about as
much capacity for producing music as the "musical glasses". One of
these latter instruments consists of twenty-four glasses closely
resembling finger-bowls and standing in a wooden table-like case. They
are partially filled with water, and the performer produces notes by
rubbing on the rim with the finger. They were occasionally to be met
with, and date about the first decade, possibly a little later, of the
nineteenth century. There is one in a perfect condition in Rochester,
N. Y. The case is of handsome mahogany, and the instrument belongs to
Mrs. James McKown.
Up to 1760 pianos were made in the wing shape, like the harpsichords,
but at that date a man named Zumpe made a square one. By 1800 there
were a number of makers in New York, and they turned out many very
handsome instruments. Astor, Broadwood, and Clementi were three
great makers in London, and sent many pianos over here. There is a
slender-legged, fragile, Clementi piano in Memorial Hall, Deerfield,
which was given by a father to his daughter. The story still clings to
it that he sold a house in order to buy it for her.
John Geib, and his sons, John H., Adam, and William, were among the
best-known early makers of pianofortes. They opened a shop in Maiden
Lane as early as 1807, and advertised not only pianos of their own
manufacture, built on a new plan, but those of London makers as well.
They held this shop in Maiden Lane, with a brief interruption of one
year, till 1828, when W. Geib moved up to the corner of 11th Street and
Third Avenue. It was from this establishment that he sold the handsome
piano shown in Figure 91, which is now at the Historical Rooms, Albany.
The name-plate over the keyboard has the following inscription.
"W. GEIB, THIRD AVENUE, CORNER 11TH ST. NEW YORK.
MANUFACTURER OF CABINET, GRAND, HARMONIC,
AND SQUARE PIANO FORTES, CHURCH AND
CHAMBER ORGANS."
This piano is mahogany inlaid, and has a handsome brass moulding and
brass ornamental bands at the tops of the legs. It has six legs and
a pedal, and the top of the lid has a small rest for the music. The
stool, very richly carved with pillar and claw feet, belongs to an
earlier period than the piano, this shape dating from about 1810-20.
[Illustration: Figure 93. UPRIGHT PIANO.]
Indeed, from its ornamentation, the stool would seem to go more
fittingly with the very elegant piano shown in Figure 92. This is of
rosewood, and was made by Robert and William Nuns, and sold by Du
Bois and Stodard, New York. It was probably made about 1823-25, for
in pattern of carving, moulding, drawers for music, etc., it is very
similar to the pianos made at this time by the Geib Brothers. At
the top of each leg is a richly engraved band of brass, and rosette,
to conceal the place where the pin held the leg to the instrument. The
drawer knobs were doubtless brass also, for these are not the original
ones. The panel above the keyboard is beautifully painted in metallic
lustre, and has two carved panels besides, over velvet. The legs are
boldly carved with the acanthus leaf, and everything about the piano
is as elegant as possible. By the time these last two instruments
were made music had taken a decided advance. Musical societies were
organized in all the large cities; there were the Handel and Haydn
Society; the New York Philharmonic Society; the New York Choral
Society; Beethoven Society of Portland, Maine; Philadelphia Musical
Fund; Harmonic Society of Baltimore, and equally flourishing musical
organizations in several cities of the South, notably New Orleans and
Charleston.
Music-dealers all over the country advertised their wares; there were
instruction-books and sheet music to be had:--
--"Overtures, battles, sonatas, duets for four hands, airs with
variations, rondos, songs, glees, catches, sacred songs, original
Scotch airs, little ballads, marches, waltzes, dances, and
Mozart's songs."
In view of the selection of good music that could be obtained, it
is amusing to know how popular were such ditties as "Mary's Tears,"
"Apollo, thy Treasure," and "Sweet Little Ann," written by Shaw, the
blind singer of Providence. They seem hardly an advance upon "Bid Me,
When Forty Winters," "Little Sally's Wooden Ware," and the "Comic
Irish song 'Boston News'" which were used as concert selections a
quarter of a century earlier.
In Figure 93 is shown an upright piano made by Julius Fiot,
Philadelphia, in 1827. The heavy veneered Empire curved posts are
noticeable, and an extra old-fashioned appearance is given to it by the
movable candle-brackets fastened to either side. In the upper part were
little silk curtains to cover the mechanism, and their arrangement does
not seem to have been particularly neat. This was a very early example
of the upright shape, and is now in Memorial Hall, Philadelphia.