=Sources of Our Knowledge=.—When we study the music of the early period
of the human race, we find no records such as we are storing today in
our libraries. We must depend upon the discoveries of archæologists in
the buried cities of early civilizations. Of contemporaneous books,
properly speaking, tablets of music explaining the construction and
methods of playing the musical instruments then in use we have few;
if they exist they are in dead languages to which scholars are but
slowly finding the key. It is true that some instruments have been
found, but we can have no certainty that they are in perfect condition.
The principal sources of the information we possess have been the
paintings, decorations and sculptures on monuments and on the walls
of buildings and tombs that have been unearthed. Early languages
were largely pictorial, and records kept in this manner furnish us
representations of the religious, martial, and social life of the early
races.
=Countries with a Musical Past=.—The lands that offer the greatest
field for the study of the music of the past are Chaldea or Babylonia
and Egypt. Some of the old Greek cities, as well as cities in the
western part of Asia Minor and Palestine, have been the subject of
explorations. Still another country abounding in interest to the
student of the music of the past is China, living, yet dead! What a
contrast to Chaldea and Egypt! The civilization of the latter is dead;
China, the older, is still living. These races had a common home, yet
the former, having developed a high civilization and fulfilled its
mission, disappeared from the face of the earth, while China, having
also reached a high state of culture, has remained stagnant, all
energies toward a higher level being arrested.
=The Common Home of the Race=.—Scientists place the cradle of the
human race in the high plateau of Asia, extending from Persia eastward
through Thibet and including part of Manchuria. The yellow race,
according to some ethnologists, is the more akin to the primitive
race; the other two, the white and the black, being derived from it
by emigration, change of climate and mode of living. Van Aalst, the
leading writer on Chinese Music, says that “the first invaders of China
were a band of immigrants fighting their way among the aborigines and
supposed to have come from the country south of the Caspian Sea.” It is
outside the province of this work to detail the arguments that serve
to show the connection of the Chinese with the other races mentioned.
Berosus, the old Babylonian historian, writes: “There was originally
in the land of Babylon a multitude of men of foreign race who had
settled in Chaldea.” These men are known in history by the name of
Akkads or Akkadians, “from the northern mountains,” Sumerians, from the
“southern mountains”; that is, the highland ranges lying to the north
and east of the Euphrates Valley. There were two main types among these
tribes: a yellow, black-haired people, and a red type. The records
show that migrations from this central home came about by reason of
famines, plagues or floods. When did the black-haired, yellow people
swarm off? When did the “red” people, from which Egyptian tradition
claimed ancestry, go away? Probably the Chinese were the first to leave
the central home, taking with them the elements of a considerable
civilization, which also formed the basis of the later Chaldean,
Babylonian, Assyrian and Egyptian cultures, and through various
channels, of the Etrurian and Greek.
=High Place of Music Among the Chinese=.—The science of music had
a high place in Chinese philosophy; the sages alone comprehend the
canons, and the mandarins in music are considered superior to those
in mathematics. Some most interesting dates are given, showing how
early the Chinese had developed a science of music. We are told that
in 2277 B. C., there were twenty-two writers on the dance and music,
twenty-three on ancient music, twenty-four on playing the _Kin_ and the
_Che_, and twenty-five on construction of scales. These facts imply
many years of previous development before the time when works treating
of the science of music would be prepared. Confucius, the chief Chinese
philosopher, wrote about ancient music in 551 B. C. Unfortunately,
ancient records and books were almost entirely destroyed, 246 B. C.,
by order of the Emperor then on the throne; he excepted from this
destruction only works on medicine, agriculture and divination. A
comparison of recorded dates shows that the Chinese were writing
learned works on the science of music when the Pharaohs were building
the pyramids.
=Sonorous Bodies=.—The Chinese have always shown a fondness for
instituting likenesses between things in heaven and earth, and things
intellectual and material. According to their theory, there are eight
sound-giving bodies: Stone, Metal, Silk, Bamboo, Wood, Skin, Gourd and
Clay.
=The Sheng=.—One of the most important musical instruments in use among
the Chinese, one that is indispensable to their temple ritual, is the
Sheng. This instrument is the representative of the =gourd= principle;
originally the bowl was formed from a portion of a gourd or a calabash,
the top being covered by a circular piece of wood with holes around the
margin in which the pipes, seventeen in number, are fixed; in the side
of the gourd is placed a mouthpiece or tube covered with ivory, through
which the player _draws_ his breath. Each pipe is fitted with a small
free reed of copper. A small hole is made in each pipe just above the
bowl, which prevents a pipe from speaking when the air is drawn in by
the player, unless the hole is closed by a finger. The instrument is
placed to the mouth with the pipes slanting toward the right shoulder.
The notes sounded by the pipes of the _Sheng_ as they are arranged are:
[Music]
giving the following scale or series of sounds:
[Music]
four of the seventeen pipes are mutes, placed there doubtless for
purposes of symmetry.
[Illustration: KIN. SE OR CHE. SHENG.]
=The Kin=.—The principle of the sound of =silk= is exemplified in the
Kin or Ch’in, the strings, “made of twisted silk, being stretched
over a wooden frame.” This instrument was the favorite of Confucius,
the great law-giver, and in _his_ time was of _great antiquity_. The
number of strings was five, to agree with the five elements; the upper
part was rounded, to represent the heavens; the bottom was flat, to
represent the ground. The number of strings was later increased to
seven, which is the favored form, tuned to G, A, C, D, E, G, A, a
pentatonic scale.
=The Se=.—Another stringed instrument is the _Sê_, (also written
_Che_), which had originally fifty strings. As now used, it has only
twenty-five strings. Four kinds are in use, differing in size and in
number of strings; it is customary that they should give the sound of
two notes simultaneously, generally octaves. Some of these, used by the
most skilful performers, have only thirteen or fourteen strings. The
strings are plucked by two small ivory picks.
=Flutes=.—The sound of =bamboo= is exemplified in certain instruments
of the flute family. The bamboo plant is used by the Chinese in very
many ways; it is natural that they should use it for making musical
instruments. There are two types of pipes or flutes: those blown at
the end, as a whistle, and those blown across a hole near one end,
as is our modern flute; the Chinese flutes are of the latter class.
They varied in size and in the number of holes, from three to six, the
little finger of each hand not being used. A popular flute, called the
_Ti-Tzu_, has, in addition to the six finger holes, one for blowing
and one covered with a thin membrane, to vary the sound. Another kind,
very ancient, and much in use, according to Chinese writers during the
period 2205-1122 B. C., may be called, shortly, the _Tche_. It has six
finger holes, three near each end, and is pierced with another hole
at the middle, across which the player blows. The scale is said to
consist of six semitones, beginning with F, fifth line treble clef. The
peculiar construction of this flute presents some acoustical problems.
[Illustration: TCHE.]
=Other sonorous bodies= are, =metal= from which the Chinese make gongs,
bells and trumpets—they seem to have known the principle of the slide,
as in the trombone, but never developed it; =stone=, certain varieties,
in the shape of the letter L, pierced with a hole at the angle,
suspended in a frame and struck by a hammer; =skin=, from which drums
were made; =clay=, from which instruments were made in shape resembling
the ocarina, familiar to us.
=Chinese Scales=.—The vocal and the instrumental music have different
scales, the former _diatonic_—with two notes of the seven omitted,
forming a _pentatonic_ (five-tone scale), the letters of which, since
F is a favorite tonic, may be represented by F, G, A, C, D. The
instrumental scales are _chromatic_ in character. When the voice is
accompanied by instruments, the vocal scale is used. Singing is in
unison, modified by fourths, occasionally. The singing tone is a sort
of nasal sing-song, the favorite method a nasal falsetto, the mouth
being nearly closed.
[Music]
This represents the concluding strophes of the Hymn to Confucius. The
time is very slow; each measure represents a line of four syllables;
between the lines one of the instruments gives a sort of interlude.
So much space has been taken with Chinese music because the
conservatism of that race has preserved instruments and music that date
back to the early history of our race.
[Illustration: KOTO.]
=Japanese Music=.—In the Japanese system we find a _pentatonic_ scale
and a _semitonal_ division of the octave. Japanese music does not
proceed in semitones, the chromatic scale being demanded by the custom
of transposing a melody from one starting point to another, not more
than fourteen sounds for a melody. A favorite Japanese instrument is of
the clarinet type; it is called the _Hichi-riki_; in length it varies
from a little less than nine inches to a little more. The scale as set
forth by the Institute of Tokio is from G, second line, treble staff to
the A above, F, fifth line, being sharped. This instrument is played
by _drawing_ in the breath. The Japanese have an instrument called
the _Sho_, similar to the Chinese _Sheng_. The national instrument
is the _Koto_, which has thirteen strings, tuned thus: the first,
middle C sharp, the second, F sharp a fifth lower; subsequent strings
ascend in order, G sharp, A, C sharp, D, F sharp, G sharp, A, C sharp,
D, F sharp, G sharp; between the fourth and fifth sounds is a third,
which interval, in practice, was filled by pressing the string behind
the bridge, thus increasing the tension; each string can be raised
a semitone or even a tone by increasing the pressure. By this means
additional notes can be secured, giving a scale identical with the
Greek Dorian or ecclesiastical Aeolian. Much of the popular Japanese
music is written without the extra notes, and the series of tones can
be characterized as a pentatonic scale based on the natural minor. Thus:
[Music]
=The Hindoos=.—Among the Asiatic races that still retain national,
although not a separate political existence, and have a musical system
peculiar to themselves, the Hindoos are prominent. The Hindoos belong
to the Aryan race, (from which we also sprang), and had their home
originally in Central Asia, probably north of the Hindoo Koosh range.
When they swarmed off from the old home they made their way down
through the mountains along the river valleys to the great fertile
plains of India, and conquering the aboriginal races, developed the
system of caste, which has had so great an influence on their religion,
literature, science and art. The old Hindoo literature shows clearly
the high regard in which the art of song was held. Celebrated minstrels
were maintained in the royal courts whose duty it was to chant songs
in praise of their patrons. Music, or song, was just as indispensable
in the religious ceremonies. One of the holy books makes the statement
that “Indra rejects the offering made without music.” In time the
singer became a member of the priestly caste.
[Illustration: VINA. RAVANASTRON.]
=The Vina=.—From antiquity to the present time among the Hindoos pure
instrumental music held almost equal place with song or accompanied
vocal music. The Hindoo instruments belong to the percussion types,
trumpets and trombones, nose flute, and especially to the stringed
class. It is noteworthy that the simpler kinds, in which each string
gives but one tone, do not exist, whereas there are many varieties of
those which have fingerboards. The oldest and most important is the
Vina, which consists of a wooden pipe about four feet long attached to
two gourds or resonators. The seven metal strings are stretched over
nineteen bridges or frets, becoming gradually higher, and touch only
the last and highest one. The other eighteen serve to fix the pitch of
the tone desired, as in our guitar or mandolin, the strings being set
in vibration by being plucked with a metal thimble or ring like that
used by zither players. Another Hindoo instrument, considered by some
as the prototype of stringed instruments played with a bow, is the
Ravanastron.
=Hindoo Musical Philosophy=.—Hindoo myths ascribe a divine origin to
music. A close connection was established between the scale and their
religious ideas. Each single tone was under the protection of a nymph,
and the first syllables of the names of these nymphs, according to
Clement, the French historian, were given to the tones, thus: Sa, Ri,
Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni, seven in all, differing in that respect from the
_pentatonic_ form _usually_ found among the early races. In their
endeavor to satisfy the melody of speech, the inflections of the voice
in speaking, the Hindoos divided the interval of the octave into
small parts, and transposed the scale freely up and down; so it is
easily conceivable that their complete system recognized 960 scales,
their sacred writings speaking of 16,000. In practice they contented
themselves with 36, some writers say 72. The following is given as the
scale:
[Music]
The principal feature of Hindoo music is the melody and rhythm, the
latter being very complicated. Of harmony in our sense of the word
there is no sign. In accompanying the voice the Hindoos used only the
pure fifth, which they considered a perfect consonance, the fourth, an
imperfect consonance, and the octave.
=High Esteem of Music Among the Hindoos=.—Music had a high place among
the Hindoos, all festivities made use of it, and the private and social
life demanded it. It was used freely in the Hindoo drama, the latter
calling for the dance, spoken and sung dialogue and instrumental
music and songs. The main reason why Hindoo music did not develop in
the past centuries doubtless lies in the fact that, as in Egypt, the
ruling power was vested in the priesthood, which controlled all the
arts and sciences. Music was so interwoven with their religious rites
and observances, and so hedged around with irrevocable and sacred
laws that the slightest alteration was considered a sacrilege. In
closing this section it may be added that investigators refer the
gipsies, particularly those of Hungary, who are noted for their musical
temperament, to Hindoo origin, probably the pariah caste. Their music,
with its wild, free rhythm and elaborate melodic embellishment, has a
marked resemblance to the music of the Hindoos.